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Legendary Jazz Age performer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker made history today as the first Black woman to enter France’s hallowed Panthéon. Baker is also only the sixth woman to be honored in such a way.

A ceremony was held this evening, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the late Baker a “war hero, fighter, dancer, singer” who was “firstly defending humans. American and French.”

This was a major event in France today as the Missouri-born France transplant’s coffin, containing handfuls of earth from four places she lived, was carried into her tomb in a symbolic laying to rest (her body will remain in Monaco at her family’s request). Interment in the Panthéon’s crypt requires a parliamentary act and the designation of national hero. Among those buried in the monument are Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Louis Braille, Marie Curie and Simone Veil.

Baker...

Exclusive: The remarkable story of Josephine Baker, one of the most influential female entertainers of the 20th century, will be the subject of Josephine, a limited drama series in development at ABC Signature, with Ruth Negga attached to star as the legendary Jazz age performer and civil rights activist. Negga also executive produces the project, which hails from David Makes Man showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence, Emmy-nominated director Millicent Shelton (30 Rock), LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Springhill Company and ABC Signature. Josephine stems from The Springhill Company’s overall deal with ABC Signature.

Written by Harris-Lawrence and to be directed by Shelton, Josephine is a raw and unflinching look at the force of nature that was Josephine Baker, the biggest Black female artist of her time. From international superstar and decorated WW2 spy, to Civil Rights activist and flawed mother, Josephine delves into the raw talent, sexual fluidity, struggles,...

The Public's Here Lies Love kicked off its 'Summer Friday' performances on Friday. On the Friday, July 11th kickoff, guests in attendance included Alan Rickman, Tommy Tune, Anika Larsen, After Midnight's Karine Plantadit, Andrew Andrew and Sirius Xm's Julie James. After the show, they partied with the cast at The Library Restaurant at the Public Theater. Check out photos below...

Broadway star Karine Plantadit is bringing down the house in the Tony-nominated musical "After Midnight." Karine is a standout as one of sexy dancers in this glamorous tribute to Harlem's heyday back in the original Jazz era.

The French-born actress is nominated for a Fred & Adele Astaire Award for outstanding female dancer. And, Karine reveals to Healthy Hollywood, "After Midnight" is unlike any other Broadway show.

"'After Midnight' is not your regular show; because of the element of jazz coming from the Harlem Renaissance, there's a part of impromptu coming from the New Jazz Orchestra on stage ...

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Susan Sarandon is the latest addition to the pilot from writer John Logan and director Kathryn Bigelow. She is among several actors tapped for guest-staring/potential recurring roles on the pilot starring Norbert Leo Butz, Frank Langella and Hope Davis, which started filming today in New York. The Miraculous Year is described as an exploration into a high-powered New York family: Terry Segal (Butz), A wildly self-destructive and manipulative Broadway composer, trying to put on a challenging new show; his father Alex (Langella), a brilliant and powerful painter, feeling the inevitable of effects of aging; and his sister Mandy Vance (Davis), an attorney trying to distance herself from the wounding influence of art as she tries to hold her family together. Co-starring in the pilot are Eddie Redmayne as a performer in Terry’s show, Linus Roache as Mandy’s husband Scott, Patti LuPone as a Broadway star and Stark Sands as her son,...

HBO’s star-studded Broadway-themed pilot The Miraculous Year has lined up another impressive name: Susan Sarandon.

The Oscar winner has been cast in the recurring role of Patty Atwood, the director/choreographer of the play-within-the-show.

Produced by Tony winner John Logan and Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (who’s directing the pilot), Year centers on a wildly self-destructive and manipulative Broadway composer (played by Broadway vet Norbert Leo Butz) who’s juggling both a challenging new show and his dysfunctional New York family.

Production on the pilot begins today in New York.

Year’s impressive cast also includes…

* Hope Davis as Mandy Vance,...

Broadway actress and dancer Karine Plantadit dreamed of being a dancer since getting her hands on a bootleg version of "Fame" while living in Cameroon as a little girl. Following years of training in Africa and France, where she also grew up, Plantadit studied and later became a soloist at Alvin Ailey, starred in the original Broadway production of "Lion King," "Saturday Night Fever" and "Movin' Out." Most recently, Plantadit earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her electrifying performance in Twyla Tharp's "Come Fly Away." While her coveted and flourishing career has Plantadit's star shinning bright, her eclectic and sensual fashion sense is giving us a bad case of closet envy...

Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers won their 16th NBA title, setting off celebrations throughout the City of Angels. It was a bittersweet night for a former Laker Girl, however.

Alexie Agdeppa as she became the first So You Think You Can Dance contestant eliminated by the voters this season, after the 26-year-old cutie's spunk couldn't save her.

The three judges, who unanimously chose to send her home, didn't foresee a long run for the effervescent former cheerleader, even though we were a bit surprised at the decision.

After the Top 11 performances, we thought Melinda Sullivan and Adechike Torbert stood the worst chances of advancing, with Cristina Santana potentially at risk as well.

Melinda and Cristina joined Alexie in the bottom three.

It was one and done for Alexie Agdeppa and Twitch Boss.

The top 11 opened the show dressed in white and gold attire, with the guys outshining the girls...

We'll lose a "So You Think You Can Dance" contestant, but we'll gain a Justin Bieber. It's up to you if you think that's a fair trade.

Biebs' new video for his "Somebody to Love" remix featuring his mentor Usher will make its world premiere during the live results show of "So You Think You Can Dance" Thursday night, June 17 at 9 p.m. Et.

The video is actually a good fit with the dance show. We've already seen some behind-the-scenes footage of the video in which he shows off his new dance moves alongside former "America's Best Dance Crew" competitors. Supposedly Biebs acquits himself well with the new styles he learned such as tutting. We'll reserve judgment until we see.

[Update:] And although Bieber himself won't be present, Usher will take to the stage to sing his hit "Omg." In addition, Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts will perform a  piece from...

The critically acclaimed new Broadway musical Come Fly Away will be featured on the Fox television program "So You Think You Can Dance" Thursday, June 17th. Tony Award nominees Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts (nominated for Movin' Out) will perform the show stopping number "That's Life" during the program's first live results show of the season, which airs nationally at 9pm (8pm central).

Another Tony Awards is in the history books. Marred by technical difficulties, this wasn't the best broadcast ever, but it was definitely not the worst. At least there were some close races, nice speeches and a charming host. Before I discuss random award show highlights, I do need to take a moment to address the ongoing technical issues. It makes the broadcast look cheap when the sound repeatedly goes in and out. Yes, I realize it's not easy to produce a live show, but other award shows manage without this much trouble. The Tonys need to get a team in there that can handle putting on an awards show. There weren't one or two isolated incidents, there were recurring inexcusable issues. There is no reason Karine Plantadit's name went up during Katie Finneran's speech (after Plantadit had just lost). So many...

Making for quite the glamorous evening in the Big Apple, the stars gathered together at Radio City Music Hall for the 2010 Tony Awards on Sunday night (June 13).

With Sean Hayes acting as the evening's host, big names such as Katie Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe, Beyonce and Jay-z, and Lea Michele all turned up for the annual Broadway event.

During the course of the evening, big winners included the lovely Scarlett Johansson as Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her work in "A View From a Bridge," as well as Denzel Washington as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his stage duties in "Fences".

Also taking home trophies were Catherine Zeta Jones as Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for "A Little Night Music," along with "Red," which received the best play prize and five other trophies.

The complete list of...

Here’s the easiest prediction to make about this year’s Tony Awards, which will be presented June 13 at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall: Host Sean Hayes will almost certainly make some reference to the hullabaloo about being too gay to play a straight man in the musical Promises, Promises. The CBS broadcast will also have an excuse to present a production number from his show even though it didn’t snag a nomination for Best Revival of a Musical. (There’s talk that the show will open with a medley of “pop songs you might not know are on Broadway.

Though the economy was still in dire straits, Broadway carried on during the 2009-10 season, with visits from such high-voltage marquee names as Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Christopher Walken, Denzel Washington, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liev Schreiber, and Scarlett Johansson. A little group called Green Day rocked Broadway's world with the stage adaptation of the band's hit album "American Idiot," Twyla Tharp paid tribute to Frank Sinatra in "Come Fly Away," and Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins formed a "Million Dollar Quartet." "Fela!," Bill T. Jones' combination dance party, concert, and musical biography, transferred to the Main Stem from its Off-Broadway run, as did Geoffrey Nauffts' tender and moving play "Next Fall." "Red" and "Time Stands Still" offered searing portraits of artists coping with crises, while Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room or the vibrator play" captured the repressive Victorian era. Broadway fare also...

There are so many movie and television faces nominated for the Tony Award this year that one begins to worry about how any stateside stage actor can earn a living. The answer, appears to be get famous in another medium in order to get plum stage roles.

