Luther Henderson News

Signature Theatre's JELLY'S LAST JAM, directed by Signature Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Signature's La Cage Aux Folles, West Side Story) and choreographed by Jared Grimes (Broadway's After Midnight), runs August 2 - September 11 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre. The musical about famed and notorious jazz entertainer Jelly Roll Morton by George C. Wolfe, Susan Birkenhead, and Luther Henderson features the music of Jelly Roll Morton. Click below to watch a teaser for the show!

Signature Theatre has announced the cast of Jelly's Last Jam directed by Signature Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Signature's La Cage Aux Folles, West Side Story) and choreographed by Jared Grimes (Broadway's After Midnight). The musical about famed and notorious jazz entertainer Jelly Roll Morton by George C. Wolfe, Susan Birkenhead, and Luther Henderson featuring the music of Jelly Roll Morton runs August 2 - September 11 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre.

Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland announce the full lineup for Signature Theatre's 2016/17 season, including the previously announced production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's FREAKY FRIDAY.

As reported by The New York Times last weekend, Billie Allen, who helped "bridge the racial gap" both on and off-Broadway in the 1950s and '60s, passed away on December 29, 2015. She was 90 years old.

The Canadian Brass will join the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet for the 20th season of its annual Holiday Brass concert, Sunday, December 13, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. The performance will feature seasonal favorites from the Baroque to contemporary; the program will be announced at a later date.

Celebrate the publication of Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War (Oxford University Press) at Barnes and Noble, 86th Street & Lexington Avenue, New York City, on Monday, September 15, 2014 at 7PM.

The League of Professional Theatre Women is pleased to present Actor/Director/Philanthropist BILLIE ALLEN for the next Oral History interview. ALLEN will sit down with Tony Award-Winning Actress PHYLICIA RASHAD to discuss her fascinating work as a theatre artist. The event will be Monday, September 22, 2014 at 6:00 pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street & Amsterdam Avenue. Admission is free, but seats will be on a first-come-first-seated basis.

It was the great Marcus Garvey who said 'Be as proud of your race today as our fathers were in days of yore. We have beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.'

The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is pleased to present Quarterly Networking Mondays, Presidents Day: Celebrating LPTW Presidents and Founders--The Ultimate Give and Get on Monday, February 17, 2014 at 6:00 pm at the TheaterLab, 357 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor. This historic event is an opportunity to network with like-minded colleagues and to learn from the seasoned theatre professionals who founded and served as President of LPTW. Tickets are FREE for members, $15 for non-members, available at http://LPTWNetworkingPresidentsDay.bpt.me or by calling: 1-800-838-3006 www.BrownPaperTickets.com

The Lake Worth Playhouse jives and wails with a musical tribute to the greats of the jazz era with Ain't Misbehavin,' a musical biography celebrating the life of Thomas 'Fats' Waller with humor and style.

During the 2013/14 Season an epic slate of personalities and productions awaits you on the Quadracci Powerhouse stage! The monumental, moving, and Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime gives us a glimpse at the early 20th century life of three distinct groups of people, while the side-splitting comedy, Noises Off, peeks behind the curtain at a group of struggling actors. The tumultuous final days of Judy Garland unfold before our eyes in End of the Rainbow, a single virtuoso artist will lead a blazing, contemporary retelling of a Homer classic in An Iliad, and the dynamic birth of Superman will be explored with The History of Invulnerability, forever changing the way we look at superheroes.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced the dynamic directors and creative teams selected for the 2013/14 Season, The Rep's 60th Anniversary. These talented directors and creative teams will help The Rep continue in its commitment to offer brave, challenging, entertaining, stimulating, thought-provoking and vital works with a distinctive aesthetic.

Theatre Tuscaloosa will present Ain't Misbehavin' tonight, February 8-17 in the Bean-Brown Theatre on Shelton State's Martin Campus. Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz, with musical adaptations, orchestrations and arrangements by Luther Henderson, Ain't Misbehavin' pays tribute to Harlem Renaissance musician Thomas 'Fats' Waller.

Theatre Tuscaloosa will present Ain't Misbehavin' February 8-17 in the Bean-Brown Theatre on Shelton State's Martin Campus. Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz, with musical adaptations, orchestrations and arrangements by Luther Henderson, Ain't Misbehavin' pays tribute to Harlem Renaissance musician Thomas 'Fats' Waller.

STAGES ST. LOUIS today announced its 26th season! The season is a journey into the luminous sounds of the American composer. The season begins with the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Ain't Misbehavin', The Fats Waller Musical, which explores the ground-breaking time of the Harlem cultural renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s.

Where you could possibly find five more charming and engaging performers than the cast assembled by director/choreographer Ryan Bowie for his winning revival of Ain't Misbehavin' - now onstage through March 5 at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre - is beyond me! These five dazzling entertainers deliver a musical jolt of electricity that completely enlivens the dark, frigid days of winter, taking audiences on a musical and historical journey through the Harlem Renaissance via the life and career of Mrs. Waller's bouncing 250-pound baby boy, Thomas - better known as 'Fats.'

Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).

Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).

Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).