Purlie 1970 - Articles Page 1.8

Purlie played by Ronald Edwards is a newfangled preacher man extolling the gospel of freedom. Tanasha West partners with him in the lead as love struck Lutiebelle and the key to Purlie's plan to win back Big Bethel - the family's symbol of freedom. Crystalyn Monet joins the cast as Aunt Missy apprehensive yet committed to Purlie's ambitious plan. While, Terry Kiser embodies the realist Gitlow, 'Deputy of the Color People', Missy's husband and Purlie's brother. Brian Christopher Roberson arrived in Atlanta just in time to portray Charlie Cotchipee who openly challenges the racist ideas of the old south which drives his plantation owning, Jim Crow believing father, Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee played by Ian Scott, also a newcomer to metro Atlanta, crazy. DeEtta West, sister to Cleavon Little who won the Tony for his role as Purlie in 1970, rounds out the cast as discrete yet alert Idella Landy, Charlie's childhood nurse and a former slave.

DeEtta West is featured in the role of Idella Landy in the production of Purlie, opening at the Orange Box Theater on September 29. DeEtta accepted the role as a personal tribute to her late brother, Cleavon Little, winner of the Tony Award in 1970 for his performance as Purlie in the hit show. The show runs through October 7, 2018 (Orange Box Theater @ Mark SQuared Studios, 1804 Montreal Court, Ste B, Tucker, GA 30084)

Melba Moore - the Tony Award Winning Singer & Actress headlines A Benefit Concert For The Caribbean featuring R&B and Caribbean artists who come together to sing, speak out and raise funds and awareness for Hurricane Relief In the U.S. Virgin Islands and other parts of the Caribbean.

BroadwayWorld has learned that acclaimed actress and Broadway vet Novella Nelson died on Friday, September 1st at the age of 77. 

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW will be hosting a Reunion Concert of the 1971 Broadway musical, INNER CITY. The original Broadway production, directed by Tom O'Horgan, featured music by Helen Miller and lyrics by Eve Merriam.  The show was based on Merriam's book "The Inner City Mother Goose," a collection of updated nursery rhymes reflecting life of the disenfranchised inhabitants of America's urban inner cities circa 1970. The production ran at Broadway's Barrymore Theater from December 1971 to March 1972. Featured cast member, Linda Hopkins, was awarded a 1972 Tony Award for her performance.

Chris Isaacson Presents has announced that four-time Grammy Award nominee and Tony Award-winner Melba Moore will appear in concert at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood celebrating the release of her new CD "Forever Moore." 

UP IN THE AIR, a tribute to dance legend Louis Johnson, will take place Monday, October 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the Peter Norton Theater at Symphony Space located at 2537 Broadway in New York City. The event has two purposes: to honor the life and work of Johnson and to raise funds to complete a feature length documentary about the renowned dancer entitled UP IN THE AIR.

Melba Moore will cover legends at the Metropolitan Room, April 13 at 9:30pm.

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Melba Moore Live Covering Iconic Legends; Patti LuPone: The Lady with the Torch; Seth Sikes Is Still Singing Judy Garland; The Wedding Singer Reunion Concert; Reefer Madness Reunion Concert.

Melba Moore, a four-time Grammy nominee and winner of the 1970 Tony Award for 'Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical,' for her performance as 'Lutiebelle' in Purlie will appear at the Metropolitan Room on April 13 at 9:30 with a new show featuring songs made famous by legendary singers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Nancy Wilson, Barbra Streisand, and Diana Ross. Joining Moore will be her special guest, actor/singer/songwriter Clifton Davis, who wrote hits for The Jackson Five. With a total of 11 top ten U.S. hits on the Billboard charts over the past 40 years, both singles and albums, Melba Moore continues into the 21st century as one of pop music's most enduring artists.

Broadway fans had plenty of reasons to celebrate this year, with dozens of shows having opened since January, hundreds of actors having made their debuts, and many more having returned to the stage for critically acclaimed performances. Not all news was good though, as we also suffered a loss of an incredible amount of talent. Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2014.

Four-time Grammy Nominee and Tony Award Winner, R&B singer Melba Moore will be celebrating her birthday at Metropolitan Room on October 27 at 9:30pm. With a total of eleven top ten U.S. hits on the Billboard charts over the past 40 years, both singles and albums, Melba Moore continues into the 21st century as one of pop music's most enduring artists.

Melba Moore will play two shows at New York's Metropolitan Room on June 20, 2014, at 7pm & 9:30pm. Price $35.00 - $115.00.

As an undergraduate theater major in the early 1970s, I heard music everywhere. It seemed to pour out of every office and workspace around the department. (And in the LP era, if you wanted more than the radio, this meant schlepping a twenty pound record player and a dozen or so albums from your home to the campus, sometimes requiring back-and-forth trips from the car. If you go to that much trouble, you want to keep the music playing.) In the hushed costume shop with its quietly industrious all female staff, Broadway ruled, with Stephen Sondheim's recent Company and Follies in heavy rotation. It was 'men only' in the scene shop where I listened to male balladeers like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot while unhappily working off assigned crew hours. Jazz classes (my favorites) in the dance department were conducted to the pre-disco sounds of Isaac Hayes and the Temptations. And late night cast parties were never complete without spins of Bette Midler's first two albums.

TV Land honors the life and work of comedic actor Sherman Hemsley with a four-hour marathon of his memorable episodes of THE JEFFERSONS today, July 28th from 12pm-4pm ET/PT.

TV Land will honor the life and work of comedic actor Sherman Hemsley with a four-hour marathon of his memorable episodes of THE JEFFERSONS on Saturday, July 28th from 12pm-4pm ET/PT.

Penumbra Theatre Company and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church announce a special musical tribute to Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Penumbra Theatre Company and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church announce a special musical tribute to Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Penumbra Theatre Company and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church announce a special musical tribute to Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Disco and R&B singer Melba Moore is recording a new album, 'Forever Moore,' for Universal Motown this summer, according to the NY Post. The album will be her first in almost 20 years.

The Tony Award-winning actress and singer Melba Moore makes her Café Carlyle debut in an exclusive two-week engagement from April 26 to May 7.

Actors Equity held a celebration for the 60th Anniversary of the Gypsy Robe on Monday night, October 25th at Sequoia on Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport where past gypsy robe winners came back to reminisce and to celebrate.

Famed singer and actress Melba Moore, joins the cast of Marcia P. Samuels' musical TELL HELL I AIN'T COMIN'. The production opens in New York, September 15, 2010.

Famed singer and actress Melba Moore, joins the cast of Marcia P. Samuels' musical TELL HELL I AIN'T COMIN'. The production opens in New York, September 15, 2010.

National Jazz Museum in Harlem Events from February 22-28, 2010