| | Published July 25th, 2018
| Live at Orinda Concert Series returns Aug. 12
| | | By Derek Zemrak |  | | Lillias White Photo provided |
Tony and Emmy award winner Lillias White will kick off opening night of the Live at Orinda Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12 as the Orinda Theatre is once again transformed into a cabaret.
Lillias White has been recognized on Broadway with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, People's Choice Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Sonja in Cy Coleman's "The Life." In film, she had roles in the animated features "Hercules" and "Anastasia" and on TV, White was featured on "Sesame Street" (Emmy Award), "Law and Order," and Baz Luhrmann's Netflix series, "The Get Down."
White has just finished a month-long pre-Broadway run in Tony-winning director Jerry Mitchell's ("Kinky Boots") new musical "Half Time." Co-starring with her Broadway contemporaries Donna McKechnie ("A Chorus Line"), Andre DeShields ("The Wiz"), and Georgia Engel ("Mary Tyler Moore Show"), "Half Time" is about professional basketball's first 60-plus dance team. Earlier in 2018, White won the NAACP Award for her starring role in the LA production of "Ma Rainy's Black Bottom" (directed by Emmy and Tony winner Phylicia Rashad).
In 1981, the Brooklyn, New York native made her Broadway debut in "Barnum." She played Effie in the 1987 revival of "Dreamgirls," for which she won the Drama League Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Lillias has also appeared on Broadway in "Cats," "Carrie," the original Broadway production of the Tony-winning "Once on this Island," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (with Matthew Broderick), "Chicago" and "Fela!", for which she received another Tony nomination.
White's concert performances include "Funny Girl," "Hair," "Dreamgirls" and "South Pacific," which was broadcast by PBS's Great Performances. She has appeared in concert at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and has toured internationally with her one-woman shows - from "Brooklyn to Broadway," "My Guy Cy," and "The Lillias White Effect." White holds a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from City University New York.
White's rendition of "Moon Rain" is remarkable and it will be a treat to hear it in the 180-seat auditorium in the Orinda Theatre.
Live at Orinda Theatre Concert Series is produced by Derek Zemrak, Leonard Pirkle and Michael Williams and is sponsored by the Orinda Community Foundation.
Tickets for Opening Night with Lillias White are now on sale at the Orinda Theatre box office or online at www.lamorindatheatres.com. Available ticket prices range from $55 to $75 and all seats are reserved. It is recommended that you purchase your tickets early because these shows have all sold out.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA