Fantasia rehearsing with Wynton Marsalis/The O+M Company, Jenny Anderson/Associated Press
Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Grammy-winning vocalist, Fantasia is in preparation for her big return to Broadway in the new musical, After Midnight. The “Lose to Win” singer shared the above photo on her Facebook today. It was taken from an article in The Washington Post about a rehearsal between her and the show’s musical director and multi Grammy-winning trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis.
Reportedly, Marsalis was reviewing songs from the show with Fantasia like “Stormy Weather” and “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love.” He also gave her a little bit of a musical history lesson about the legendary jazz divas like Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughn and Dinah Washington. At the end of the session, the 29-year-old singer gushed: “Excuse me when I say this, but it almost felt like a musical orgasm. I was just sitting there going, ‘Oh my God!’”
As previously reported, After Midnight will celebrate Jazz icon, Duke Ellington’s years at the famous Cotton Club in New York City and features the Idol winner along with Dule Hill. This is Fantasia’s second Broadway show having made her debut in 2007 in The Color Purple: The Musical as the lead character, Miss Celie. She went on to win a Theater World Award for her role.
When I talked to Fantasia in July about her return to the Great White Way, she mentioned that the show was timely because she had been listening to the music from the jazz era and immediately connected with the project.
“I was already in this vibe of listening to Billie Holliday and Nina Simone. I was also channeling Josephine Baker with my style of dress and the way I did my hair. So when they [After Midnight producers] came to me with the whole idea, I laughed because it was the confirmation I needed to step into the show. I was already there!”
After Midnight previews in October and opens on November 3.
Click here to read the entire interview.