PRLog.org: A Virtually Unknown Event in Black History: Lillette's Rhythm Club: Then and Now [Jade Simmons & Lillette Jenkins-Wisner]

Jade Simmons with Lillette Jenkins-Wisner after a joint performance

Classical Pianist Jade Simmons, www.jadesimmons.com, sends this Press Release:

Two Distinctive Eras, Two Musical Chameleons, One Dazzling show! Introducing 

Becoming Lillette LIVE: Black History in the Making

HOUSTON - Feb. 1, 2016 - PRLog -- This June 2016, FAME Multimedia Productions will shake up Black Music Month with Becoming Lillette Live, a new concert experience designed to expose a virtually unknown event in Black history to the world and simultaneously reimagine what would be the stunning future of a past-era musical genius had her heyday been today.

Starring Phenom Concert Pianist, Powerhouse Speaker and Actress Jade 

Simmons, Becoming Lillette LIVE is a half concert, half historical adventure that will serve as an introduction to the upcoming, Broadway-bound musical, Lillette's Rhythm Club: Then and Now based on the life of legendary jazz concert pianist and entertainer Lillette Jenkins-Wisner. In Becoming Lillette LIVE, Simmons will take audiences on an inspirational, educational and entertaining concert adventure featuring music from the new musical and world-class storytelling about the musical genius of Lillette. The musical and concert are produced by Fame Multimedia Productions of which Adrienne Lillette Harris is founder and Senior Partner.

Lillette Harris was an icon amongst icons. She and her actor-comedian husband Bud Harris were African-American royalty in an era of segregation and discrimination against Blacks in entertainment. Their establishment, Lillette's Rhythm Club, was the first African-American owned Casino, nightclub and hotel in Reno-Sparks, Nevada in 1945 and was frequented by the biggest names in the business. Known since the 1940s as “Queen of the Keys,” Lillette (known today as Lillette Jenkins-Wisner) has shared the spotlight with artists such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Ray Charles, B.B. King and most recently Billy Joel. Today, she still rules the throne as one of the last revered multi-talented, multi-genre female musicians of this century.

In Lillette's Rhythm Club: Then and Now, be amazed as rising star Jade Simmons, who has made her career stretching the boundaries of Classical music, takes on the task of both embodying the iconic multi-genre entertainer during her heyday and reimagining what the musical genius would look and sound like today with all of technology available at her virtuoso fingertips! In this one-of-a-kind one-woman show, "Classical Music's #1 Maverick's" performance will span beloved Jazz and Blues classics including Lillette's own stunning classical-gospel arrangements and will run the gamut from Rachmaninoff all the way to rap with electronic musical explorations in between. A wonderful support cast of musicians round out the production.

WEDU-PBS TV in Tampa interviewed Jade and Lillette on September 12, 2015 about their careers and the process of embarking on this extraordinary journey together. See segment here: http://video.wedu.org/video/2365590194/.

FAME Multimedia Productions is both co-producing a documentary in association with WEDU-PBS TV based on the historical event of Lillette's Rhythm Club: Then and Now and producing a feature film on the life of Lillette, also starring Jade Simmons.

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by Jade Simmons (@jadesimmons)