STORMY WEATHER
Conceived and written by Sharleen Cooper Cohen
Suggested by the biography Lena Horne, Entertainer published by Chelsea House
By special arrangements with Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley and Armica Productions
Music by Cole Porter, Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, Billy Strayhorn and more
Choreography by Randy Skinner
Directed by Michael Bush

January 21 – March 8, 2009

With glamour, grace and an inner fire that blazed a trail for generations, the legendary Lena Horne has never failed to amaze! Taking both Hollywood and the music industry by storm, her voice has resonated throughout the decades, not only through her incredible vocal talent ("From This Moment On," "The Lady is a Tramp" and of course "Stormy Weather"), but also through her determination to fight for what she believed. Don't miss the incredible Leslie Uggams in this new musical extravaganza as she takes us on the sometimes stormy, always extraordinary journey of an American icon.
 

Starring:
Leslie Uggams as Lena Horne

Quotes and Reviews
Related Links
More about the creative team
     Sharleen Cooper Cohen
     Michael Bush
    Leslie Uggams
    Randy Skinner

Learn More About:
     Lena Horne


Stormy Weather Bonus Features!
 

Quotes and Reviews
"A terrific show! Stuffed full of brilliant songs, many of the best of the American songbook!"
- Toby Zinman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A high-voltage affair! Exuberance to spare!"
- Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

"A triumphant evocation of Lena Horne's spirit and talent!"
"A cavalcade of sizzling standards!"
- Bob Verini, Variety

"GO!"
"Tender-sassy interpretations by Uggams! Beautifully Sung!"
- Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly

"In a word: MESMERIZING."
- Gail Choice, Our Weekly

"The score uses some of the BEST SONGS written in the 20th Century!"
- Jonas Schwartz, TheaterMania


Related Links*
Sharleen Cooper Cohen’s Official Website
Michael Bush on the Internet Broadway Database
Leslie Uggams’ Official Website
Lena Horne on Wikipedia
Stormy Weather on the Internet Movie Database
Randy Skinner on BroadwayWorld.com
Lena Horne Tribute Site
Listen to Lena Horne Music on Rhapsody
Listen to Leslie Uggams Music on Rhapsody


Bonus Features
Facebook Page
MySpace Page

Sharleen Cooper Cohen (Playwright): In 1995 Sharleen's first musical, Sheba (book and lyrics), with music by Gary William Friedman, was produced Off Broadway by the Jewish Repertory Theatre. Presented in Los Angeles in 2004 as a community outreach project, it brought together the African-American and Jewish communities in an entertainment experience and enjoyed the support of L.A.’s religious leaders. Sheba was awarded Honorable Mention in the Stage Play Script Category of the 2004 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. In 1997, Sharleen served as associate producer of Street Corner Symphony on Broadway and in 1998 produced Jerry Herman’s The Best of Times at the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. In January of 1999, she produced Cookin’ at the Cookery, the story of Alberta Hunter, in conjunction with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. In November 2005, she produced Bingo the Musical Off Broadway; the latest interactive theater piece turns Grandma's favorite form of gambling into fun-loving musical theater. The Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia produced the world premiere of Sharleen's musical Stormy Weather: Imagining Lena Horne, in February-March 2007. Stormy Weather was awarded Honorable Mention in the Stage Play Script Category of the 2000 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. Another original musical, Blackout, with book and lyrics by Sharleen and music by award-winning composer Debra Barsha (Radiant Baby), had a workshop reading in New York in December 2003, produced by Amas Musical Theatre. Currently she is functioning as producer and book writer with Douglas Day Stewart on a musical based on his original screenplay, An Officer and a Gentleman, one of the most popular and highest-grossing films of all times. Award-winning composer Kenneth Hirsch and award-winning lyricist Robin Lerner are writing the score. She is also the producer of the new musical Da Ponte with book/lyrics by Neil Cohen and music by Roger Neill.

Michael Bush (Director) is the former Director of Artistic Production for the Manhattan Theatre Club and Producing Artistic Director of Charlotte Repertory Theatre. He was part of the artistic team of numerous Broadway productions including Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley and After the Night and the Music by Elaine May. During his tenure with MTC, he helped guide more than 150 new plays and musicals including the Tony Award-winning productions of Love! Valor! Compassion! by Terrence McNally and the Pulitzer prize-winning Proof by David Auburn. Other shows of note include The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Sight Unseen, The Wild Party, Putting it Together, Lips Together Teeth Apart, Sylvia and A Class Act.

Leslie Uggams* (Lena Horne): Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress/singer Leslie Uggams most recently thrilled Broadway audiences performing as Ethel Thayer opposite James Earl Jones in the revival of Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond. That performance came on the heels of her stunning portrayal of the off-beat society heiress Muzzy Van Hossmere in the Tony-award winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

That's just the latest accomplishment for a woman who has been captivating stage, screen and television audience since her national television debut at age six on the TV series Beulah, portraying the niece of Ethel Waters. Appearances on Your Show of Shows, The Milton Berle Show and The Arthur Godfrey Show led to center stage at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem where 7 year-old Leslie opened for such legends as Louise Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. Leslie attended the New York Professional Children's School, and, at 15, she appeared on the CBS-TV series Name That Tune.