Jude Law (Hamlet) is equally at home on screen or stage

This can work against the audience, this self destructive drive to only see the familiar, if it robs them of great stage trained actors in meaty roles. But thankfully this isn't a problem with actors who are adept at changing their "scale" for any medium. Take The Lovely Laura Linney, for instance, who no one would dare accuse of being out of her element whether she's on the silver screen, the living room telly or treading the boards on Broadway.

Lead Actor in a Play

Jude Law, Hamlet

Alfred Molina, Red

Liev Schreiber,...

Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge's "La Cage aux Folles" musical and Broadway show "Fela!" are leading the way at this year's Tony Awards after scooping 11 nominations each. "Fela!", about the life of revered African world music star Fela Kuti, will go up against Green Day's "American Idiot", "Memphis", and "Million Dollar Quartet" in the coveted Best Musical category at the 64th annual prizegiving, which honors the best on Broadway.

Meanwhile, Grammer and Hodge, who star as a camp gay couple in "La Cage", will compete against Sean Hayes ("Promises, Promises"), Chad Kimball ("Memphis)" and Sahr Ngaujah ("Fela!") for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. The evening is sure to be a star-studded event, with Hollywood actors Jude Law ("Hamlet"), Alfred Molina ("Red"), Liev Schreiber ("A View From the Bridge"), Christopher Walken ("A Behanding in Spokane") and Denzel Washington ("Fences") pitted against each other for the...

Broadway hit it big this season with even bigger stars that included marquee names like High Jackman, Daniel Craig, Scarlett Johansson, Denzel Washington, Catherine Zeta-Jones and much more.

The nominations for the Tony awards were narrowed down on Tuesday morning (May 4) by the American Theatre Wing that began with Fela!, about Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kutie, as well as La Cage Aux Folles, that included Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge, which had 11 nominations.

Also taking bids for awards was August Wilson’s Fences, which starred Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, and received 10 nominations.

In leading actor in play, Lieve Schriber in A View from the Bride and Christopher Walken in Martin McDonaugh’s A Behanding in Spokane square off for top honors.

In leading actresses, Viola Davis, Valerie Harper, Linda Lavin, Laura Lenney and Jan Maxwell were all nominated. Best play nominations went to In the Next Room, Next Fall,...

One has to hand it to the Tony nominators: They didn't follow conventional wisdom nor did they particularly pay heed to commercial considerations.

Indeed, some of the biggest noms went to shows that are either long gone ("Ragtime," "Finian's Rainbow," "In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play," "Time Stands Still") or lagging at the boxoffice ("Fela!" "Memphis," "Next Fall," "Million Dollar Quartet").

The biggest surprises Tuesday were the omissions.

"The Addams Family," the most successful new musical of the season, was thoroughly dissed, failing to get noms for best musical, for its stars Nathan Lane or Bebe Neuwirth, or even for its production design. And though it did get one for original score, that's not exactly a coup in a season in which only one other musical, "Memphis," even had one. The category had to be embarrassingly filled out with the forgettable music from "Enron" and Branford Marsalis' incidental music for "Fences.

Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge's La Cage Aux Folles musical and Broadway show Fela! are leading the way at this year's Tony Awards after scooping 11 nominations each.

Fela!, about the life of revered African world music star Fela Kuti, will go up against Green Day's American Idiot, Memphis, and Million Dollar Quartet in the coveted Best Musical category at the 64th annual prizegiving, which honours the best on Broadway.

Meanwhile, Grammer and Hodge, who star as a camp gay couple in La Cage, will compete against Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises), Chad Kimball (Memphis) and Sahr Ngaujah (Fela!) for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.

The evening is sure to be a star-studded event, with Hollywood actors Jude Law (Hamlet), Alfred Molina (Red), Liev Schreiber (A View from the Bridge), Christopher Walken (A Behanding in Spokane) and Denzel Washington (Fences) pitted against each other for the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play award.

Washington's co-star Viola Davis will battle it out in the category for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, against Valerie Harper (Looped), Linda Lavin (Collected Stories), Laura Linney (Time Stands Still) and Jan Maxwell (The Royal Family).

Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Little Night Music), Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow), Sherie Rene Scott (Everyday Rapture), Montego Glover (Memphis) and Christiane Noll (Ragtime) received nods for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, and Scarlett Johansson's Broadway debut in A View from the Bridge has earned her a nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.

