Langston Hughes News

Just last night, the Tony Award-nominated smash hit Broadway musical After Midnight, welcomed Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis to the Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars for one night only. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photos below!

Just last night, the cast and creative team of the Tony Award-nominated smash hit Broadway musical After Midnight, welcomed back Grammy Award-winner Fantasia Barrino as "Special Guest Star.' Fantasia Barrino returns to Broadway in the role she originated for a four-week engagement (5/13/14 - 6/8/14) leading up to the Tony Awards on June 9, 2014.

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.

Some of the talented students from Rosie's Theater Kids were invited to a performance of After Midnight currently starring Vanessa Williams and soon to welcome back Fantasia Barrino. The kids were thrilled to meet some of the cast before the dazzling, awe-inspiring show. Check out photos from the special event below!

The cast of After Midnight says farewell to their most recent guest star, Vanessa Williams. Williams' last performance is on Sunday, May 11 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W. 47th Street). Set to replace Williams is The Color Purple's Fantasia Barrino.

Below you can check out photos of Warren Carlyle, nominated for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for After Midnight, in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In the Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride!

Trinity Repertory Company invites the public to remember and celebrate the life of the lateMarion Simon, former executive assistant to Trinity Rep artistic director, Adrian Hall (and later Richard Jenkins), who passed away in December at the age of 90. The memorial celebration -featuring speakers and stories about Trinity Rep's longtime friend - will take place tonight, May 7, at 2PM in Trinity Repertory Company's Dowling Theater, 201 Washington St. in Providence. The memorial service is free and open to the public - seating reservations are not necessary, but those with special seating needs should call (401) 521-1100, ext. 104.

This week's New York Times In Performance video features Vanessa Williams performing the number "I Can't Give You Anything but Love,"

The Musical Theater Project and Cleveland Public Theatre will present 'Deconstructing Kurt Weill: The American Songs' tonight, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, 2014. Both performances will be held at 7pm in the Levin Theatre at Cleveland Public Theatre.

On the eve of the Tony Award nominations, 9-time Tony Award-winner Tommy Tune threw a lavish late night party to toast the cast and orchestra of After Midnight for their seven nominations at his upper east side penthouse, catered by Creative Edge Parties. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the exclusive party below!

In the glow of its seven Tony® Award nominations, including one for Best Musical, Broadway legendTommy Tune threw a party to celebrate the show's success. Check out photos from the big event below!

In the glow of its seven Tony® Award nominations, including one for Best Musical, producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis announced today that a trio of true music legends will make their way to Broadway this summer in After Midnight. Multi-award winning icons Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole (making her Broadway debut) are set to join the illustrious roster of 'Special Guest Star' vocalists in the red hot Broadway musical.

Actor Sharif Atkins ('White Collar,' 'Hawaii,' 'ER') will star as Clay in the co-production of 'Dutchman' by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) and The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH). The two theater companies are mounting the production 50 years after the March 1964 world premiere of the play at the Cherry Lane Theatre and in tribute to the late theater great Baraka, who died on January 9. Ambien Mitchell stars opposite Atkins as Lula and Lorenzo Scott joins the cast as the Conductor. Previews of the Carl Cofield-directed show begin tonight, April 30 and run through May 2, and performances run from May 3 through May 23 at National Black Theatre in Harlem.

Last month New Brooklyn Theater concluded their seven-week run of Edward Albee's The Death of Bessie Smith at Interfaith Medical Center. Approximately 1800 people saw the show, 22 of 28 performances were sold out, and, thanks in part to renewed public pressure, the hospital has been given a new lease on life: Interfaith is expected to emerge out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on May 14, 2014.

The Ensemble Theatre's Act One Young Professionals celebrate National Poetry Month with their 3rd Annual Poetry Event entitled: Drama-try[Tree]: A Dramatic Night of Poetry, tonight, April 26, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the theatre's Performance Centre space.

The show has not yet recorded a cast album, but BroadwayWorld has stumbled open the official live recording of the new musical- which has recently been falling into the hands of Tony nominators and voters. Below, check out a first listen to six hot tracks from the production; 'Zaz Zuh Zaz', 'Opening/Daybreak Express,' 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love,' 'Women Be Wise,' 'Diga Diga Doo,' and 'Cotton Club Stomp.'

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only tonight, April 23 and April 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.

After Midnight, Broadway's smash hit Cotton Club musical, and recent 5-time Outer Critic Circle 2014 nominee, will celebrate Duke Ellington's birthday (April 29) and Jazz Appreciation Month with a week of special activities throughout the city. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle and featuring the big-band sounds of nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars, After Midnight performs at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street).

James Lapine's adaptation of Moss Hart's classic autobiography is a love letter to Broadway.