Jennifer Holliday News

Broadway highlights from the two programs featured in a new Monday night block of television variety.

In the early 1980s, despite their previously long-running friendship, Broadway director, producer and choreographer Michael Bennett and fellow jack-of-all-trades on the Great White Way Tommy Tune, entered into what many consider the greatest face-off in Tony Awards history. Michael Riedel, writing for Vanity Fair, examines this rivalry between DREAMGIRLS and NINE in an adapted excerpt from his book RAZZLE DAZZLE for the magazine's October 2015 issue.

?The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Conductor John Morris Russell are delighted to announce the Pops' 2015-2016 season at Cincinnati Music Hall, the fifth under the direction of Mr. Russell. The season, presented by PNC along with the Pops Artist Series Sponsor, The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation, features exciting guest artist debuts, alongside the return of the best genres and artists that have built the Pops into an American icon.

September 13th kicks off an extensive Broadway Connection season in Minneapolis with scheduled Master Classes at local studios including Jete Dance Center, Ballare Teatro, Barbi Lee Dance Arts and more as they introduce students to Broadway Connection Teachers, Marjorie Failoni and Robbie Roby from the cast of THE LITTLE MERMAID and Ben Lanham from the cast of CINDERELLA.  The 2-hour Broadway Connection Master Classes are scheduled at the each studio's home location in Minneapolis while the teaching artists perform at the Orpheum Theater.  In the elite Broadway Connection Classes, students and parents experience direct access to current working Broadway performers who share the technique, style and training required to work professionally in dance, theater, TV and film.  Jete Dance Center, Ballare Teatro, Barbi Lee Dance Arts and over 30 more studios, schools and universities in the Minneapolis area have taken advantage of this rare opportunity to dance with Broadway's most elite artists in the comfort of their home spaces through Broadway Connection.  And the community is thrilled to have the inspiration, passion, and energy of New York back again for the 8th season in a row. Angela Mannella-Hoffman from Moore Than Dance comments on her 2014-2015 Broadway Connection Season, "Broadway Connection is such an amazing program and we always learn so much.  I love how the teachers incorporate audition techniques and tips in with class.  Thank you for all that you do for this program.  It really gives my students something to strive for!"

Norm Lewis Wishes You a Swingin' Christmas, running December 20-24 at 54 Below, is an all-new show that will help you ring in the holidays and remind you why he is one of Broadway's greatest singers and most sought-after leading men.

BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you a first look at Ogunquit Playhouse's stage, screen and television Valerie Harper starring in the role of the wealthy and stylish 'Millicent Winter' in the delightful Nice Work If You Can Get It, on stage July 22, to August 15.  Check out the cast in action below!

BroadwayWorld presents a first look at highlights of ZACH Theatre's Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015. A full onstage orchestra backs superb jazz vocalists, extraordinary tap dancers, dazzling deco costumes, and unforgettable torch singers who bring classics like 'Mood Indigo,' Take the A Train,' 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' to vivid life in this grand Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

Just in!  BroadwayWorld presents a first look at ZACH Theatre's Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday.

ZACH Theatre presents Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015. A full onstage orchestra backs superb jazz vocalists, extraordinary tap dancers, dazzling deco costumes, and unforgettable torch singers who bring classics like 'Mood Indigo,' Take the A Train,' 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' to vivid life in this grand Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Check out the video below of Jennifer Holliday discussing Duke Ellington's music!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: A murderer returns to Broadway, UP HERE opens in La Jolla and more!

The Ogunquit Playhouse recently announced that star of stage, screen and television Valerie Harper would star in the role of the wealthy and stylish 'Millicent Winter' in the delightful Nice Work If You Can Get It, on stage tonight, July 22, to August 15.

ZACH Theatre presents Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015. A full onstage orchestra backs superb jazz vocalists, extraordinary tap dancers, dazzling deco costumes, and unforgettable torch singers who bring classics like 'Mood Indigo,' Take the A Train,' 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' to vivid life in this grand Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Check out a sneak peek at the promotional images below!

The Duke Ellington musical revue SOPHISTICATED LADIES kicks off tonight at ZACH Theatre in Austin, starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl Jennifer Holliday. The legendary leading lady recently spoke with American Theatre magazine about her connection to the show, singing jazz, keeping iconic tunes fresh and more.

ZACH Theatre presents Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage tonight, July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015. A full onstage orchestra backs superb jazz vocalists, extraordinary tap dancers, dazzling deco costumes, and unforgettable torch singers who bring classics like 'Mood Indigo,' Take the A Train,' 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' to vivid life in this grand Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.  Check out a sneak peek at rehearsals below!

ZACH Theatre presents Sophisticated Ladies, the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage tonight, July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Sutton Foster gets wild at Encores! tonight, Jennifer Holliday heads to Texas, and Broadway remembers Roger Rees!

The Ogunquit Playhouse is thrilled to announce that star of stage, screen and television Valerie Harper will join the cast in the role of the wealthy and stylish Millicent Winter in the delightful Nice Work If You Can Get It on stage July 22 to August 15. Also joining the cast is two-time Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers as the Dutchess Estonia, a temperance enforcer who is set against a gang of bootleggers in this madcap musical comedy set during the Roaring Twenties. This brand-new musical written by Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro is based on material by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and was nominated in 2012 for 10 Tony Awards, winning two. This high-stepping Broadway musical recalls the golden age of American musicals, complete with extravagant dance numbers, glittering Broadway costumes and a treasure trove of George and Ira Gershwin's most beloved songs, including "But Not For Me," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "I've Got a Crush on You" and "Someone to Watch Over Me."

By the time she was 23, Jennifer Holliday was the very definition of a Broadway star. Her work in DREAMGIRLS would propell her to Broadway fame, especially when she took the stage at the 1982 Tony Awards to perform 'And I am Telling You I'm Not Going.' Now Holliday is enjoying what she tells the Provincetown Magazine is her 'third act.'

Many theatre companies stay true to the commercial theatre blueprint, and then there's The Ensemble! The Ensemble was founded in 1976 by George Hawkins. His mission was to create a theatre that would provide diverse roles for black artists. Here we are 39 years later and The Ensemble is taking the Houston theatre scene by storm with their Houston premiere of TRAV'LIN - the 1930's Harlem Musical.

ZACH Theatre announces the full cast of Sophisticated Ladies the Duke Ellington musical review starring Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. ZACH Theatre Associate Artistic Director ABE REYBOLD will direct the musical in the Topfer Theatre on the Karen Kuykendall stage July 15, 2015 - August 23, 2015. A full onstage orchestra backs superb jazz vocalists, extraordinary tap dancers, dazzling deco costumes, and unforgettable torch singers who bring classics like 'Mood Indigo,' Take the A Train,' 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' to vivid life in this grand Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.