The genre-crossing singer K.D. Lang will make her Broadway debut in February in “After Midnight,†the musical about Harlem’s legendary Cotton Club that opens at the Brook Atkinson Theater in October.
The show, which was originally as a Jazz at Lincoln Center production at City Center, under the name “Cotton Club Parade,†was renamed for its move to Broadway, and is otherwise unchanged. It remains built around the music of Duke Ellington, using Ellington’s original arrangements, performed by an ensemble directed by Wynton Marsalis, as well as the poetry of Langston Hughes.
But the producers of the $6 million Broadway version would have a changing cast of guest stars, starting with Fantasia Barrino, the Grammy Award winner and American Idol champion. Ms. Lang will succeed Ms. Barrino on Feb. 11, and will be in the show for a month.
Ms. Lang said in a telephone interview that she had never thought much about singing on Broadway, but that the offer came at the right time.
“I’ve been listening to great jazz singers lately, and wanting to go in that direction,†Ms. Lang said. “So the idea of singing Ellington, and working with Wynton Marsalis, seemed an auspicious opportunity. It’s challenging. It’s something outside my comfort zone. But it’s an opportunity to grow, artistically.â€
She said that she had not sat in on rehearsals for the show. “I just made my decision in the last week,†she said. But she said that she is familiar with the Ellington songbook. Even so, she was not inclined to identify any favorites from among the songs she will be singing.
“I’ll have to determine that once I get my teeth into it,†she said. “The songs I consider favorites as a listener may not be the same ones I’ll consider favorites as a performer.â€
