Duke Ellington Week 2011 Events in NY, April 25-30

The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts is celebrating National Jazz Appreciation Month with a special week of events from April 25-30, 2011.

Monday, April 25, at 7:30 PM
30th Anniversary Sophisticated Ladies Original Cast Reunion
A 30th Anniversary Reunion Performance of the Original 1981 Broadway production of the Ellington-themed musical “Sophisticated Ladies” will be presented at Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. in New York. The musical ran 767 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater and featured Duke Ellington’s music. Many of the original cast members, including Mercedes Ellington, will perform at this reunion. Other original cast members performing include: Tye Stephens, Adrian Bailey, P.J. Benjamin, Hinton Battle, Val Pettiford, Terri Klausner, Winonna Smith, Ken Hanson, Priscilla Baskerville, Michael Lichtefeld, Faruma (“Woody”) Williams, Paula Lynn-Wagner and Bruce Heath. As with all Ellington musicals, the show features an on-stage orchestra. The cover charge is $40. Call Birdland at 212-581-3080 for reservations, which are required.

Thursday, April 28, at 9:00 PM
Ellington Eve Birthday Countdown Concert
Swing 46 Jazz & Supper Club
349 West 46th Street
Hosted at Swing 46—one of New York’s finest Jazz clubs, complete with a dance floor—The Blue Millennium Orchestra invites musicians far and wide to join them in heralding Duke Ellington’s 112th birthday in the heart of Manhattan’s theater district. The Orchestra features original Ellington alumni Patience Higgins and James Zollar on reeds and trumpet. Christopher Cherney, Director of Music Education at The Duke Ellington Center, directs the ensemble from the piano. The performance begins at 9 PM and culminates with a New-Years-Eve-style countdown to the Maestro’s birthday at midnight. At midnight, all attending musicians will be asked to get out their instruments so everyone can play “Take the A-Train” together. Mr. Cherney and the Blue Millennium Orchestra have been involved with the development and presentation of several of Ellington’s larger scale works—the suites “A Drum is a Woman” and “Such Sweet Thunder.” There will be extended excerpts from both of these little known masterpieces. The cover charge is $20, instrumentalists arriving after 11pm for the Midnight Jam will be charged $10.

Friday, April 29, at 1:00 PM
Duke Ellington Day Concert at The Duke Ellington Memorial
Fifth Avenue and 110th Street
Focusing public attention on the importance of music and arts programs in public schools, the highlight of Duke Ellington Week is a FREE musical Tribute Concert in front of the Duke Ellington Memorial Statue at the northeast corner of Central Park (110th Street and 5th Avenue)—the Gateway to Harlem.

Several school jazz bands, including The Middle School Jazz Academy of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the PS 345 Concert Band from Brooklyn, as well as Christopher Cherney’s Blue Millenium Orchestra will perform. Guest artists, including Darby Dizard and the Dance Times Square Jitterbuggers will round out the program featuring Ellington favorites. During a rousing Finale, all 60 participating musicians will join together to perform the Duke Ellington standard, “Satin Doll.” FREE: No Admission Charge

Saturday, April 30, at 5:00 PM
Duke Ellington at Woodlawn
The Woolworth Chapel • Woodlawn Cemetery • The Bronx
Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974, and—like most of New York’s Jazz Greats—was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. To commemorate his birthday, Woodlawn and The Duke Ellington Center will present a special concert of all-Ellington music. The concert will take place in The Woolworth Chapel at Woodlawn, and feature two vocalists and a four piece band under the direction of Tommy James. The concert will be introduced by Mercedes Ellington who will also present excerpts from Duke Ellington’s vast repertoire of moving poetry.

