Ethel Waters News

FRIGID New York announces the full schedule for the 2024 The Fire This Time Festival.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will host the Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass, an exceptional summer music education program for teens, in residence at Montclair State University, in July 2024. 

The Milt Hinton Summer Camp is all about that bass! Join us for a summer experience dedicated to the famous bass player, Milt Hinton. Learn from top-notch instructors and immerse yourself in the world of bass playing.

FRIGID New York will present the 2024 The Fire This Time Festival at a brand new home this January. The Obie Award winning festival will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with the return of its annual Ten-Minute Play Program at The Wild Project.

While we wait for Ethel Waters to get the large-scale showbiz treatment she deserves, Nashville audiences, for now at least, can show respect and give recognition to the legendary figure who is brought to life onstage once more by Connye Florance and Saaneah Jamison via the Kennie Playhouse Theatre production of Parr’s His Eye Is On the Sparrow: The Ethel Waters Musical. Director Kennie Dozier’s production is somewhat uneven, but his two leading ladies – the aforementioned Florance and Jamison – are mesmerizing, each one creating her own indelible portrait and unique interpretation of Ethel Waters in two acts that feature some of her best-known songs, tunes that are a part of the Great American Songbook and among the most haunting, most beautiful melodies ever written.

freeFall Theatre Company’s 2023/2024 season opens with an all-new musical revue that celebrates the hits of such legendary artists as The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson and many others.

Late Night Snacks from the Bearded Ladies Cabaret is back this September to bring an array of cabaret, drag, and operatic talent to the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and Festival O23.

freeFall Theatre Company's 2023/2024 season opens with an all-new play with music written by and starring Rose Weaver (freeFall debut) as the one and only Ethel Waters.

Washington Performing Arts has announce its 2023/24 Season with the theme of Together in Art and Community, running from September 2023 through June 2024 in nine venues across the Washington, D.C., region.

Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale for freeFall's 2023/2024 season. Learn more about the lineup here!

This month, the reader question was: 'Which songs have appeared in multiple Broadway shows?'

BroadwayWorld talks to Sheldon Epps about his new memoir 'My Own Directions: A Black Man's Journey in the American Theatre' that recounts his struggles and successes leading the Pasadena Playhouse for two decades and directing the Tony-nominated musicals 'Blues in the Night' and 'Play On!' on Broadway and beyond.

The Wizard of Oz, the beloved story of Dorothy's journey over the rainbow will begin previews at Capital Repertory Theatre on Friday, November 18, opening on Tuesday, November 22 and running through Saturday, December 24.

Guitarist/vocalist Shemekia Copeland was literally born into blues royalty and founded her own kingdom of artistic expression. Composer/vocalist/ keyboardist Ruthie Foster established her own sonic citizenship by combining a melting pot of musical genres into her own distinctive sound.

As the soundtrack of struggle, the narrative of collective experience and the backbeat of community, the blues in all its different forms is a tradition that lives on with the Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival. Produced by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC) and Presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the fifth annual festival takes place September 14-15 at Highmark Stadium (510 W. Station Square Drive).

JERSEY BOYS, the journey of the Four Seasons’ rise and fall through the eyes of a group of friends, who became the icons of their generation, will open at Capital Repertory Theatre for previews Friday, July 15.

Actress/singer, Gay Marshall, winner of the 2022 Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording and 2022 MAC nominee for Major Recording, celebrates the genius of Leonard Cohen in Back on Boogie Street at Pangea in New York City on May 24th and 31st and June 4th at 7PM. Marshall released her recording, Back on Boogie Street – Songs of Leonard Cohen, just before Covid lockdown.

The Chicago Philharmonic Society presents the finale of its 32nd season, Aretha Rising, on May 29, 2022, Memorial Day Weekend at Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E Randolph, Chicago).

Jane's Walk has returned to New York with in-person experiences. In addition, local groups are highlighting four historic districts in Harlem simultaneously - the Mt. Morris Historic District, the Central Harlem Historic District, Striver's Row, and the newly designated Dorrance Brooks Historic District.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced of the passing of its founder Mary John (1925-2022).  Born in Green Bay, WI Mary forged a plan to create a professional theater for the city of Milwaukee and established Drama Inc, now Milwaukee Repertory Theater, in 1954.