Wynton Marsalis and 17-piece ensemble to take jazz to Broadway

PRESS RELEASE: The Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars, Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis, will celebrate jazz’s large-ensemble tradition in a way never-before-heard on Broadway as they perform a vast repertoire of Duke Ellington’s original arrangements in After Midnight, starring Grammy Award-winner Fantasia, Dulé Hill and Tony Award-winner Adriane Lenox.

Recently added to the cast are multi-platinum superstars Toni Braxton and Kenny “Babyface” Edwards. With an impressive 16 Grammy Awards between them, Braxton and Edwards will join the company as special guest vocalists along with k.d. lang on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 through Sunday, March 30, 2014.
Toni Braxton and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds teamed up for their first album of duets, Love, Marriage & Divorce, arriving in stores December 3, 2013 on Motown Records.  “Hurt You” is earning critical raves and is already Top 10 on the Billboard charts. The duo first collaborated on a duet for Braxton’s smash 1992 debut, Give U My Heart, which was co-written and co-produced by “Babyface.”

The evocative After Midnight will take the sexy, smoky glamour of the original Jazz Age and catapult it into a whole new era of heart-pounding, mind-blowing entertainment for modern Broadway audiences.  Refracted through a contemporary lens, After Midnight will celebrate 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 will provide an authentic backdrop for an array of cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars, whose interpretations will shatter everything you think you know about music, nightlife and Broadway.
Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, After Midnight will begin preview performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street) on Friday, October 18, 2013 which is coincidentally Wynton's birthday with an official opening night set for Sunday, November 3, 2013.