Chapman Roberts News

Smokey Joe's Cafe is grooving across the stage, get a first look at the production below! The show is currently playing at The Ogunquit Playhouse (Bradford Kenney, Executive Artistic Director) through June 9 prior to the New York production. Performances at Stage 42 begin on Friday, July 6.

The Ogunquit Playhouse kicks off its 86th season with the all-new incarnation of the sizzling song and dance celebration Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller on stage May 16 to June 9. This exuberant production of the record breaking Broadway smash hit is directed and choreographed by Emmy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Josh Bergasse who will bring new life to more than 30 classic songs including 'Stand by Me,' 'I'm a Woman,' 'Hound Dog,' 'Fools Fall In Love,' 'On Broadway,' 'Yakety Yak,' 'Pearl's a Singer,' 'Treat Me Nice,' 'There Goes My Baby,' 'Love Potion #9,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' and 'Spanish Harlem.' The all-new production heads to Stage 42 (422 West 42nd Street, NYC) following its Ogunquit run.

The Ogunquit Playhouse kicks off its 86th season with the all-new incarnation of the sizzling song and dance celebration Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller on stage May 16 to June 9. This exuberant production of the record breaking Broadway smash hit is directed and choreographed by Emmy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Josh Bergasse who will bring new life to more than 30 classic songs including 'Stand by Me,' 'I'm a Woman,' 'Hound Dog,' 'Fools Fall In Love,' 'On Broadway,' 'Yakety Yak,' 'Pearl's a Singer,' 'Treat Me Nice,' 'There Goes My Baby,' 'Love Potion #9,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' and 'Spanish Harlem.' The all-new production heads to Stage 42 (422 West 42nd Street, NYC) following its Ogunquit run.

The New York-bound production of Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber & Stoller today announced the vibrant young cast who are set to reinvent the record breaking show at Stage 42 (422 West 42nd Street) this summer.

The Riant Theatre (Van Dirk Fisher, Artistic Director), a nonprofit theatre supporting playwrights and theatremakers of diverse cultural backgrounds, held the Launch Party for its annual Strawberry One-Act and Theatre Festival, which takes place from July 14th-31st. The evening included the presentation of 2016 Pioneer of the Arts Award For Outstanding Achievement In Television and Theatre to the Emmy-winning stage, film and TV actor Joe Morton, Tony Nominee and eight time AUDELCO Award winner, Andre De Shields, the acclaimed Broadway and television actress Barbara Montgomery, and multiple Grammy Award winner, Broadway musical director and arranger Chapman Roberts.

The Riant Theatre (Van Dirk Fisher, Artistic Director), a nonprofit theatre supporting playwrights and theatremakers of diverse cultural backgrounds, is holding the Launch Party for its annual Strawberry One-Act and Theatre Festival on Saturday, June 25, 2016, 3pm at the Poet's Den Theatre (309 East 108th Street, NYC). The evening will include the presentation of 2016 Pioneer of the Arts Award For Outstanding Achievement In Television and Theatre to the Emmy-winning stage, film and TV actor Joe Morton, Tony Nominee and eight time AUDELCO Award winner, Andre De Shields, the acclaimed Broadway and television actress Barbara Montgomery, and multiple Grammy Award winner, Broadway musical director and arranger Chapman Roberts. A reception with food, drinks and dancing will follow. Tickets ($50 before June 15th; $60 after that date) are available through The Riant Theatre's website (www.therianttheatre.com) and by calling the box office at 646-623-3488. They can also be purchased (cash only) at the door.

THE DAY BEFORE HEAVEN, a dramatic, autobiographical musical chronicles the journey of Crystal Johnson as she goes from early developmental stages as a vocalist and thespian on Off-Broadway blossoming into a Broadway actress, singer and songwriter signed to a major record label.

THE DAY BEFORE HEAVEN, a dramatic, autobiographical musical chronicles the journey of Crystal Johnson as she goes from early developmental stages as a vocalist and thespian on Off-Broadway blossoming into a Broadway actress, singer and songwriter signed to a major record label.

Multiple award-winning theatre, film and television actress, Ebony Jo-Ann releases her new Blues CD, Please Save Your Love for Me on her independent label, Blackgold Production on Friday, September 18th.

