AFTER MIDNIGHT is the Broadway production of Encores' critically acclaimed Cotton Club Parade. This heart-pounding new musical brings the sexy, smoky glamour of Harlem's Golden Age to a whole new generation. At the heart of AFTER MIDNIGHT is The Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars, an orchestra of 17 world-class musicians hand-picked by nine-time Grammy Award winner Wynton Marsalis. The timeless songs of Duke Ellington and his contemporaries--woven together by the prose of Langston Hughes--provide a backdrop for cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including an exciting roster of Special Guest Star headliners.
This thrilling experience puts you at the center of one of Harlem's legendary nightclubs, in a hotbed of Jazz - its intoxicating rhythms, its innovative style, its unpredictable danger and fun. And, as directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, AFTER MIDNIGHT blurs the line between past and present to prove that Jazz is more than music--it's a state of mind.
If the ensemble dancing never quite rises to the level of the specialty solos and duets, and if one or two concepts for production numbers fizzle, After Midnightis still an unmitigated pleasure. And it may be the best kind of pleasure: the kind that changes with time. (After Barrino leaves the show in February, scheduled guest stars include k.d. lang, Toni Braxton, and Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds.) Presumably, theatrical archeologists of the future won't have as hard a time rediscovering After Midnight as our era's transcribers did in rescuing the Ellington material. Because this is one for the record books.
As in old-school revues, 'After Midnight' highlights a range of specialty performers. While Carlyle isn't the most imaginative choreographer, you can't help but thrill as his dancers triumph in wildly different styles. So we effortlessly move from Alvin Ailey alums Karine Plantadit and Desmond Richardson (late of Twyla Tharp's 'Come Fly Away' and 'Movin' Out,' respectively) to hip-hop master Virgil 'Lil' O' Gadson, who engages in a spirited battle with the rubber-limbed Julius 'iGlide' Chisolm. Of course, there's plenty of tap, too. And that, like Duke Ellington's music, never gets old.
2013 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Warren Carlyle |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Adriane Lenox |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revue | After Midnight |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Adriane Lenox |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | After Midnight |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Warren Carlyle |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Isabel Toledo |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Warren Carlyle |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) | Howell Binkley |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | After Midnight |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Warren Carlyle |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | Isabel Toledo |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Warren Carlyle |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Howell Binkley |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ruth Hendel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Tom Kirdahy |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Stephen Hendel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Carol Fineman |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Sandy Block |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Stephanie P. McClelland |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ted Liebowitz |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | James Fantaci |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Scott M. Delman |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeffrey Bolton |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Robert Appel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeffrey Bolton |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Robert Appel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Fred Adler |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Catherine Adler |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Robert K. Kraft |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | James L. Nederlander |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Adam S. Gordon |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Allan S. Gordon |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Hal Newman |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Starry Night Entertainment |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Candy Spelling |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Roy Furman |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Wynton Marsalis |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Scott Sanders Productions |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | After Midnight |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Adriane Lenox |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Peter Hylenski |
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