After Midnight, the New Musical Formerly Titled Cotton Club Parade, Will Play Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre

A scene from <i>Cotton Club Parade</i> at New York City Center. — A scene from *Cotton Club Parade* at New York City Center.
(© Joan Marcus)

After Midnight, the Broadway production of the New York City Center Encores! musical revue Cotton Club Parade, will play the Brooks Atkinson Theatre beginning October 18, producers have announced. No casting has been announced, but The New York Times reports that Theatre World Award winner Fantasia Barrino, last seen on stage in The Color Purple, is in talks to star.

With an official opening-night date set for November 3, After Midnight is directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. It features musical stylings of the Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars under the artistic direction of Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel has conceived the work, which looks back on Duke Ellington’s years at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club.

The production, which includes classic songs like “Stormy Weather,” “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” and more, is expected to arrive on Broadway intact. John Lee Beatty serves as scenic designer, with Isabel Toledo as costume designer, Howell Binkley as lighting designer, Peter Hylenski as sound designer, Charles G. LaPointe as hair and wig designer, and Daryl Waters as musical supervisor, arranger, and conductor.

Under the title Cotton Club Parade, the musical played to sold-out crowds at City Center in 2011 and 2012. The 2012 company featured Amber Riley of Glee, as well as Joshua Henry, Jared Grimes, Adriane Lenox, Alexandria “Brinae Ali” Bradley, Andrew “Dr.Ew” Carter, Kyra Da Costa, Carmen Ruby Floyd, La Tanya Hall, Jeremiah “Supaman” Haynes, Christopher Jackson, Monroe Kent III, Karine Plantadit, T. Oliver Reid, Britton Smith, Christopher Broughton, C.K. Edwards, Wilkie Ferguson, Chanon Judson, Candice Monet McCall, Marielys Molina, Erin N. Moore, Monique Smith, Daniel J. Watts, and J.L. Williams.

Click here to visit the official website for After Midnight.