Patti LaBelle Set to Return to Broadway as AFTER MIDNIGHT's Next Guest Star?

According to Out.com, music legend Patti LaBelle just attended a performance of Broadway's After Midnight, and will be the next star to join the guest lineup at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Current guest star Vanessa Williams will end her limited run on May 11, and will be followed by Fantasia, who returns on May 13.

A representative for the show released the following statement: "Ms. LaBelle did see and love AFTER MIDNIGHT, and the idea of her being in the show is beyond exciting, but we have no other news to confirm at this time."

LaBelle, is a renowned Grammy Award-winning American singer, author, and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry. LaBelle spent 16 years as lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, who changed their name to Labelle in the early 1970s and released the iconic discosong "Lady Marmalade". LaBelle started her solo career shortly after the group disbanded in 1977 and crossed over to pop music with "On My Own", "If You Asked Me To", "Stir It Up", and "New Attitude". She has also recorded R&B ballads such as "You Are My Friend", "If Only You Knew", and "Love, Need and Want You". Her previous Broadway credits include: Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Patti LaBelle on Broadway, and Fela!.

Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, the evocative new musical After Midnight takes the sexy, smoky glamour of the original Jazz Age and catapults it into a whole new era of heart-pounding, mind-blowing entertainment for modern Broadway audiences. Refracted through a contemporary lens,After Midnight celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the Cotton Club using his original arrangements and performed by a world-class big band of 17 musicians hand-picked by living jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis. The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry provide an authentic backdrop for an array of cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars, whose interpretations shatter everything you think you know about music, nightlife and Broadway.

In its heyday, the Cotton Club featured a cavalcade of guest stars each week, known then as "Celebrity Nights." After Midnight will reintroduce this exciting tradition by presenting stars of today in limited engagement appearances throughout the musical's run. Grammy Award-winning recording artist Fantasia began the tradition (10/18/13 - 2/9/14), followed by four-time Grammy Award-winning icon k.d. lang (2/11/14 - 3/9/14), Grammy Award-winners Toni Braxton & Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds (3/18/14 - 3/30/14), and multi-platinum recording artist and actress Vanessa Williams (4/1/14 - 5/11/14).

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia