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Posts tagged as “entertainment”

Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams Return to Broadway in 'The Trip To Bountiful'

By goodblacknews on April 28, 2013

trip-to-bountifulAfter three weeks of previews, the Broadway production of Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful starring Emmy winner Cicely Tyson, Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr., Emmy Award nominee Vanessa Williams and Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, opened on Tuesday at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre to several rave reviews (see below). Directed by Michael Wilson and produced by Nelle Nugent, the 14-week limited engagement will end on June 30, so if you’re interested, get your tickets by clicking here.
Related Posts: 

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Xosha Roquemore Joins ‘Mindy Project’ As New Regular

By goodblacknews on April 28, 2013

Actress Xosha Roquemore has been added to the cast of Fox’s The Mindy Project as a new regular next season after doing a three-episode arc on the comedy’s current freshman season. Roquemore recently landed a major recurring role on TV Land’s new Kirstie Alley comedy series after guest starring in the pilot, but in light of the Mindy Project opportunity, the cable network let the actress out and will recast her role. Roquemore also co-stars in G.B.F., which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

Born On This Day in 1917: American Musical Legend Ella Fitzgerald

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013

Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the “First Lady of Song”, “Queen of Jazz”, and “Lady Ella”, was an American jazz vocalist with a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6). She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Fitzgerald was a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook. Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she sold 40 million copies of her 70-plus albums, won 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.
ella_fitzgeralds_96th_birthday-1212009-hpAs Google honors Ella with her own Google Doodle today (pictured left), learn more about her life and music on Wikipedia.org.  Also, it is truly worth watching all seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds of the video below as Al Jarreau and Nancy Wilson honor Ella with a spectacular version of one of her biggest hits, “A Tisket, A Tasket” at the 1988 NAACP Image Awards.  Then, after 71 year-old Fitzgerald receives her award, she sings a dynamic, swinging, commanding version of “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” that is not to be missed:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYin310AaI&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Brooklyn Academy of Music Stages All-Black ‘Julius Caesar’

By goodblacknews on April 23, 2013

The world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company returns to BAM with a new twist on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Set in present-day Africa and featuring an all-black cast, this visionary production echoes recent regime struggles throughout the continent. TheAs you find your seat at BAM’s recent production and U.S. premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Julius Caesar, a group of black actors cavort on stage, laughing and joking, casually passing the day in what appears to be a West African market place, immediately distinguishing this production of Julius Caesar from the Shakespeare you might remember from your 8th grade reading list.

Certainly less romantic, and probably for that reason less popular than say Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has nonetheless surfaced in the past year in a modern day prison in the Triviani brothers’ film Caesar Must Die, in an all-female production staged at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, and now in an all-black production by Gregory Doran, using the political upheaval that has plagued modern day Africa as its backdrop.
Doran’s interpretation takes this classic drama’s transcendent themes – the corrupting influence of personal ambition, the fickle nature of public favor, and the unreliable symbols we pursue in making meaning of the world around us, just to name a few – out of the cool, limestone halls and monuments of ancient Rome, making them work and sweat under the hot, unflinching glare of the African sun.

Australia's 1st Aboriginal Comedy Feature Film – 'Stone Bros' – Now On iTunes For US Audiences

By goodblacknews on April 22, 2013

From Tambay A. Obenson of Shadow And Act: Cinema of the African Diaspora:
Described as Australia’s answer to Harold and Kumar, as well as Cheech And Chong, and also Australia’s first indigenous comedy feature film, Stone Bros stars Aboriginal actors Luke Carroll and Leon Burchill, and is directed by Richard J Frankland.
The movie was released in Australian cinemas in September, 2009 and is now making its debut in the USA, viaiTunes, as I’ve been informed.
Previously profiled on this blog, the synopsis for the pot-fueled road-trip reads:

Sick of the city life and their dead end jobs, primo-stoner Charlie and his up-tight cousin Eddie decide it’s time to reconnect with their homegrown roots. Taking off in a beat-up Ford they spark it up on a spiritual journey across the Australian Outback to find and return a sacred stone, which Charlie lost in a blaze of confusion. To succeed they will have to survive a series of hilarious encounters with a demonically possessed dog, a depressed drag queen, a jilted ex-lover, a soul-searching cop, and a deadly spider that has come along for the ride. Only one thing is for certain, it’s going to be a blast!

While I can’t say that I’m looking forward to seeing it (I’m not really a fan of stoner comedies), I’ll check it out eventually. It’s not everyday that one gets to see an Aboriginal stoner comedy.