Some of the best musical experiences have taken place in houses of worship. Sadly, Holy Cross Church in Times Square was the location of such an occurrence on Saturday as a Requiem Mass for Jean-Claude Baker who committed suicide on January 15th 2015 was held at the historic church. The Romanesque Revival style building was constructed in 1870 and is the oldest building on 42nd Street. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the performances below!

Award-winning Broadway star Andre De Shields will be adding another honor to his mantle when he accepts the "2014 AUDELCO Award for Special Achievement" at The 42nd Annual Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, on Monday, November 17. The annual event will be held at Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway (at 95 Street) at 7:00 PM.

Emerson Theatre Collaborative (ETC), in association with Black Stars of the Great White Way - a Chapman Roberts and Richard Allen Center for Art & Culture, announces its production of the play, Hour Farther written by David Horace Greer, directed by Camilla Ross, and starring renowned stage and screen actor and singer, Kirk Taylor. Most recently, Mr. Taylor had the honor of working alongside the late Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the film, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn directed by Phillip Alden Robinson.

Emerson Theatre Collaborative (ETC), in association with Black Stars of the Great White Way - a Chapman Roberts and Richard Allen Center for Art & Culture, announces its production of the play, Hour Farther written by David Horace Greer, directed by Camilla Ross, and starring renowned stage and screen actor and singer, Kirk Taylor. Most recently, Mr. Taylor had the honor of working alongside the late Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the film, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn directed by Phillip Alden Robinson.

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.'

In the late '70s, Vivian Reed captured a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award for her work in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar, and although Reed has delivered some critically-acclaimed work in the many years since (a Tony nomination for the 1992 musical The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club and a star turn in the revue Three Mo' Divas), during the last decade she had gone and stayed away too long, mainly to take care of her ailing mother. Last November, she dipped a toe in the New York nightclub waters, producing a one-night show at 54 Below that was highly praised and offered hints of great things to come. But this past Monday night—the first of what will ultimately be a four-show run of “An Evening With Vivian Reed” (the next three dates are April 14, May 20 and June 19)—this performing powerhouse established her return in earnest. With Reed's still expressive voice tackling musical genres ranging from R & B to Jazz to Great American Songbook standards to Gospel (even a dash of Opera), her electric and passionate show was cabaret/nightclub performing as revival meeting in more ways than one. Reed is not only reviving her singing career, she is inspiring impassioned converts at the same time.

After packing the club at 254 E. 54 Street to the rafters in a quick sellout last November, the multi-award-winning singer, actress and dancer Vivian Reed performs an encore presentation of her passionate and powerful vocal stylings in unique arrangements of an eclectic lineup of R&B, jazz, gospel and musical theater songs.

High school vocalists from New York and Connecticut will compete on Saturday, June 15 at a regional for the Great American Songbook Vocal Academy & Competition. Sponsored by the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, the annual endeavor is the only U.S. competition dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century.

Broadway Choral director/arranger Chapman Roberts has created a blockbuster evening of Broadway showstoppers featuring and award winning all male cast that include Norm Lewis, Andre DeShields, Ben Vereen, Keith David, Larry Marshall, Keith Robinson, Ted Louis Levy, Omar Edwards, Frank Owens, and Longineu Parsons being held in the Queensborough Performing Arts Center (located at Queensborough Community College) 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside, New York.

The universal language of the blues 'speaks eloquently in this scorching, Tony-nominated musical! The twenty-six hot, torchy numbers that tell the sweet, sexy and sorrowful stories of four colorful inhabitants of a 1930s Chicago saloon, will leave audiences energized, inspired and ready to wail. This dynamite revue features blues classics from Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith and many more, packed into a larger-than-life score that'll bring down the house!'

Artistic Director Mark Clements yesterday announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2012/13 Season. The choice of plays includes a Tony Award-winning musical, two classics from American literature, two landmark plays written nearly 50 years apart, a musical parody of Broadway, two scintillating musical revues that celebrate the blues and the legendary music of Johnny Cash, an interactive stage show by mentalist Marc Salem and a soul-stirring hit from London and Broadway.