Conceived by Jack Viertel for an engagement that originally played in fall 2011, Cotton Club Parade is once again directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle (Finian's Rainbow, Chaplin, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), with music direction by Jazz at Lincoln Center artistic director Wynton Marsalis. The show features the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars under the direction of Daryl Waters.
The company also includes 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 and Britton Smith, with Christopher Broughton, C.K. Edwards, Wilkie Ferguson, Chanon  Judson, Candice Monét McCall, Marielys Molina, Erin Moore, Monique Smith, Daniel J. Watts and J.L. Williams.
Cotton Club Parade is described as a "Broadway-style revue celebrating 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."
Expect songs by the greatest 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, of course, Duke Ellington ("Rockin' in Rhythm," "Cotton Club Stomp," "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Creole Love Call"). The production also features the work of scenic consultant John Lee Beatty, costume consultant Toni-Leslie James, lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski and sound designer Scott Lehrer.
Tickets start at $29 and are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix at (212) 581-1212, or online at NYCityCenter.org.