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Posts tagged as ““Rent””

MUSIC MONDAY: Stevie Wonder At The Movies (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: Stevie Wonder At The Movies (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 11, 2020

So many generations have grown up listening to Stevie Wonder that people often refer to his music as “the soundtrack” to their lives.

Though his songs have appeared in countless movies over the decades, Stevie has also done literal soundtrack work during his career, contributing tracks and sometimes full albums worth of original music to over half a dozen movies.

Wonder even won an Original Song Academy Award for “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” his chart-topping hit from the 1984 movie “The Woman in Red.”

As Good Black News continues its month-long tribute to Stevie Wonder as he turns 70, Marlon West has compiled a new Spotify playlist celebrating Wonder’s unique contributions to cinema.

In Marlon’s words:

“STEVIE AT THE MOVIES is another playlist devoted to the talent and impact of Stevie Wonder his birthday month of May.

My love of moviemaking and Stevie Wonder’s music resulted in the playlist of his work for films. He’s written and contributed to songs for many movies including “The Outsiders,” “The Last Dragon,” “The Adventures Of Pinocchio” and “Rent.”

He has written and produced motion picture soundtracks for “The Secret Life of Plants,” (the full album title is “Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants”) “The Woman in Red” and “Jungle Fever.”

I have included a few Stevie Wonder “needle drops” from films like “Glory Road,” “Poetic Justice,” “The Thing,” “Dead Presidents,” “Almost Famous,” “High Fidelity,” and others.

I couldn’t resist including “Gangsta’s Paradise” from the Michelle Pfeiffer-starring film “Dangerous Minds,” which of course contains a sample of “Pastime Paradise” from 1976’s “Songs In The Key Of Life.”

As always, stay, sane, safe, and kind. Take care.”

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:4dZTbbFZYNLoJj4wgNvAbf”/]

(FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

"Hamilton" Documentary to Air on PBS this Fall

By goodblacknews on January 19, 2016
Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the musical “Hamilton” at the Richard Rodgers Theater.
Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the musical “Hamilton” at the Richard Rodgers Theater. (Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)

The hit musical “Hamilton” will be the subject of a documentary film scheduled to air on PBS this fall.

The public broadcasting network announced Monday that it would air “Hamilton’s America” as part of its Great Performances series this fall.

The documentary is being produced by RadicalMedia, which previously made a documentary about “In the Heights,” a musical composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also created “Hamilton.” The film company has a long relationship with Mr. Miranda and with Jeffrey Seller, the lead producer of “Hamilton.” RadicalMedia also previously filmed Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop-improv group with which Mr. Miranda performs, as well as the final Broadway performance of “Rent,” a musical that was co-produced by Mr. Seller.

The filmmakers started shooting the documentary in 2013, two years before the show arrived on Broadway, and have footage of visits by the creative team to historic sites associated with Alexander Hamilton, whose life is the basis of the musical. The film will also feature scenes from the show, and a look at the life of Hamilton, according to Dave Sirulnick, one of RadicalMedia’s executives.

The making of “Hamilton” has been heavily chronicled in print and on television, and Mr. Miranda is now wrapping up a book about the show, but Mr. Sirulnick said that in the documentary “the storytelling is going to be very fresh” and will offer a close-up view of the creative team at work.

article by Michael Paulson via nytimes.com

CBS Sets Talent Deals with Trio of Actors From Diversity Showcase

By goodblacknews on February 27, 2014
CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy
Pictured: Drew Tarver, Nico Santos and Haneefah Wood
CBS Entertainment and CBS Television Studios have signed talent holding deals with three performers featured in the network’s annual Diversity Comedy Showcase event held in January.  Drew Tarver has been cast in CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” spinoff “How I Met Your Dad.” Tarver has appeared on “Animal Practice,” “Newreaders” and has created and starred in several “Funny or Die” videos.
Nico Santos and Haneefah Wood have also landed holding deals.
CBS’ annual talent showcase aims to open doors for actors and writers from a range of backgrounds, not only at CBS but with casting directors and executives in the business. This year’s event, held Jan. 22-23 at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, featured 22 actors and writers selected from more than 2,500 audiences.  Santos has appeared as a recurring panelist on “Chelsea Lately’s” round table and as a co-star on “Ground Floor.”  He is also known in the stand-up comedy circuit having performed at the Improv, Laugh Factory and Comedy Store in Hollywood.
Wood comes from a theater background and has had roles in the Broadway productions of “Rent,” “Avenue Q,” and “Brooklyn.”
article by Nikara Johns via Variety.com