Admission: $20
Reservations required.
Please contact Woodlawn at 718-920-1470.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Multimedia: Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance Opening Night Photos: Andre De Shields, Mercedes Ellington
House of Payne’s Denise Burse on the 2011 NAACP Image Awards & Season 7; “Shout Out” Episode airs on TBS
Marva Hicks and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra light up the Southern Theatre with “A Night at the Apollo”
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
Ruby Dee, Alicia Keys, Sidney Poitier among honorees at Woodie King, Jr.’s New Federal Theatre’s 40th Anniversary Gala at Edison Ballroom on May 22
André De Shields stars in Chicago Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Victory Gardens 5/14-6/12
32nd Annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Festival at Union Square Park in NYC on May 8, 2011
Vikas Khanna’s Holy Kitchens Karma to Nirvana premieres at New York Indian Film Festival on 5/7 at Tribeca Cinemas
11th Annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), May 4-8, 2011
Video: Aroon Shivdasani interviews The Waiting City’s Samrat Chakrabarti at the 10th Annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s 30th Annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival: April 30 and May 1, 2011
Will Calhoun to Interview Bernie Worrell at ASCAP’s “I Create Music” Expo on April 30 in L.A.
KPFK 90.7: Inaugural Hero Awards & Tribute Benefit Awards Series Honoring Jazz Musician Billy Higgins on 5/1
Foremost American Taiko Artist, Kenny Endo, to perform in Tokyo on April 24 and April 30
Video: Denise Burse as Claretha Jenkins on House of Payne
Up Close and Personal with Darren Pettie, Star of The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
Vikas Khanna’s Holy Kitchens Karma to Nirvana premieres at New York Indian Film Festival on 5/7 at Tribeca Cinemas
32nd Annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Festival at Union Square Park in NYC on May 8, 2011
11th Annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), May 4-8, 2011
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s 30th Annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival: April 30 and May 1, 2011
Join Minami Tamaki LLP & Inspirational Opportunities for Youth and Seniors (IOYS) in Helping Victims of Japan Earthquake
The Dish on Susur Lee and Shang
Photos and Video of Kenny Endo’s TAIKO THUNDER at Skirball Center in NYC
Photos & Video Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas-In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”. She has appeared in Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and “New York Undercover”.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

Lia Chang: Dionne Warwick and Woodie King, Jr. Honored by Amas Musical Theatre in New York

Reginald VelJohnson, Dionne Warwick, Leslie Uggams, Woodie King, Jr., Kathy and Jim Gurfein celebrate Amas Musical Theatre’s 40th Birthday at Lighthouse International in New York on March 30, 2009. (Photo by Lia Chang)

Last  night, the Amas Musical Theatre celebrated its 40^th birthday with a powerhouse evening of performances featuring Adrian Bailey, Anton Briones, Erin Crosby, Janet Dacal, Ramon Del Barrio, Mark Stuart Eckstein, James Royce Edwards, Lauren Fijol, Harriet D. Foy, Kevin R. Free, Henry Gainza, Andre Garner, Georgia Hair, Beth Leavel, Adealani Malia, Michelle Marmolejo, Olga Merediz, Trisha Rapier, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Vivian Reed, Nicolle Rochelle, Eliseo Roman, Sandie Rosa, Erica Shroeder, Corliss Taylor Dunn, Clarke Thorell, and Kirk Torigoe, in a special “Blast from the Past” concert from four decades of Amas musicals, at Lighthouse International in New York. Directed and choreographed by Maria Torres, with musical direction by Doug Oberharmer, the benefit concert included songs and numbers from Bubbling Brown Sugar, It’s So Nice to Be Civilized, Opening Night, Barrio Babies, Zanna Don’t!, SHOUT! The Mod Musical, Four Guys Named Jose, No, No Nanette, Bobos, Starmites, Langston Hughes’s Little Ham, Latin Heat, From My Hometown, Lone Star Love, and Wanda’s World.

Amas producing artistic director Donna Trinkoff, Rosie Award honoree Woodie King, Jr. and Adrian Bailey (Photo by Lia Chang

Students of The Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy who performed included Silvan Carlson-Goodman, Lillian Crystal Collazo, Jake Gilford, Amanda Ruth Moreau, Kat Sallet and Sinai Rose Davy.

This year’s Rosie Awards, named after Amas founder Rosetta LeNoire, were presented to New Federal Theatre’s Woodie King, Jr. by Reginald VelJohnson, and to multiple Grammy winning singer Dionne Warwick by Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams.

Proceeds will benefit Amas Musical Theatre’s ongoing theatre and arts education programs.

www.amasmusical.org

About Amas Musical Theatre
Amas Musical Theatre is a non-profit, multi-ethnic theatrical organization located on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. Founded in 1968 by Ms. Rosetta LeNoire, the Amas mission is grounded in non-traditional, multi-ethnic production, education and casting. Amas Musical Theatre is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals, the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of inner-city young people. 

