After Midnight: Fantasia to star in rotating cast

Fantasia Barrino, known simply as Fantasia, will return to the Great White Way to star in the Broadway premiere of After Midnight -a new production of Cotton Club Parade - opening at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 03 Nov 2013, following previews from 18 Oct 2013.

After Midnight will present a roster of rotating guest stars throughout its run, of which Fantasia will be the first. Fantasia will star in the show from 18 Oct 2013 though to 09 Feb 2014.

Fantasia rose to fame as the winner of the third season of "American Idol" in 2004. She made her Broadway debut in 2007 when she starred as Celie in the musical 'The Color Purple.' As a recording artist, Fantasia has sold nearly three million records and 1.5 million digital tracks to date. She won the 2011 Grammy Award for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for "Bittersweet," the lead single from her third solo album, "Back to Me." This past April, Fantasia released her fourth album, "Side Effects of You."

After Midnight, is conceived by Jack Viertel, with direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

After Midnight celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the famed Harlem nightclub in the 1920s and '30s, when the joint was jumping with shows featuring big band swing and blues music.

The production features singers, dancers, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars, under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. The score includes songs by jazz composers of the time, including Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Digga Digga Doo"), a young Harold Arlen ("Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,"), and the legendary Duke Ellington ("Rockin' in Rhythm," "Cotton Club Stomp," "Black and Tan Fantasy," and "Creole Love Call").

The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry will provide a backdrop for an array of performances by 25 vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars.

The creative team will include costumes by Isabel and Ruben Toledo, sets by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Howell Binkley and sound by Peter Hylenski.

Further casting, scheduling anf ticket information will be announced shortly.

Encores! Special event production of the jazz musical Cotton Club Parade (now named After Midnight) played two runs at New York City Center in 2011 and 2012.

After Midnight is produced by Scott Sanders Productions, and Wynton Marsalis, in association with Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group; Stephen and Ruth Hendel; and Tom Kirdahy.