Jonathan Kirkland News

Ardea Arts announces BOUNCE The Basketball Opera, their latest project in development. Showcase performances will take place at Paerdegat Park in East Flatbush, Brooklyn Saturday-Monday June 25-27, 2016 at 6pm. BOUNCE is a free, non-ticketed event, open to the public. For more information, visit www.ardeaarts.com/bounce/.

SISTER ACT is at the Fulton Theatre. It's big, it's brassy, and it's a blessing to have it on stage here.

The 2016 season of New York City Center's Tony-honored Encores! will open with Cabin in the Sky on February 10-14, 2016, with an all-star cast, including: Harvy Blanks, Chuck Cooper,Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, Jonathan Kirkland, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon,Michael Potts and J.D. Webster. The company just gave us a special sneak peek and BroadwayWorld was there for the big day. Check out interviews with the company and a performance preview below!

The 2016 season of New York City Center's Tony-honored Encores! will open with Cabin in the Sky on February 10-14, 2016, with an all-star cast, including: Harvy Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, Jonathan Kirkland, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, Michael Potts and J.D. Webster. The company just gave us a special sneak peek and you can check out performances from LaChanze, Potts and Hughes below!

Even though Whoopi Goldberg was the lead producer of SISTER ACT on Broadway, the "Divine Musical" raising the roof at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass. is not the SISTER ACT of Whoopi Goldberg's 1992 hit movie. Yes, the sassy attitude and jubilant spirit of the nightclub singer taking involuntary refuge in a cloistered convent are still intact, but the revised book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner and original score by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater make this jaunty screen-to-stage adaptation an all new joy to behold.

Get ready to rejoice! SISTER ACT, the gloriously funny five-time Tony-nominated musical, is taking the stage at Bill Hanney's award winning North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT). SISTER ACT will begin tonight, November 3, and plays thru Sunday, November 15. Press/Opening Night is scheduled for Wednesday, November 4 at 7:30 pm.

Get ready to rejoice! SISTER ACT, the gloriously funny five-time Tony-nominated musical, is taking the stage at Bill Hanney's award winning North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT). SISTER ACT will begin Tuesday, November 3, and plays thru Sunday, November 15. Press/Opening Night is scheduled for Wednesday, November 4 at 7:30 pm.

The Plantation Project, under the direction of Claire Beckman (co-founder of Brooklyn's Brave New World Rep) presents an inaugural, site-specific staged reading of The Plantation, Beckman's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. This immersive production on-book will feature costumes, live music and an Equity cast.

In response to popular demand and critical acclaim, Soho Rep. and The Play Company, in association with John Adrian Selzer, announce a second extension of the U.S. premiere of debbie tucker green's generations to November 23. The production, which opened on October 12, was declared a New York Times Critics' Pick by Charles Isherwood who called it 'a singular theatrical experience,' noting 'that the play reverberates in your mind and heart long afterward, like the taste of a great meal that you savor for days.' In her Time Out New York Critic's Pick review, Helen Shaw called it 'a devastating aria,' while Hilton Als in The New Yorker called it 'a miniature spectacle' that 'is filled with so much warmth and thought that the feeling it imparts lasts for a long time after you've left the theatre.'

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. and The Play Company, in association with John Adrian Selzer, extend the U.S. premiere of debbie tucker green's generations to November 9. The production, which opens on October 12, reunites the playwright with director Leah C. Gardiner, who worked together on the OBIE Award-winning 2011 production of born bad. generations features a 13-person choir led by music director Bongi Duma (The Lion King). The cast includes Shyko Amos (An Octoroon), Mamoudou Athie, Khail Toi Bryant (The Lion King), Ntombikhona Dlamini (Sarafina!), Thuli Dumakude (The Lion King, Poppie Nongena), Jonathan Peck (The Lion in Winter) and Michael Rogers (born bad, Breakfast With Mugabe).

I have to admit, it's hard for me to get exited about stage adaptations of the Cinderella story. Growing up, I had Rogers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA starring Julie Andrews crammed down my throat. The 1997 version starring Brandy promised to be a fresh and relevant take on the material, but I was not impressed. Now, the New York Theatre Scene is about to welcome Rogers and Hammerstein's version on Broadway. But, maybe they need to reexamine things because at Houston's Ensemble Theatre the African-American Shakespeare Company and Carlton Leake version of CINDERELLA is captivating, powerful, and beautiful! This well-liked and exhilarating piece of theatre is back by popular demand and being presented for its third time at Ensemble Theatre.