Nominations for Best Play include In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Next Fall, Red and Time Stands Still.

The winners will be announced on 13 June at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The main list of nominees is as follows:

Best Play:

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)

Next Fall

Red

Time Stands Still

Best Musical:

American Idiot

Fela!

Memphis

Million Dollar Quartet

Best Book of a Musical:

Everyday Rapture - Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott

Fela! - Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones

Memphis - Joe Dipietro

Million Dollar Quartet - Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre:

The Addams Family - Music & Lyrics: Andrew Lippa

Enron - Music: Adam Cork, Lyrics: Lucy Prebble

Fences - Music: Branford Marsalis

Memphis - Music: David Bryan, Lyrics: Joe Dipietro, David Bryan

Best Revival of a Play:

Fences

Lend Me a Tenor

The Royal Family

A View from the Bridge

Best Revival of a Musical:

Finian's Rainbow

La Cage aux Folles

A Little Night Music

Ragtime

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play:

Jude Law - Hamlet

Alfred Molina - Red

Liev Schreiber - A View from the Bridge

Christopher Walken - A Behanding in Spokane

Denzel Washington - Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play:

Viola Davis - Fences

Valerie Harper - Looped

Linda Lavin - Collected Stories

Laura Linney - Time Stands Still

Jan Maxwell - The Royal Family

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:

Kelsey Grammer - La Cage aux Folles

Sean Hayes - Promises, Promises

Douglas Hodge - La Cage aux Folles

Chad Kimball - Memphis

Sahr Ngaujah - Fela!

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical:

Kate Baldwin - Finian's Rainbow

Sherie Rene Scott - Everyday Rapture

Montego Glover - Memphis

Christiane Noll - Ragtime

Catherine Zeta-Jones - A Little Night Music

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play:

David Alan Grier - Race

Stephen McKinley Henderson - Fences

Jon Michael Hill - Superior Donuts

Stephen Kunken - Enron

Eddie Redmayne - Red

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play:

Maria Dizzia - In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)

Rosemary Harris - The Royal Family

Jessica Hecht - A View from the Bridge

Scarlett Johansson - A View from the Bridge

Jan Maxwell - Lend Me a Tenor

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:

Kevin Chamberlin - The Addams Family

Robin De Jesus - La Cage aux Folles

Christopher Fitzgerald - Finian's Rainbow

Levi Kreis - Million Dollar Quartet

Bobby Steggert - Ragtime

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:

Barbara Cook - Sondheim on Sondheim

Katie Finneran - Promises, Promises

Angela Lansbury - A Little Night Music

Karine Plantadit - Come Fly Away

Lillias White - Fela!

Best Direction of a Play:

Michael Grandage - Red

Sheryl Kaller - Next Fall

Kenny Leon - Fences

Gregory Mosher - A View from the Bridge

Best Direction of a Musical:

Christopher Ashley - Memphis

Marcia Milgrom Dodge - Ragtime

Terry Johnson - La Cage aux Folles

Bill T. Jones - Fela!

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford - Promises, Promises

Bill T. Jones - Fela!

Lynne Page - La Cage aux Folles

Twyla Tharp - Come Fly Away

Best Orchestrations:

Jason Carr - La Cage aux Folles

Aaron Johnson - Fela!

Jonathan Tunick - Promises, Promises

Daryl Waters & David Bryan - Memphis

Best Scenic Design of a Play

John Lee Beatty - The Royal Family

Alexander Dodge - Present Laughter

Santo Loquasto - Fences

Christopher Oram - Red

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:

Marina Draghici - Fela!

Christine Jones - American Idiot

Derek McLane - Ragtime

Tim Shortall - La Cage aux Folles

Best Costume Design of a Play:

Martin Pakledinaz - Lend Me a Tenor

Constanza Romero - Fences

David Zinn - In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)

Catherine Zuber - The Royal Family

Best Costume Design of a Musical:

Marina Draghici - Fela!

Santo Loquasto - Ragtime

Paul Tazewell - Memphis

Matthew Wright - La Cage aux Folles

Best Lighting Design of a Play:

Neil Austin - Hamlet

Neil Austin - Red

Mark Henderson - Enron

Brian MacDevitt - Fences

Best Lighting Design of a Musical:

Kevin Adams - American Idiot

Donald Holder - Ragtime

Nick Richings - La Cage aux Folles

Robert Wierzel - Fela!

