Sophisticated Ladies Revue, Featuring Duke Ellington’s Music, Plays at NJPAC on March 21-24

Sophisticated Ladies, a co-production of NJPAC and Crossroads Theatre Company, will be performed March 21-24 in the Victoria Theater at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). Duke Ellington‘s music is the heart and soul of this 1981 Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, presented in the year marking the 120th anniversary of Ellington’s birth. This revival of Sophisticated Ladies, directed by André De Shields, brings the heyday of Harlem’s swanky Cotton Club into the 21st century. Ellington numbers include “Satin Doll,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Cotton Tail,” “Mood Indigo” and, of course, “Sophisticated Lady” and the now iconic “Take the ‘A’ Train, written by Billy Strayhorn, which quickly became the Ellington Orchestra theme song in 1941.

The ensemble cast features Johmaalya Adelekan, Ken Ard, Jacqueline Arnold, Wesley Barnes, Lamont Brown, Kaleigh Cronin, Lianne Marie Dobbs, C.K. Edwards, Danielle Kelsey, Jenny Laroche, N’Kenge and Tommy Scrivens. The creative team includes Kimberly Schafer (Choreography), Nat Adderley, Jr. (Musical Director), Burke J. Wilmore (Set and Lighting Design) and Gail Brassard (Costume Design). The on-stage orchestra is versed in the tradition of the orchestras of Duke Ellington and his successor, son Mercer.

The original production of Sophisticated Ladies opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 1, 1981 and closed on January 2, 1983. The original cast included Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle (who won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical), Gregg Burge and Mercer Ellington. The show was conceived by Donald McKayle and directed by Michael Smuin. It was choreographed by McKayle, Smuin, Henry LeTang, Bruce Heath and Mercedes Ellington.

Performances of Sophisticated Ladies will take place on March 21 at 7:00pm; March 22 at 7:00pm; March 23 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm; and March 24 at 2:00pm. For tickets, click here.

‌New Jersey Performing Arts Center is located at 1 Center Street in Newark, New Jersey.