Morgan Freeman Starrer ‘Oblivion’ Takes Off With $38.2 Million Stateside; "42" Earns another $18 Million

By goodblacknews on April 21, 2013

‘Oblivion’ Takes Off With $38.2 Million Stateside
According to Variety.com, Universal Pictures segued a solid $61 million overseas debut for “Oblivion” last weekend into an estimated $38.2 million Stateside opening, a better-than-expected result that lifts the film’s worldwide total to $150.2 million.  Internationally, “Oblivion” has earned so far $112 million.
The $120 million-budgeted Tom Cruise/Morgan Freeman science fiction flick launched a week ago overseas to lengthen its playtime before Disney begins rolling out “Iron Man 3″ on April 24. The Marvel tentpole bows May 3 domestically.  
Warner Bros.’ second-frame holdover “42″ only dropped 34% for an estimated $18 million three-day gross. The film has reached $54 million and counting.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Hollywood Black Film Festival Adds Diaspora Sidebar, Now Accepting Films & Scripts For 2013 Edition

By goodblacknews on April 21, 2013

Full details below via press release…

Film & Script Submissions Now Being Accepted for 13th Edition of the Hollywood Black Film Festival; New FILM DIASPORA Sidebar Added

The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) — recognized as one of the leading black film festivals in the world — is now accepting submissions for the 2013 festival, to be held October 2-6, 2013 in Hollywood, CA.  Regular feature, short, student and documentary film submissions, Project Stargazer submissions, and scripts for the Storyteller Competition will be accepted through June 16.  The late deadline is July 8. 
HBFF welcomes narrative features, shorts, student and documentary films for its competitive program.  Animation films and music videos submitted are accepted for the non-competitive program only.  All films submitted must have been completed after September 1, 2012.
HBFF will introduce a new competitive sidebar this year, FILM DIASPORA, to showcase independent films and filmmakers from the African Diaspora.  Feature, short and documentary films submitted to compete in FILM DIASPORA must have been produced by filmmakers residing outside the U.S. — in Africa, the Caribbean, Central or Latin America.

‘Peeples’ Helmer Tina Gordon Chism Sells ‘Inheritance’ To Sony

By goodblacknews on April 19, 2013

Deadline.com‘s Jen Yamato reports that Peeples writer/director Tina Gordon Chism recently sold her original script Inheritance to Sony Pictures.  Inheritance is a thriller that follows a young female lawyer handling the case of a New Orleans coffee magnate whose passing sparks a deadly chain of events.  This project reteams Chism with producer Stephanie Allain following the pair’s collaboration on Lionsgate’s Peeples for Tyler Perry Studios.
That film marks Chism’s directorial debut and hits theaters on May 10.  Sony executive DeVon Franklin snapped up Inheritance for Sony; Alex Siskin is also producing with Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal for Escape Artists. The shoot is planned to take place on location in New Orleans. Chism got her start on The Cosby Show and made her screenwriting debut with Fox’s 2002 hit Drumline before scripting ATL for Warner Bros.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Amber Holcomb Jazzes Up 'Idol' Stage With Stellar Performance

By goodblacknews on April 18, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gofe3zBKhf0&w=560&h=315]
Amber Holcomb, one of the Top 5 left in the “American Idol” competition, and often called a “young Whitney Houston” by the judges, has been in the bottom two several times this season. Amber-Holcomb-of-American-Idol-interview_gallery_primaryBut after weeks of pop-tinged performances, last night she showed off her jazz chops again (the first time was in the Las Vegas sudden death rounds where she sang “My Funny Valentine“) and did an amazing vocal on the Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman standard “What Are You Doing For The Rest of Your Life?”  Hopefully her talent will be rewarded and she will be one of the Top 4 after tonight’s elimination episode on FOX.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

'The Girls In The Band' Gets A 1-Week Theatrical (Untold Stories Of Women Jazz Instrumentalists)

By goodblacknews on April 17, 2013

From Shadow and Act‘s Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com:
Web-wide reactions to this when I first wrote about this film in late 2011 was strong; lots of excited folks curious and anxious to see it, and with good reason, given the subject matter.  And some of those same people (specifically those who live in New York City) will be pleased to know that it’s getting a 1-week theatrical run at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, from May 10 – 16, after a lengthy film festival circuit run.
So if you happen to be in or around NYC during those specific dates, and you’re interested in seeing the film, here’s your chance to do so (I suspect there’ll be other similar limited theatrical runs in other parts of the country; but no confirmation of that).
A quick recap:
Director Judy Chaikin’s documentary, The Girls In The Band, highlights the untold stories of women in jazz and big band instrumentalists, from the 1930s to the present day.
I’d say, for the average enthusiast, it’s likely an easier challenge to name women jazz vocalists than instrumentalists. Images like the one above probably aren’t the first to come to mind when most of us think of jazz music. And Chaikin’s doc hopes to influence that, with this poignant narrative, which includes lots of wonderful archival footage, telling the fascinating stories about the lives and careers of these trailblazing women who endured sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continued to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them.
The film also looks at the present-day young women who are following in the footsteps of those who paved the way for them in the male-dominated world of jazz.  For more on the upcoming theatrical run, visit the Lincoln Center website HERE.
Watch the trailer below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6XDjh8gRGg&w=560&h=315]