Mos Def News

Known as the place 'Where Hip Hop Lives,' New York's globally recognized, #1 radio station HOT 97 WQHT is teaming up with VH1 to take viewers on a behind-the-scenes look into the Big Apple's go-to destination for Hip Hop and R&B with the debut of 'This Is HOT 97.'

According to a casting breakdown, THE HAMILTON MIXTAPE, a new musical by Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, will get a New York City workshop this spring. The project will be produced by the Public Theater and will feature direction by Thomas Kail, musical supervision by Alex Lacamoire and choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler.

As award season gets into full swing, Brits in LA, with presenting partner Jaguar North America announced that the 7th Annual 'Toscars' at The Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, CA, will take place on the evening of Feb 26, 2014, benefiting the UKares Foundation charity. The Toscars is a live event that parodies the biggest award show of the year. Ten teams of ten people have 3 weeks in which to make spoofs upon the nominated films for Best Feature at the Academy Awards. The Whacademy made up of a team of experts in their field, hand selected from the Entertainment industry, decide the winners in ten categories including Best Whactor and Whactress. This year's comedy event will be hosted by Glee's Alex Newell, who plays Unique on the show. 'I'm excited to host this year's event. It's for a great cause and it's a chance for the celebs to let their hair down and have a lot of fun during an intense awards season.' --

The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced today that esteemed critic and longtime judge of the awards, Michael Feingold, will serve as Obie Chairman for the 59th Annual Village Voice OBIE Awards, to be presented Monday, May 19, at Webster Hall.

Across the United States, Pacha's Pajamas is the first and only full-length Children's Pop Musical making a philanthropic footprint along the way. The musical movement features local up-and-coming superstars: Les Nubians, an internationally acclaimed Grammy-nominated group that resides in Brooklyn, Devyn Tyson, an 11 year-old Trinidadian singer from Brooklyn, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) from Brooklyn, Talib Kweli from Brooklyn, MacArthur Genius fellow, Majora Carter from the South Bronx, and Bill McKibben, an award-winning author/founder of 350.org, which is based in Brooklyn.

COCA presents the first show in its new performance series, COCA Presents 2013-2014, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, today and tomorrow, October 19-20, 2013, in COCA's Founders' Theatre. Purveyor of family hip-hop at its finest, recording artist 23 Skidoo has captivated crowds internationally with his own funky brand of half-pint party music. Combining deft wordplay, great storytelling and pure positivity on top of thumping drums and sophisticated multi-instrumental pieces, 23 Skidoo speaks to kids and parents alike, without ever condescending. Recommended for ages 3 to 10.

La Jolla Playhouse announces a fifth production for its 2013/14 season: the world premiere of The Tallest Tree, a new play with music written and performed by Daniel Beaty (Emergency, Through the Night), directed by Moises Kaufman (I Am My Own Wife, The Laramie Project). A co-production with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Tallest Tree will run in The Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre tonight, October 9 - November 3, 2013. The piece is produced in association with Tectonic Theater Project.

Broadway Records is proud to announce the release of LIZZIE, a theatrical concept double album, due for release onOctober 8, 2013. It is available for pre-order at http://amzn.com/B00CIIFKAM.

COCA presents the first show in its new performance series, COCA Presents 2013-2014, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, October 19-20, 2013, in COCA's Founders' Theatre. Purveyor of family hip-hop at its finest, recording artist 23 Skidoo has captivated crowds internationally with his own funky brand of half-pint party music. Combining deft wordplay, great storytelling and pure positivity on top of thumping drums and sophisticated multi-instrumental pieces, 23 Skidoo speaks to kids and parents alike, without ever condescending.

Another Production Company will produce a staged play reading of Suzan-Lori Parks 'Pulitzer Prize winning play Topdog/Underdog. The play tells the darkly comic fable of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. The brothers, who have been abandoned by their parents and fallen through the cracks of our social service system, are haunted by their past and forced to confront the shattering reality of their future.

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with Ethan Peck, Florencia Lozano and Steven Rattazzi, joining Grammy-nominated musicians Jory Vinikour and Jose Lemos in the return of 'THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS' tonight, September 19 and the 21st, 2013.

Another Production Company will produce a staged play reading of Suzan-Lori Parks 'Pulitzer Prize winning play Topdog/Underdog. The play tells the darkly comic fable of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. The brothers, who have been abandoned by their parents and fallen through the cracks of our social service system, are haunted by their past and forced to confront the shattering reality of their future.

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with Ethan Peck, Florencia Lozano and Steven Rattazzi, joining Grammy-nominated musicians Jory Vinikour and Jose Lemos in the return of 'THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS' on September 19 and 21, 2013.

The world premiere of The Tallest Tree in the Forest, a new work about the life of African-American performer and activist Paul Robeson, written and performed by Daniel Beaty and directed by Moises Kaufman, opens tonight, September 6 at Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

The world premiere of The Tallest Tree in the Forest, a new work about the life of African-American performer and activist Paul Robeson, written and performed by Daniel Beaty and directed by Moises Kaufman, opens Friday, September 6 at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. The show runs through September 28 at the Rep's downtown theatre Copaken Stage, 13th and Walnut Streets.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre will kick off its 2013-14 season with the world premiere of The Tallest Tree in the Forest, a new work about the life of African-American performer and activist Paul Robeson, written and performed by Daniel Beaty and directed by Moises Kaufman. The show runs tonight, August 30-September 28 at the Rep's downtown theatre Copaken Stage, 13th and Walnut Streets. The Tallest Tree in the Forest is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse.

LegendFactory Live presents 'The Truth Serum' at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) tonight, August 29 at 8 p.m. with headliner India.Arie, a multi-platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning artist who will perform with The Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Leading gig bag and instrument case maker Reunion Blues officially welcomes Grammy Award winning saxophonist and composer Kebbi Williams to it's growing family of artists.

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with the return of 'THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS'.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre will kick off its 2013-14 season with the world premiere of The Tallest Tree in the Forest, a new work about the life of African-American performer and activist Paul Robeson, written and performed by Daniel Beaty and directed by Moises Kaufman. The show runs August 30-September 28 at the Rep's downtown theatre Copaken Stage, 13th and Walnut Streets. The Tallest Tree in the Forest is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse.