Usher News

You won't find a better production of this masterpiece, now celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The APX are releasing their highly anticipated self-titled sophomore album Amplified Experiment! Detroit native singer/songwriter Erika Dawn alongside her prodigy multi-talented husband Dee Rhodes are an Atlanta based electro funk/soul duo collectively known as The APX. Amplified Experiment encores the duo's sound with a 2020 approach, fueled with the influence of the finest traditional 80's & 90's style funk, house, & soul. Including the previously released single Jupiter, Amplified Experiment includes a completely self-produced and masterfully crafted collection of brand new songs that will make you dance, make love, relax or all of the above! Amplified Experiment is a breath taking catalyst, ushered in by Erika Dawn's soul stirring, nostalgic powerhouse vocals, accompanied by Dee Rhodes' heart-pounding, adrenaline injected, soulful soundtrack.

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Tim Sanford, Managing Director Leslie Marcus), will, from today, May 13, through Thursday, May 16, accept entries for the Live for Five online lottery, giving out $5 tickets to the world premiere production of 2019 Whiting Award Winner Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop, (May 24-July 7), presented in association with Page 73 (Producing Artistic Director Michael Walkup, Managing Director Amanda Feldman). Directed by Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill, Buyer and Cellar) and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly (Playwrights: If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhf**ka; Ugly (Black Queer Zoo), Fairview), A Strange Loop explores the thoughts of Usher, a black, queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Michael R. Jackson's blistering, momentous new musical (and his professional debut) follows a young artist at war with a host of demons-not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head-in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop.

The Trustees of the JMK Trust today announce that Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu wins the 2019 JMK Award, this year in a new partnership with the Orange Tree Theatre, with his production of Arinze Kene's Little Baby Jesus forming a core part of the theatre's annual programming.

Starz, a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), announced today that the Lionsgate and Liberty Global-produced STARZ Original Series 'The Rook' will premiere Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at 8PM ET/PT on STARZ in the U.S. and Canada, and then on the STARZPLAY platform in Germany and Spain.

The Civilians, under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Steve Cosson and Managing Director Margaret Moll, is proud to announce a series of lively and engaging post-show salons that will follow select performances of Claire Kiechel's Paul Swan is Dead and Gone. Luminaries from the world of arts and letters will speak on various themes relevant to Paul Swan's life and work including his residency in the Carnegie Hall studios, queer performance, and mid-century ideas of camps.

'Guys And Dolls' at Arizona Broadway Theatre is a perfect sendup to golden ages musicals offering an evening full of highlights you're unlikely to find anywhere else in The Valley.

Check out our list of some of the top venues to check out when visiting Cleveland below!

Bach in Baltimore announced today the 2019/2020 Season of First Sunday Concerts, its annual series featuring the music of Baroque master J.S. Bach and his contemporaries in gorgeous sacred spaces across the Baltimore metro area, including Ellicott City, Inner Harbor Baltimore, and Towson. The 2019/2020 concert series will consist of eleven ticketed concerts that runs from October 6, 2019, to June 7, 2020.

La Comedia Dinner Theatre has the perfect way to usher in the summer with your family.  Make your way to the theatre to see Disney's NEWSIES before it leaves on June 9.

The Oxford Film Festival will be showcasing some of the best films from this year's 16th annual festival in Ocean Springs starting May 24th through the 26th featuring live music from 5:00pm-7:30pm. Film screenings will be from 7:30-10 pm. The event will take place on the lawn of The Greenhouse on Porter.

Only 90s kids will remember...That's the line, the bait, the hook that reels the audience into Death Throes by Gillies, Croft and Lui at The Blue Room Theatre. Harriet Gillies, Julia Croft and Joe Lui fell in 'artistic love' with one another at The Blue Room some time ago and decided to collaborate on a project together. Their polyamorous collab has borne something strange and unusual, something challenging, unflinching, raw, sweaty and fun.

In order to deliver studio-quality live mixes for some of music's biggest stars, renowned front-of-house mixer Kyle Hamilton uses JBL 708P monitors in rehearsal to craft a solid foundation that translates to any venue.

Today, Calexico and Iron & Wine share the gorgeous second single from their upcoming album, Years to Burn, entitled “Midnight Sun.” In “Midnight Sun,”Calexico's Joey Burns and Sam Beam of Iron & Wine trade haunted-sounding verses over shimmering steel until the song devolves into a corrosive electric lead from Burns, like a dying siren. The video makes use of over 100 paintings Beam did for the creation of the new album's cover. Working with animator Jonny Sanders, the video brings to life in a spirited and fun way, the many images of Burns, Beam and Calexico drummer John Convertino. Watch the video HERE.

Ghostlight Productions presents the comedy, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball, directed by Charles Sullivan, with performances May 3-5 at Richmond Town's County Courthouse.

Chameleon is a jazz/blues show about mental wellness, rising above adversity and beating the odds.

Award-winning screenwriter, film director, producer, and studio executive Usher Morgan is putting all his filmmaking knowledge into one information-packed book, Lessons from the Set: A DIY Guide to Your First Feature Film, from Script to Theaters.

Executive Director Thor Steingraber unveils the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts' 2019-20 Season, which features a reconsideration of Randy Newman's musical Faust, in a concert format (May 9), an opening night recital with Itzhak Perlman accompanied by Rohan De Silva, piano (September 19), and a Beethoven 250th Birthday Celebration featuring six concerts beginning with Jonathan Biss, piano (October 15 & 16); other concerts include the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio (November 13), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman, Principal Guest Conductor and Violin Soloist (January 24), Christian Tetzlaff, violin, with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (February 7), Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell (March 4) and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (March 25).

The Invitational Group, Milk & Honey Management, UMPG Australia, Island Records Australia and APRA AMCOS recently hosted their 10th Annual Songwriting Invitational in Ubud, Bali from March 31st – April 9th. 

Theatre of NOTE continues its 2019 season with ROOTS: An Evening of World Premiere Shorts,by Lisa Sanaye Dring, Phinneas Kiyomura, Erik Patterson, and Bill Robens, directed by Lee Hannah Conrads.