Sophisticated Ladies

Live at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater will feature a number of exciting performances from top jazz artists this October. Check out the lineup here!

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present the singular cabaret artist Maude Maggart in the premiere of her new show “Here Come the Dreamers” on Monday, October 16 at 7:00 PM.

Frank Owens, Broadway Musical Virtuoso, Former Musical Director for 'It's Showtime at the Apollo' Dies. A pianist for nearly seven decades, Owens backed talent on Broadway stages, recording studios and TV sets – backing artists from Lena Horne to The Washington Ballet.

Looking for twentieth-century aesthetics (think an Art Deco club) and swingin’ music, making your heart sing, you’re in luck. Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Ladies” is a 1981 musical revue of the back of Duke’s celebrated history. From early songs like “The Mooche” and “Mood Indigo” to later hits “I’m Beginning to See the Light” and “Satin Doll,” this vogueish revue taps (literally) the Duke’s music back on the stage where it rightfully belongs.

While the large majority of those who have won Tony Awards for performances on Broadway have put in significant stage time in their roles, there are a few notable exceptions. Who are the artists who impressed Tony voters so much that they won their trophies, even with relatively minimal stage time?

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present the return of “The Brat Pack” — featuring Broadway stars Kathryn Allison, Sam Gravitte, Luke Hawkins, and Jelani Remy – on Monday, June 12 at 7:00 PM.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present renowned pianist and singer Billy Stritch and award-winning jazz vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli in the return of their special show “Mel and Ella Swing!” on Monday, June 5 at 7:00 PM.

Vintage Theatre will present Duke Ellington's 'Sophisticated Ladies,' January 27 - March 5 2023. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Celebrate the laughter and joy of the holidays with a special box office opening of Pictures From Home beginning Monday, December 19 at Studio 54 on Broadway, coinciding with the beginning of Hanukkah.     

Tickets are now on sale for the Broadway premiere of Pictures From Home. Three of the theatre’s most inventive, inspired and award-winning artists will return to the stage, bringing to vivid theatrical life a comic and dramatic portrait of a mother, a father and the son who photographed their lives.

What did our critic think of Celebrating Sondheim with The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Kleinhans Musical Hall?

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the current roster of music theatre and cabaret talent performing in this year’s annual Chicago Sings fundraising concert, Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim, Monday, May 23, at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present vocalist and pianist Steve Ross – widely heralded as “The Crown Prince of New York Cabaret” – in a special show celebrating spring on Monday, April 18 at 7:00 PM.

The highly anticipated Broadway revival of Funny Girl is beginning performances tonight, March 26, at the August Wilson Theatre, ahead of an official opening on April 24. Meet the cast bringing this iconic show back to the stage!

Singer Freda Payne, the celebrated singer of the disco-era top-charter “Band of Gold,” will bring her acclaimed “Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald” to Bucks County Playhouse for ten concerts, August 26 through September 5.

The criteria are that these shows have been nominated for Best Musical from the 3rd Tony Awards (the ceremony that started the Best Musical category) in 1949 to the nominations of what will now be the 74th Tony Awards in 2021. I will be determining their signs based upon their Broadway premiere date. With those rules in mind, here we go!

Stars in the House continues tonight (8pm ET) with a Sophisticated Ladies Reunion!  Duke Ellington: The Music That Defined A Century with Mercedes Ellington, Judith Jamison, Teri Klausner, Ty Stephens and guest hosts Erich McMillian-McCall and Kenneth Hanson.

25-time Tony Award-Winning Producer Roger Berlind Has Passed Away at 90. Berlind had produced or co-produced shows including “The Book of Mormon,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “City of Angels” and revivals of “Guys and Dolls” and “Kiss Me, Kate,” plus many more. 

BroadwayWorld put together a list of all the live action musicals you can stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, BroadwayHD, and Disney Plus. Are you looking for something to get your mind off… all of this? So are we. Because everyone needs some escape,

Visit our list of the best musicals & shows you can watch from home! We've got you covered with all the must-sees on streaming sites.

Today's top stories: Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf will lead a revival of Death of a Salesman in 2021, and more!

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Paula Kelly, actress of stage and screen, has died. She was 76. Kelly made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Veloz in the 1964 musical Something More!, alongside Barbara Cook. Her other Broadway credits include The Dozens (1969), Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971), Ovid's Metamorphoses (1971), and Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies (1981).

BroadwayHD, the premiere streaming service for theater fans, is kicking off September with everyone dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock. Making its streaming premiere exclusively on BroadwayHD, Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, an infectiously fun and riotous rock and roll time capsule of top 40 hits captured live-in-performance on Broadway will debut September 12 . Grammy Award winners Jerry Leiber and Michael Stoller wrote hit songs for great artists such a King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, The Drifters, The Coasters and Peggy Lee. Subscribers can dance and sing-along to classics including: 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Love Potion #9,' 'Hound Dog', 'On Broadway', 'Stand By Me' and other favorites. If swiveling your hips to the music of Smokey Joe's Cafe has you wanting more, continue your musical journey through the 1950s with the Best Musical Tony Award-winning performance of Memphis, featuring Tony Award-nominees Chad Kimball and Montego Glover, beginning September 26.

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance (PTAMD) returns to Lincoln Center for its annual Season at the David H. Koch Theater from October 29 to November 17, featuring the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC). Paul Taylor: Celebrate the Dancemaker honors the legacy of founder Paul Taylor, who died in 2018. 

So what does a theatre company do to keep its momentum and even up the ante after a 60th anniversary season that broke all records? Why not hire three choreographers, fourteen virtuoso singer-dancers, and an eleven-piece big band orchestra, to mount the largest dance show in its history that celebrates the music of one of America's immortal musical geniuses, Duke Ellington? That is precisely what Maine State Music Theatre has done in its 2019 season opener with its sensational all-singing, all-dancing, visually opulent extravaganza, SOPHISTICATED LADIES, that is currently blowing the roof off the Pickard with its high-octane visceral energy, heady joy, and pure lyrical magic.