Lena Horne News

'What could be better than a play that asks you to shout? Well, one that asks you to sing. All this fun is part of an updated version of 'The Brave Little Tailor...' My son also thought of another reason that Seven in One Blow is the greatest play ever: the actors pass out candy at the end.'-The New York Times

Veteran entertainer Eddie Griffin is back for his third SHOWTIME comedy special, EDDIE GRIFFIN: E-NIGGMA, premiering on Friday, December 6 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The hour-long special is filmed at the restored, historic landmark Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, home to many iconic performers including Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Lena Horne. Griffin's unapologetic storytelling canvasses his 30-plus year comedy career and offers an intimate glimpse into the 10th year of his nightly Las Vegas residency, The Eddie Griffin Experience. Through his quick wit and a fiery rhetoric, Griffin flexes his perspective on a number of personal family situations and real-world issues while teaching sociopolitical and hypothetical history lessons along the way.

The Town Hall today announced the inaugural Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact, the first major entertainment award to be named after a woman of color, honoring excellence at the intersection of arts and activism. The award, named after the celebrated actress, singer and activist Lena Horne, will recognize today's leading artists that are using their platform to promote awareness and create social change, and will be presented to the soon-to-be-announced recipient at an event at The Town Hall, a national historic landmark, in February 2020. The recipient of the Lena Horne Prize was selected by an advisory board that includes Lena Horne's daughter Gail Lumet Buckley, as well as an esteemed list of entertainers and philanthropists including Harry Belafonte, Billy Porter, Judy Collins, Deesha Dyer, Roxane Gay, Bob Santelli, Bruce Cohen, Jose Antonio Vargas, and more. The recipient will receive a $100,000 donation to be directed to a charity of their choice.

The Town Hall today announced the inaugural Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact, the first major entertainment award to be named after a woman of color, honoring excellence at the intersection of arts and activism. The award, named after the celebrated actress, singer and activist Lena Horne, will recognize today's leading artists that are using their platform to promote awareness and create social change, and will be presented to the soon-to-be-announced recipient at an event at The Town Hall, a national historic landmark, in February 2020.

I'm certain that we will see Camille A. Brown awarded again soon. She deserves a nomination just for the performance she unleashed during this Bessie ceremony. Is there another dancer in the world whose deep scholarship comes through so clearly with every breath she or he takes?

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater presents a fully staged production of Wrinkles, the Musical. With book and lyrics by Wilderness Sarchild and Naomi Turner, Wrinkles, the Musical is directed by Dani Davis and runs October 18-27, with performances at 7:30 p.m.

Jazz artist Sylvia Brooks has quite a fascinating background to share with us. In her live concert at Feinstein's Upstairs at Vitello's on October 26 she will sing from her three albums with an eclectic mix of songs. Talk about your album The Arrangement and how it became a breakout in forwarding your career. SB: Before I started to make this album, I was in a bit of a quandary. I knew that I wanted to explore a variety of styles- and really didn't want to only stick with one idea in order to make the album cohesive. I love Latin music, Classic Jazz, Blues and certain pop songs that I have always wanted to record, like the Beatles 'Eleanor Rigby' and Hank Willi

Award winning jazz singer Nicolas King will swing into the historic Orinda Theatre along with 7-time Emmy Award winning jazz legend Mike Renzi for his Bay Area concert debut.

On November 16, 2019, the Auditorium Theatre continues its 130th anniversary season with a salute to the living legend Stephen Sondheim in a one-night-only event, directed and produced by local cabaret star Joan Curto.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) now beginning its 51st season, will present the third year of Dare To Be Different, a series of five new musicals and three one-night only special events from November 2a?' 24, 2019 at A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street a?' 10th Avenue & 53rd Street). For reservations, please email boxoffice@amasmusical.org or call 212-563-2565.

Amas Musical Theatre is seeking an actor to play Shakespeare's Romeo, who has time-slipped into 1960's Brooklyn, for the upcoming premiere production (January 2020) of a?oeRomeo and Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn,a?? with a book by Mark Saltzman and music based on classic Italian melodies. Justin Ross Cohen is set to direct.

When best friends make art together, it's the best thing ever... unless the art they are making involves Liza Minnelli, and then it becomes even better.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) today announced the second year of The Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists, a juried cash and production grant to be given annually to support the early work and career of a deserving musical theatre librettist. The Award commemorates the life and work of playwright/librettist Eric H. Weinberger (1950-2017), who was a Drama Desk Award nominee for Best Book of a Musical (Wanda's World, and the playwright/librettist of Class Mothers '68, that earned Pricilla Lopez a Drama Desk Award nomination.

From Friday, October 11 through Thursday, October 17, BAM presents New Orleans-based artist Garrett Bradley's revelatory modern silent film America (2019), a poetic, visually sumptuous work that challenges the idea of Black cinema as a “wave,” or “movement in time,” proposing instead a continuous thread of achievement. 'From the moment I saw this blazingly original, poignantly dreamlike short at this year's Sundance Film Festival,' says series programmer Ashley Clark, 'it felt imperative to offer our audiences the chance to luxuriate in this ambitious short-form work on the big screen.' Each program throughout the series features the 30-minute short paired with films, talks, and special guest appearances.

Bay Area Cabaret opens its 16th season on Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 7:30 pm with Broadway legend Maurice Hines performing Tappin' Thru Life. Backed by the acclaimed, all-female The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and his tap protégés, The Manzari Brothers, Maurice will tap through his incredible career in a jazzy song-and-dance celebration that pays tribute to his late brother Gregorya?"with whom he appeared on the stage of The Venetian Rooma?"and other artistic influences, from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne offering his distinctive take on American standards, like Luck Be a Lady, I've Got You Under My Skin, It Don't Mean a Thing (if It Ain't Got That Swing), and much more. 

Eleven world premiere plays and musicals seen first by Chicago audiences were among those receiving nominations by the Jeff Awards, announced today. A total of 192 nominations were made in 34 categories that honor Chicago Equity theatrical productions that opened between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. During the 2018-19 season, Jeff Awards judges attended opening nights of 132 Equity productions offered by 43 producing organizations and from these openings, 112 productions were a?oeJeff Recommendeda?? and eligible for award nominations.

Venerated jazz singer Natalie Douglas spends her time paying tribute to the legendary singers who came before and, in the process, pays a well-deserved tribute to Natalie Douglas.

Bay Area Cabaret announces its 16th Season of shows that includes a stellar and diverse lineup featuring many performers making their Bay Area Cabaret debuts, as well as the return of several favorites. This season also marks Bay Area Cabaret's tenth season in residence at the legendary Venetian Room (Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason Street atop Nob Hill).

Recovering showgirl Miss Hope Springs was once the toast of Las Vegas. Now she's down on her luck and highly medicated. Join her, live at the piano, as she dusts off an array of all-original toe-tapping show tunes, finger-snapping pop and heartrending ballads from her fabulous vintage repertoire and presents her unique brand of 'sit down' comedy. You'll hear hilarious stories about her Ritz to the pits life in LA, Paris and...Dungeness. Still draped in the sequins and feathers she fled the Pink Pelican Casino wearing in 1972, this ageing ingenue is no has-been, she's the ultimate never-was.

Which Broadway shows are the longest running of all time? Which current Broadway productions have a chance of breaking the top ten? We've got the full list!