Breaking News: COTTON CLUB PARADE to Open on Broadway in Fall 2013!

Producers Alan D. Marks, Barbara Marks, Wade Turnbull, Steve Hendel, Ruth Hendel, and Tom Kirdahy have just announced that Cotton Club Parade, the Encores! Special event that played two acclaimed runs at New York City Center, will arrive on Broadway this fall.

COTTON CLUB PARADE celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the famed Harlem nightclub in the 1920s and '30s, when the joint was jumping with shows featuring big band swing and blues music. The vibrant production features singers, dancers, and the world renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars, under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. The score includes songs by the greatest jazz composers of the time, including Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Digga Digga Doo"), a young Harold Arlen ("Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,"), and of course, the legendary Duke Ellington ("Rockin' in Rhythm," "Cotton Club Stomp," "Black and Tan Fantasy," and "Creole Love Call").

Theatre, casting, creative team, and ticketing information for Cotton Club Parade on Broadway will be announced in the coming weeks.

Producer Alan D. Marks said, "Audience response to this amazing production has been overwhelming. Cotton Club Parade is a once in a lifetime experience and we look forward to bringing the stellar work of Warren Carlyle, Wynton Marsalis, and our terrific team of collaborators to Broadway."

Jack Viertel, Artistic Director of New York City Center Encores! and conceiver of Cotton Club Parade said, "When we started rehearsals for Cotton Club Parade in 2011, we knew we had something very special in store for audiences. Now that we've wrapped up our second run of this show at City Center, I couldn't be more proud to have the show come to Broadway and we all look forward to having audiences fall in love with the show just as I have."

COTTON CLUB PARADE is conceived by Jack Viertel, with direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus