With the success of last year’s Snoop Dogg stage play, Je’Caryous Johnson is teaming with Mathew Knowles to tell the story of Houston’s biggest girl group, Destiny’s Child! Knowles shared the news on Instagram saying, “BREAKING: @jecaryous Johnson and I are collaborating on Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical with plans for Broadway, London’s West End, and a world tour! More details coming […]
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Donald McKayle, a modern dancer and choreographer who brought the black experience in America to the Broadway stage in musicals such as “Raisin” and “Sophisticated Ladies,” has died. He was 87. His wife, Lea McKayle, told the University of California, Irvine that McKayle died Friday night. He was a UCI professor […]
The star of the Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is bringing a classic Black movie to Broadway, The Preacher’s Wife, the 1996 all-Black remake of the 1947 film The Bishop’s Wife starred Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston. Some of its memorable songs were Houston’s remake of the Four Tops’ 1983 hit I Believe In You […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Winning a Pulitzer Prize and a clutch of Tony Awards in a single one year would be enough for anyone. Not Lin-Manuel Miranda. Not in 2016. The “Hamilton” writer-composer picked up those honors and also earned a Golden Globe nomination, won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by […]
NEW YORK (AP) — The Broadway megahit “Hamilton” has already spawned a best-selling cast album, a PBS documentary and a book about its creation. Now it’s spinning off a CD by fans who happen to be some of popular music’s biggest stars. The 23-track “Hamilton Mixtape,” set for release Friday, features covers by such artists […]
For those who have given up on trying to see Hamilton on Broadway, PBS has your next best option with tomorrow night’s premiere of Hamilton’s America, a documentary hosted by the show’s creator Lin Manuel-Miranda and featuring interviews with President Obama, Nas and Questlove of The Roots, among others. The network’s Great Performances Facebook page will also […]
NEW YORK (AP) — “Hamilton,” the hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton, won the 2016 Tony Award for best new musical, capping an emotional night in which many in the Broadway community rallied to embrace the LGBT community after a shooting at a gay Florida nightclub. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury […]
Stephanie Mills will ease on down to NBC’s upcoming musical adaptation of The Wiz, itself an African American musical adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. But she won’t be playing Dorothy in this version. Mills played Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz in 1975 and in a 1984 revival, but will portray […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Tupac Shakur fans, keep ya head up: The Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me that uses songs from one of hip-hop’s greatest artists is closing after less than two months. Producers said late Monday that the show will close Sunday at the Palace Theatre after playing just 17 previews and […]
There has never been a black thespian on Broadway playing the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical Phantom of the Opera. Until now. Actor Norm Lewis, a Black Tony Award nominee, is now the lead of the longest running plays in theater history. Although he’s been a longtime Broadway actor, most folks […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A musical inspired by Tupac Shakur songs is going to bring gangsta rap to Broadway. Producers said Wednesday that “Holler If Ya Hear Me” will open at the Palace Theatre in June under the direction of Kenny Leon, who helmed the Broadway hits “Fences” and “The Mountaintop.” The new musical sets […]
Fantasia says that she’s enjoying this season in her life, starring as the featured guest in the new Broadway musical “After Midnight.” Along with host Dule Hill and some of the greatest dance and singing talent on Broadway, they recreate the feeling of the famed Cotton Club nightclub with an array of musical numbers. Fantasia […]
