ATC Sets the Stage Ablaze with Blues in the Night
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Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) welcomes in 2025 with the Tony Award- nominated musical Blues in the Night by Sheldon Epps. With 26 torch songs to light up the stage, a cast of sizzling singers, and a legendary creative team, Arizona Theatre Company continues to bring outstanding creatives and casts from across the country to Arizona audiences.
Blues in the Night tells the story of three women and one man in 1930s-era Chicago who have found themselves in a swanky hotel where they are left to reflect on their lives and explore the universal question, “What is next?” Comprised of songs by Blues icons such as Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, and many more, ATC has brought in director Ricardo Khan, Founding Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre Company, as well as Tony-nominated choreographer Hope Clarke (Jelly’s Last Jam) and musical director/band leader William Foster McDaniel to create a new production that speaks to audiences of today.
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Director Khan remarks, “For these characters, and in this extraordinary period of American history, Chicago was an important port for the formerly enslaved to escape the cruelties of the antebellum South and move forward to points further north, east and west, in a search of real freedom and opportunity. Blues tells that story in song, of a people in transition from one day to the night and then to the dawning again of yet another day, ultimately reflecting where each of us – both on the stage and in the audience – is in our own personal journeys, then and now.”
A major figure in the Black theatre movement, Khan’s Crossroads Theatre Company has nurtured the careers and new works of Ntozake Shange, August Wilson, Lynn Nottage, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Gregory Hines and superstar Viola Davis, among many others.
“The strength of the piece [Blues in the Night] lies in the high-octane performances of its cast,” Khan notes. “We spent a lot of time searching and auditioning on both coasts for the brilliance we now have in this company of performers. They’re extraordinary!”
Bringing Khan and Clarke to ATC fulfills a major goal that Kasser Family Artistic Director Matt August has for the company. “These trailblazing artists – Khan, Clarke, Epps, costumer Myrna Colley-Lee, William Foster McDaniel and the top shelf performers we have in the show, are a slice of theatre history and civil history. They are true Entertainers whose work is informed by joy, by history, by rhythm, and by pure soul. There is nobody out there like them!”
ATC's Blues in the Night runs January 26 through February 15 in Tucson at the Temple of Music and Art (330 S. Scott Ave.) and February 22 through March 9 in Greater Phoenix at Tempe Center for the Arts (700 W. Rio Salado Pkwy.). Tickets are on sale now; prices begin at $33 and can be purchased at atc.org or 1-833-ATC-SEAT.
About ATC’s Blues in the Night
A musical celebration of the blues and its influence on American music, this toe-tapping revue weaves the stories of three women and one man as they navigate love, heartbreak, and rebirth. Set in a swanky 1930s Chicago hotel, this emotionally uplifting story features 26 of the hottest torch numbers by blues and jazz icons like Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ida Cox, and Benny Goodman, to name a few. Come and celebrate a uniquely American music genre on this powerful and uplifting journey through the hearts of four of the country’s best crooners, a live band, and a soundtrack by an array of America’s greatest composers.
About Arizona Theatre Company
Arizona Theatre Company’s performances provide space for individuals to share moments of joy, communion, and relief. The company's diverse range of productions invites audiences to connect, offering an escape from daily pressures and a chance to rediscover the power of community through laughter, love, and reflection. Founded in 1966 and celebrating its 57th season, ATC is led by Kasser Family Artistic Director Matt August and Executive Director Geri Wright. ATC is the only League of Resident Theatres (LORT) member in Arizona and the only LORT company of more than 80 nationally that operates in Arizona, and in two cities- Tucson and Tempe/Phoenix Metro. As the preeminent professional theatre in Arizona, ATC is recognized as the Official Arizona State Theatre. More at atc.org.
