Gladys & Patti Together On Broadway ?

[milven]

After Midnight: Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle to star?


It is rumored that Grammy award-winning recording artists Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle may potentially return to Broadway as special guest star vocalists in After Midnight.

There is currently no official casting or dates informaton for their engagements.

Gladys Knight made her Broadway debut in 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at the Virginia Theatre [[now called the August Wilson Theatre) in May 1999. Patti LaBelle has already appeared on Broadway in 'Fela!' [[2010) and 'Your Arms Too Short To Box With God' [[1982). She has also staged her own concerts on Broadway in 1998, 1986 and 1984.

After Midnight currently guest stars Vanessa Williams until 11 May 2014, who follows in the footsteps of other well-known recording artists, including Fantasia, K. D. Lang, Toni Braxton and Babyface.

After Midnight - a new production of Cotton Club Parade - opened at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 03 Nov 2013, following previews from 18 Oct 2013.

The regular cast of After Midnight features Dulé Hill, who leads the audience through the Harlem Renaissance as 'The Host'; Tony Award-winner Adriane Lenox [['Doubt') reprising her role as the blues singer with a sense of humor; Julius "Iglide" Chisholm from the dance crew RemoteKontrol, reimagining Harlem's popular 1920's "snakehips" dance; hip hop performer Virgil J. Gadson; Tony Award-nominated modern dancer Karine Plantadit [['Come Fly Away'); Michael Jackson's tap coach Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and tap-dancing choreographer Jared Grimes.

The cast also includes a male quartet comprised of Grammy Award-nominee and member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band Everett Bradley, Cedric Neal, T. Oliver Reid and Monroe Kent; a female trio of Broadway vets including Carmen Ruby Floyd, Rosena M. Hill Jackson and Bryonha Marie Parham;and dancers Marija Abney, Phillip Attmore, Christopher Broughton, Taeler Elyse Cyrus, C.K. Edwards, Danielle Herbert, Bahiyah Hibah, David Jennings, Erin Moore, Justin Prescott, Tony Award nominee Desmond Richardson [['Fosse'), Monique Smith and Daniel Watts.

After Midnight, is conceived by Jack Viertel, with direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

After Midnight celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the famed Harlem nightclub in the 1920s and '30s, when the joint was jumping with shows featuring big band swing and blues music.

The production features singers, dancers, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars, under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. The score includes songs by jazz composers of the time, including Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields [["I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Digga Digga Doo"), a young Harold Arlen [["Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,"), and the legendary Duke Ellington [["Rockin' in Rhythm," "Cotton Club Stomp," "Black and Tan Fantasy," and "Creole Love Call").

The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry provide a backdrop for an array of performances by 25 vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars.

The creative team features costumes by Isabel and Ruben Toledo, sets by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Howell Binkley and sound by Peter Hylenski.

Encores! Special event production of the jazz musical 'Cotton Club Parade,' now named After Midnight, played two runs at New York City Center in 2011 and 2012.

After Midnight is produced by Scott Sanders Productions, and Wynton Marsalis, in association with Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group; Stephen and Ruth Hendel; and Tom Kirdahy.

- by Tom Millward


http://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/n...ight558581.htm

[marv2]

This sounds like a winner!!!!

[smark21]

From how it's described, there's only one star guest singer for the show, not two, so perhaps they'll be doing this gig at different times.

[milven]

From how it's described, there's only one star guest singer for the show, not two, so perhaps they'll be doing this gig at different times.

They will be appearing separately in the show. Gladys will appear from July 8th to August 3d. I put off seeing the show when I heard that she would be in it. Got my tickets for July.

But all three were on stage tonight at Radio City for the TONY AWARDS. The whole show was entertaining. They put on a great show every year.

[jack020]

The item was too short for me, but the Tonies were great and Jennifer Hudson sang a song from the forthcoming musical Neverland

[milven]

I guess I made an error in putting off seeing this musical until Gladys Knight was in it. It is closing early. June 29th will be the final performance.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article...e-the-Atkinson