Her appearance proved to be fortuitous. Mitch Miller, head of recordings for Columbia Records, was so impressed by her vocal talents that he signed her to a recording contract and then made her a regular on Sing Along With Mitch, TV's first pre-recorded music show. As such, Leslie Uggams became one of the first African-American performers to be regularly featured on a prime-time television show.

Concurrent with her musical composition and theory studies at the Juilliard School, Leslie released her first of 10 albums she was to record for Columbia Records, including her first hit single, "Morgan". Alternating major nightclub appearances with her stage work, Leslie appeared in the musical The Boyfriend in Berkley, California. Soon she won the Broadway lead in Hallelujah, Baby!, which had originally been written for Lena Horne, and earned the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress In A Broadway Musical Comedy.

Two years later, she had her own musical variety television series on CBS-TV The Leslie Uggams Show, and a new recording contract with Atlantic Records. In 1970, Leslie made her dramatic film debut in the MGM thriller Skyjacked.

However, it was Leslie's portrayal of "Kizzy" in the most watched dramatic show in TV history, Alex Haley's Roots, that won her worldwide recognition as a dramatic actress - including the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1978, her Emmy nomination for Best Leading actress and a coveted Golden Globe Nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press association.

She also starred in the mini-series Backstairs in the White House, Sizzle, an ABC-TV movie of the week, and the HBO special Christmas at Radio City Music Hall. Leslie went on to win an Emmy as co-host of the NBC-TV series Fantasy.

In addition to ongoing concert dates, Leslie returned to Broadway to star in the musical Blues in the Night and enjoyed a two year run in the hit musical Jerry's Girls. In 1987, she toured with Peter Nero and Mel Torme in The Great Gershwin Concert, for which she received rave reviews. In 1988, she starred as Reno Sweeney in the National Company of the Lincoln Center Production of Anything Goes and later reprised the role at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway.

* Biographic information courtesy of www.LeslieUggams.com
 

Lena Horne**: Lena Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. She quit school when she was 14 and got her first stage job at 16, dancing and later singing at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. Before long her talent resulted in her playing before packed houses. After making an appearance on Broadway, Hollywood came calling. At 21 years of age Lena made her first film, The Duke Is Tops (1938). It would be four more years before she appeared in another, Panama Hattie (1942), playing a singer in a nightclub. By now Lena had signed with MGM but, unfortunately for her, the pictures were shot so that her scenes could be cut out when they were shown in the South. In 1943 MGM loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black musical Stormy Weather (1943), which did extremely well at the box office. Her rendition of the title song became a major hit on the musical charts. In 1943 she appeared in Cabin in the Sky (1943), regarded by many as one of the finest performances of her career. She played Georgia Brown opposite Ethel Waters and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson in the all-black production. Lena's musical career flourished, but her movie career stagnated. Minor roles in films such as Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944), Words and Music (1948) and Mantan Messes Up (1946) did little to advance her film career, due mainly to the ingrained racist attitudes of the time. After Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), Lena left films to concentrate on music and the stage. She returned in 1969, as Claire Quintana in Death of a Gunfighter (1969). Nine years later she returned to the screen again in the all-black musical The Wiz (1978I), where she played Glinda the Good Witch. Although that was her last big-screen appearance, she stayed busy in television, appearing in A Century of Women (1994) and That's Entertainment! III (1994).

Randy Skinner (Choreographer) is an award-winning director and choreographer whose work has encompassed Broadway, regional and Los Angeles productions. He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography for the 2001 revival of 42nd Street (as well as nominations for the Outer Critics, Drama Desk and Astaire Awards). Other Broadway credits include co-director and choreographer for the world premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair (Outer Critics nomination), choreographer for Ain't Broadway Grand (Tony and Outer Critics nomination), and he assisted Gower Champion with the dances for the original 42nd Street. Mr. Skinner also staged the London, Australia and two U.S. national companies and the recent Amsterdam production of 42nd Street. He choreographed and played the leading role of Val in a highly acclaimed production of Babes In Arms directed by the legendary Ginger Rogers. On the West coast, Mr. Skinner choreographed and played Victor in Pal Joey with Dixie Carter, choreographed and played Rudolph in Hello, Dolly! with Nell Carter, and choreographed Strike Up The Band with Tom Bosley. He conceived, directed and choreographed Swing! The Big Band Hit Parade starring Margaret Whiting. He choreographed the Encores! production of Do Re Mi last season at City Center. Mr. Skinner has received awards from the L.A. Drama and Bay Area Critics, LA Drama-Logue and Connecticut Critics.

**Biographical Information courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.


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