Leslie Uggams News

The COLUMN AWARDS Board of Directors and the Executive Director/Producer announced today that Tony Award winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Chita Rivera will be the Co-host for the 13th Annual COLUMN AWARDS Gala.

Sunday, January 29 at 2:00pm at the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Philharmonic will present violinist Deborah Buck-concertmaster of the Brooklyn Phil since 2007-in recital with pianist Molly Morkoski.

Geva Theatre Center's 2011-2012 Season continues with Lorraine Hansberry's classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, which begins performances on February 21 and runs in the Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage through March 25.

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

Tony Award-winner Leslie Uggams has joined the cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream, to be presented by New York City Center Encores! series, March 28 - April 1. Ms. Uggams will play Fauna, the proprietress of the Bear Flag Cafe, the local brothel.

The COLUMN AWARDS Board of Directors and the Executive Director/Producer announced today that Tony Award winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Chita Rivera will be the Co-host for the 13th Annual COLUMN AWARDS Gala.

The Old Globe today announced principal casting for the Globe's 2012 Shakespeare Festival. Craig Noel Award winner Jay Whittaker returns to the Festival for his third consecutive season to appear in the title role of William Shakespeare's Richard III. He will also appear as Oliver in Shakespeare's As You Like It. Also returning to the Festival are Craig Noel Award winner Robert Foxworth and Adrian Sparks, who will take to the courtroom floor as titanic lawyers Henry Drummond and Matthew Harrison Brady, respectively, in the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee classic Inherit the Wind. Foxworth, an Old Globe Associate Artist, will also play Lord Hastings in Richard III, and Sparks will play Lord Mayor of London in Richard III and Corin in As You Like It. Festival veteran Dana Green will star as Rosalind, and Dan Amboyer, new to the Festival stage, will play Orlando, the object of her affections, in As You Like It. Green will also play Queen Elizabeth in Richard III. Amboyer will also be featured as Bertram Cates in Inherit the Wind and the Earl of Richmond in Richard III. Festival newcomer Jacques C. Smith will play Jacques in As You Like It, the Duke of Buckingham in Richard III and Mr. Meeker in Inherit the Wind. Adrian Noble returns for his third outing as Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Festival and will helm As You Like It and Inherit the Wind. Renowned British director Lindsay Posner makes his debut at the Globe with his production of Richard III. Noble recently directed the World Premiere stage version of The King's Speech, which is currently touring England, and Posner's hit revival of Noises Off is currently playing at London's Old Vic and will transfer to the West End in March. The 2012 Shakespeare Festival, performed in repertory in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, runs June 3 - Sept. 30, 2012.

In Reboot!, Peg McCormick makes her Duplex Cabaret Theatre debut dealing with the many reasons, consequences and benefits that lead us to start over, begin again, erase, rewind, or reboot our lives.

Carolyn Griffin has announced that MetroStage will be presenting the premiere of a new musical, Josephine Tonight, with book and lyrics by Sherman Yellen, and music by Wally Harper, Jan. 26-Mar. 18, 2012.

Call it the biography of a place, a collaborative memoir, a history-but whatever you call it, The Persian Room Presents will transport you to the most elegant and magical night spot New York has ever known. In this dishy, personal, and compulsively readable book, dozens of celebrities reminisce about their experiences performing and partying at the Plaza and they all agree on one thing: there's never been anyplace like it.

Carolyn Griffin has announced that MetroStage will be presenting the premiere of a new musical, Josephine Tonight, with book and lyrics by Sherman Yellen, and music by Wally Harper, Jan. 26-Mar. 18, 2012.

Geva Theatre Center's 2011-2012 Season continues with Lorraine Hansberry's classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, which begins performances on February 21 and runs in the Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage through March 25.

In Reboot!, Peg McCormick makes her Duplex Cabaret Theatre debut dealing with the many reasons, consequences and benefits that lead us to start over, begin again, erase, rewind, or reboot our lives.

Today in 1931, Broadway veteran James Earl Jones was born. He has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. He has acted in many Shakespearean roles: Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet. On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn. In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre. In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre. In November 2011, Jones starred in Driving Miss Daisy in London's West End, and on November 12 Jones received his honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, and recording artist Leslie Uggams will appear on "Oprah and the Legendary Cast of 'Roots' 35 Years Later," an anniversary special to air on Monday, January 16 (Martin Luther King Day) at 8 p.m.

Amas Musical Theatre will celebrate its 43rd Year with a Gala evening on Monday, April 2th, featuring a special concert by Tony-Winner, Lillias White. The Amas Benefit Event honors the iconic restaurateur, author and transcultural lifestyle pioneer B. Smith with the "Rosie Award." The event takes place at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, East 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, at 7pm.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, and recording artist Leslie Uggams will appear on "Oprah and the Legendary Cast of 'Roots' 35 Years Later," an anniversary special to air on Monday, January 16 (Martin Luther King Day) at 8 p.m.

Shake, Rattle & Roll, the new 1950's style musical revue swizzles into Florida Studio Theatre's (FST) Goldstein Cabaret Theatre (1241 N. Palm Avenue) on Wednesday, January 4 at 7:30pm.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announces an OWN special event, OPRAH AND THE LEGENDARY CAST OF 'ROOTS' 35 YEARS LATER. The special will air on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 16 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT).

Shake, Rattle & Roll, the new 1950's style musical revue swizzles into Florida Studio Theatre's (FST) Goldstein Cabaret Theatre (1241 N. Palm Avenue) on Wednesday, January 4 at 7:30pm.