Amas Musical Theatre programs provide opportunities for writers, composers, and lyricists to create new work. Amas employs experienced directors, musical directors and choreographers to work with fledgling creators, allowing the veteran artists to guide and encourage the rookie creative staff. Musical Theatre programs include the Amas Six O’Clock Musical Theatre Lab, Amas Workshop Program, and Amas Mainstage Productions.

Amas works to create both new performers and new audiences through its educational and outreach programs. Performers are recruited and trained through The Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, and our in-school and after school education programming, as well as through the original works developed and produced in the Amas Lab, Workshop and Mainstage programs.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachang@hotmail.com.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
A night out with Gordana Rashovich, Flora Goforth in The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
André De Shields Set for World Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Indiana Rep, 3/22-4/10
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Multimedia: Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Photos: A.B. Cruz III and Lillian Kimura Receive 2011 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards
Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, Lia Chang in Art & Healing Exhibit at Snug Harbor on SI
Juicy Buns at Ollie’s
The Dish on Susur Lee and Shang
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

Lia Chang: Celebrating Woodie King, Jr.

Woodie King, Jr. at a reading and reception at Maysles Cinema in New York on 2/19/09. Photo by Lia Chang

In celebration of Black History Month, from February 3-21, Maysles Cinema presented Another Side of a King: Films and Literature of Woodie King, Jr.,showcasing several of King’s films including: Death of A Prophet (1981, a documentary about Malcolm X’s last 24 hours and featuring music by Max Roach; Segregating The Greatest Generation (2006), about black artists during World War II; The Long Night (1976), his first feature film; and The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six (1980)based on a true story that occurred in 1963.

I caught up with Woodie on February 19 at Maysles Cinema for an evening of readings of excerpts from his books and a book party where he autographed copies of his books and DVD’s. It was standing room only as many actors came out to show their love and appreciation for Woodie and his words. Click on the arrow below for a slideshow of the actors who participated in the readings.

Born in Alabama, the pioneering writer and director for both stage and screen,was raised in Detroit where he worked for Ford Motor Company before becoming an engineer. Dissatisfied with the state of theater and lack of roles for black actors, he began forging his own movement first in Detroit, and later in New York City where he would go on to found the New Federal Theatre. http://newfederaltheatre.org/

On March 30, Amas Musical Theatre will honor Woodie King, Jr. and multiple Grammy winning singer Dionne Warwick at its 40th annual gala, to be held at Lighthouse International (111 East 59th Street) at 7pm. Proceeds will benefit  Amas Musical Theatre’s ongoing theatre and arts education programs.

Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams will present the Rosie Award, named after founder Rosetta LeNoire, to Warwick, while television and film star Reginald VelJohnson will present the award to King.

The evening will feature a special “Blast from the Past” concert of songs and numbers from four decades of Amas Musicals, including Bubbling Brown Sugar, It’s So Nice to Be Civilized, Zanna Don’t!, SHOUT! The Mod Musical, Four Guys Named Jose, Stormy Weather, Langston Hughes’s Little Ham, From My Hometown, Lone Star Love, and Wanda’s World. Maria Torres will direct and choreograph, with musical direction by Doug Oberharmer.

Performers will include Adrian Bailey, Erin Crosby, James Royce Edwards, Harriet D. Foy, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Kevin R. Free, Andre Garner, Georgia Hair, Beth Leavel, Michelle Marmolejo, Olga Merediz, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Vivian Reed, Nicolle Rochelle, Eliseo Roman, Sandie Rosa, Erica Shroeder, Denise Summerford, Corliss Taylor Dunn, Clarke Thorell, and Chris Vettel.

For more information, call 212-563-2565 or visit www.amasmusical.org.



Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and a multimedia journalist. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden. She is currently working on several botanical portrait commissions for the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation Art Collection and on a book of portraits of her favorite Asian American men in the arts and space.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachang@hotmail.com.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
A night out with Gordana Rashovich, Flora Goforth in The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
André De Shields Set for World Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Indiana Rep, 3/22-4/10
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Multimedia: Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Photos: A.B. Cruz III and Lillian Kimura Receive 2011 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards
Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, Lia Chang in Art & Healing Exhibit at Snug Harbor on SI
Juicy Buns at Ollie’s
The Dish on Susur Lee and Shang
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.