Best Sound Design of a Play:

Acme Sound Partners - Fences

Adam Cork - Enron

Adam Cork - Red

Scott Lehrer - A View from the Bridge

Best Sound Design of a Musical:

Jonathan Deans - La Cage aux Folles

Robert Kaplowitz - Fela!

Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen - A Little Night Music

Dan Moses Schreier - Sondheim on Sondheim

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre:

Alan Ayckbourn

Marian Seldes

Regional Theatre Tony Award:

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut

Isabelle Stevenson Award:

David Hyde Pierce

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre:

Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York

B.H. Barry

Tom Viola...

Although the Tony Awards honor Broadway productions, plenty of familiar faces from film and TV are among those receiving nods.

Among them are Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber for "A View From the Bridge," Christopher Walken for "A Behanding in Spokane," Kelsey Grammer for "La Cage aux Folles," Catherine Zeta-Jones for "A Little Night Music" and Laura Linney for "Time Stands Still."

Overall, "Fela!" and "La Cage aux Folles" tied for the most nominations with 11 apiece.

The Tony Awards show will air June 13 on CBS.

The full list of nominees:

Best musical

"American Idiot"

"Fela!"

"Memphis"

"Million Dollar Quartet"

Best play

"In the Next Room"

"Next Fall"

"Red"

"Time Stands Still"

Best performance by a leading actor in a play

Jude Law, "Hamlet"

Alfred Molina, "Red"

Liev Schreiber, "A View From the Bridge"

Christopher Walken, "A Behanding in Spokane"

Denzel Washington, "Fences"

Best performance by a leading actress in a play

Viola Davis,...

Theatre’s highest honor – Broadway’s Oscar equivalent – unveiled its nominations for the 64th Annual Tony Awards.; and it’s quite “colorful,” if you catch my drift, thanks to strong runs by 3 productions, namely, David Mamet’s Race, Fela!, the musical, and the revival of August Wilson’s Fences. I’m privileged to say that I saw all 3 productions and enjoyed them!

Notable nods include Fela! for Best Musical, Fences for Best Revival Of A Play, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for Best Performance by a Leading Actor & Actress in a Play (both for Fences), Sahr Ngaujah (Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, for Fela!), Montego Glover (Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Memphis), David Alan Grier (Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, for Race), Lillias White (Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, for Fela!), Kenny Leon (Best Direction of a Play,...

New York – Star wattage will burn bright at the 2010 Tony Awards with Denzel Washington, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kelsey Grammer among those receiving nominations Tuesday.Washington and Law were each cited for best actor performances in "Fences" and "Hamlet," respectively. Zeta-Jones was nominated for best performance by a leading actress in a musical, "A Little Night Music," and Grammer was nominated for lead actor in a musical, "La Cage aux Folles.""Fela!" — nominated for best musical — and "La Cage aux Folles," nominated for the best musical revival, each received 11 nominations, followed by "Fences" with 10 nods.Nominated for best play were "In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)" by Sarah Ruhl; "Next Fall," by Geoffrey Nauffts; "Red," by John Logan, and "Time Stands Still," by Donald Margulies.Best musical nominations went to Green Day's "American Idiot"; "Memphis"; "Million Dollar Quartet," and "Fela!"The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford,...

Not even a bomb scare in Times Square can put a damper on the close of the Broadway season. Nominations for the Tony Awards will be announced tomorrow morning and look for the awards to recognize some -- though not all -- of the celeb-filled shows that have dominated the Great White Way's box office this year. Sorry, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. You may have sold out your limited run in the cop drama A Steady Rain last fall, but we can't picture you in the Tony nominee lineup this year. However, you can expect director Kenny Leon's...

Ever since the pioneering dance play "Contact" hit the Great White Way in 2000, the notion of a Broadway musical has expanded to include shows that resemble evenings of pure concert dance. With this innovation has come an influx of concert-dance performers and choreographers to Broadway, where they have been strutting their stuff in traditional musicals as well as these genre-defying dance-theater productions.Maverick modern-dance choreographer Twyla Tharp thrilled Broadway audiences with her 2002 hit dance musical "Movin' Out," in which a cast of concert dancers performed to Billy Joel songs. In her latest Broadway outing, "Come Fly Away," Tharp has concocted a full evening of dazzling choreography to the songs of Frank Sinatra. A "danced-through" musical, "Come Fly Away" is performed by distinguished terps from the concert stage, some of whom are making their first foray onto Broadway. Back Stage recently spoke with seven of the show's principal performers to find...