Fantasia Barrino returns to Broadway in ‘After Midnight’

Grammy winner Fantasia Barrino, who came to fame as winner of the third season of “American Idol,” is heading to Broadway to star in “After Midnight,” producers said Thursday.

The jazzy musical revue celebrates Duke Ellington’s years, during the ‘20s and early ‘30s, at Harlem’s legendary Cotton Club and features a 17-piece orchestra and his original arrangements. Barrino will be the first in a series of guest stars in the show, which starts mid-October.

Barrino --a.k.a. “Fantasia” -- is no stranger to the spotlight. She received rave reviews starring as Celie in the 2007 Broadway musical “The Color Purple,” based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. She was also the subject of a 2010 VH1 reality series, “Fantasia for Real.” She has recorded four albums and won a Grammy in 2011 for R&B vocal performance.

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“After Midnight” -- formerly “Cotton Club Parade” -- had its debut in November 2011 at New York City Center’s Encores and returned the next November. “After Midnight” will be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. Wynton Marsalis is the production’s musical director, Isabel Toledo is designing the costumes.

Among the songs in the show are “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Creole Love Call,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love” and “Stormy Weather.”

The show’s official opening on Broadway is planned for Nov. 3. Barrino appears in the show through Feb. 9.

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