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Lee Summers
Lee Summers (born 1958) is an American theatre, television and film actor, singer, librettist, composer, director and theatre producer best known for creating and producing Off-Broadway's '' From My Hometown''. As a director, Summers is a two-time winner of both 2022 and 2018 Audelco Awards for 'Best Director of a Musical' for "Ella, First Lady of Song" and "On Kentucky Avenue," respectively. As an actor, Summers was nominated for the 2018 Audelco Award for 'Best Featured Actor in a Musical,' for "On Kentucky Avenue. "Summers has appeared on Broadway and in numerous TV/Film roles, such as Core FOI (Fruit of Islam) in Malcolm X, a neurosurgeon on Law & Order; a turn-of-the-century cook on Boardwalk Empire, and as a Police Sergeant, opposite Tom Selleck on '' Blue Bloods''. Early life and career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Summers' first professional job was performing on the Showboat at Opryland USA while enrolled at Tennessee State University. An opportunity to tour singing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the state, List of United States cities by population, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the fourth most populous city in the southeastern United States, southeastern U.S. Located on the Cumberland River, the city is the center of the Nashville metropolitan area, which is one of the fastest growing in the nation. Named for Francis Nash, a general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, the city was founded in 1779. The city grew quickly due to its strategic location as a port on the Cumberland River and, in the 19th century, a railroad center. Nashville seceded with Tennessee during the American Civil War; in 1862 it was the first state capital in the Confederate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Peters (choreographer)
Michael Douglas Peters (August 6, 1948 – August 29, 1994) was an African American choreographer and director who is best known for his innovative choreography in music videos. Early life Michael Douglas Peters was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on August 6, 1948, to an African American father and a Jewish mother. His mother enrolled him in his first dance class at the age of 4 because all he ever did was dance around the house. Peters was inspired by Broadway musicals such as “My Fair Lady” and “West Side Story” to pursue a career in the performing arts. He grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn where he experienced gang wars in the neighborhood which would later inspire his choreography. Once Peters saw how much he related to “West Side Story”, he decided to pursue a career in dance. Michael attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High school of Music & Art and Performing Arts for four years. Despite his high IQ, Peters disliked school and would later drop out. He co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Nicholas
Harold Lloyd Nicholas (March 27, 1921 – July 3, 2000) was an American dancer specializing in tap. Nicholas was the younger half of the tap-dancing pair the Nicholas Brothers, known as two of the world's greatest dancers. His older brother was Fayard Nicholas. Nicholas was featured in such musicals as ''An All-Colored Vaudeville Show'' (1935), '' Stormy Weather'' (1943), '' The Pirate'' (1948), and ''The Five Heartbeats'' (1991). Life and career Early years Nicholas was born to drummer and orchestra leader Ulysses Domonick and pianist Viola Harden in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. By the age of three, his older brother Fayard enjoyed sitting in the audience of the black vaudeville theater where his parents performed, enraptured by the great performers on stage. Immersed in show business, when the Nicholases added a second son to the family, seven-year-old Fayard insisted that the child be named after his idol, Harold Lloyd, the silent-screen comedian. The two brothers soon bega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Repertory Theater ("Milwaukee Rep") is a theater company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, the group is housed in the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex, which includes the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Studio, and the Stackner Cabaret. Milwaukee Rep produces an annual production of ''A Christmas Carol'' at the Pabst Theater. It serves an annual audience of over 200,000 patrons, including over 15,000 subscribers. History After being established as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, the name was changed to Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the late 1950s, to reflect its growing catalogue of classic and contemporary plays, and a commitment to develop the resident acting community. In 1968, it moved from its original space—the Fred Miller Theatre, on Oakland Ave.—to the Todd Wehr Theater at the Performing Art Center in downtown Milwaukee. In 1974, a small warehouse was converted into the experimental Court Street Theater, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dramatists Guild Of America
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play produced in front of a paying audience or have had their work published by a major theatrical publisher. Student membership is also available for those enrolled in dramatic writing courses. The Dramatists Guild works to negotiate better contracts for playwrights in professional markets and offers recommendations for contracts in other markets. The Business Affairs division assists playwrights by reviewing contracts for productions and maintains a set of contracts for Guild members to use when licensing their work. ''The Dramatist'' is a bimonthly journal produced by the Dramatists Guild, which includes articles, interviews, and other information pertinent to playwrights. History 1912 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jenifer Lewis
Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and ''Sister Act'' (1992). Lewis is known for playing roles of mothers in the films ''What's Love Got to Do With It'' (1993), ''Poetic Justice'' (1993), ''The Preacher's Wife'' (1996), '' The Brothers'' (2001), ''The Cookout'' (2004), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012) and in the sequel ''Think Like a Man Too'' (2014), ''Baggage Claim'' (2013) and ''The Wedding Ringer'' (2015), as well as in ''The Temptations'' miniseries (1998). Lewis is known unofficially as "The Mother of Black Hollywood" (also the name of her memoir) given her frequent matriarchal film and television roles. She also provided the voice for Mama Odie in Disney's animated feature ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009), and Flo in Pixar's ''Cars'' series. Additional film roles include ''Dead Presidents'' (199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music. Carnegie Hall has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments and presents about 250 performances each season. It is also rented out to performing groups. Carnegie Hall has 3,671 seats, divided among three auditoriums. The largest one is the Stern Auditorium, a five-story auditorium with 2,804 seats. Also part of the complex are the 599-seat Zankel Hall on Seventh Avenue, as well as the 268-seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall on 57th Street. Besides the auditoriums, Carnegie Hall contains offices on its t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Guys Named Moe
''Five Guys Named Moe'' is a musical with a book by Clarke Peters and lyrics and music by Louis Jordan and others. The musical is based on an earlier musical short of the same name by Louis Jordan from 1943. It had its UK debut at the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre followed by a short run at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, before moving to the West End for over four years in, and finally premiering on Broadway in 1992. It was revived in 2010 at Edinburgh Festival, starring Peters himself, and returned later in 2010 to the theatre in which it originally premiered. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. Plot summary Nomax, whose girlfriend has left him and who is without money, finds Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe, Eat Moe, No Moe, and Little Moe emerging from his 1930s-style radio to comfort him. They sing the hit songs of songwriter and saxophonist Louis Jordan, whose new slant on jazz paved the way for rock and roll in the 1950s. Production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heather Headley
Heather Headley (born October 5, 1974) is a Trinidadian-born American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the titular role of ''Aida''. She also won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album for her album '' Audience of One''. In 2018, she recurred as Gwen Garrett on the NBC medical drama television series ''Chicago Med''. Personal life Headley was born in Trinidad, the daughter of Hannah and Eric Headley (Barbadian). In 1989, she moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the United StatesJones, Kenneth"June 10 is Heather Headley Day in Fort Wayne, IN"playbill, June 10, 2000 at the age of fifteen with her mother and brother Eric Junior when her father was offered a job as pastor of McKee Street Church of God with headquarters in Anderson, Indiana. Headley attended Northrop High School, and was a member of their resident show choir, Charisma, and starred as Fanny Brice in the school's producti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norm Lewis
Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include '' Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' The Wild Party'', and several others. Lewis was the first African-American actor to perform in the title role in Broadway's long-running production of ''Phantom of the Opera''.Hetrick, Adam and Daniels, Karu F"Norm Lewis Ends History-Making Engagement in Broadway's 'Phantom of the Opera ''Playbill''. February 7, 2015. Early life Lewis was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up in Eatonville, Florida. He graduated in 1981 from Edgewater High School, Orlando. He worked at the ''Orlando Sentinel'' prior to his acting career. Career Lewis credits the kickoff of his career to Ralph Petillo, who ran Theatre on Park in Winter Park, Florida. Lewis was featured as Agwe in the Gateway Playhouse (Bellport, New York) production of ''Once on This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories.Best Actress in a Play, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as ''A Moon for the Misbegotten'', ''110 in the Shade'', '' Carousel'', ''Ragtime'', ''Master Class'', and ''Porgy and Bess''. As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2008, her recording of Kurt Weill's ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She has a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Porter (entertainer)
William Ellis Porter II (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor, singer, writer and director. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, and he achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in '' Kinky Boots''. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. In 2014 Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for ''Kinky Boots''. Porter starred in all three seasons of the television series ''Pose'', for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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