Little Richard Joins Kelli O'Hara in A CAPITOL FOURTH 2011 Concert in D.C.

As BroadwayWorld reported on March 31, Kelli O'Hara is set to perform at this year's 'A Capitol Fourth' in Washington D.C.  The event will air on July 4 on PBS. Little Richard has been added to the program, and will perform alongside O'Hara and accompanied by National Symphony Orchestra.

A CAPITOL FOURTH will kick off the country's 235th birthday with a musical extravaganza like no other, topped off by the most dazzling display of fireworks anywhere in the nation! The multi-award winning event will air live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network and on NPR member stations nationwide.

Little Richard is a musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s.

He was among the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and one of only four of those artists (along with Ray Charles, James Brown, and Fats Domino) to also receive the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, Penniman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  In 2007, his 1955 original hit "Tutti Frutti" was voted Number 1 by an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists on Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World. 

O'Hara has been nominated for three Tony Awards: for her performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza; for her performance as Babe Williams in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Pajama Game, where she starred alongside Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael McKean; and, most recently, for her performance as Nellie Forbush in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of South Pacific.

O'Hara was recently seen as Dot/Marie in the L.A. Reprise! concert staging of Sunday in the Park with George. She can be heard as the voice of producer Beth Totenbag on PBS's 2008 animated series Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns.

For aditional infrmation, visit: www.kelliohara.com.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos