TV: Grammy Winner Patti LaBelle Joins Broadway's AFTER MIDNIGHT!

The cast and creative team of the Tony Award-nominated smash hit Broadway musical After Midnight, just welcomed Grammy Award-winning legend Patti LaBelle as "Special Guest Star." BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge was on hand last night to chat with LaBelle after she took her bows - below, check out what she had to say about her supportive co-stars, returning to the stage, and why she feels like she belongs on Broadway!

Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, the evocative new musical After Midnight takes the sexy, smoky glamour of the original Jazz Age and catapults it into a whole new era of heart-pounding, mind-blowing entertainment for modern Broadway audiences. Refracted through a contemporary lens,After Midnight celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the Cotton Club using his original arrangements and performed by a world-class big band of 17 musicians hand-picked by living jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis. The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry provide an authentic backdrop for an array of cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars, whose interpretations shatter everything you think you know about music, nightlife and Broadway.

In its heyday, the Cotton Club featured a cavalcade of guest stars each week, known then as "Celebrity Nights." After Midnightreintroduces this exciting tradition by presenting stars of today in limited engagement appearances throughout the musical's run. Currently staring Grammy Award-winning recording artist Fantasia, who began the tradition (10/18/13 - 2/9/14), followed by four-time Grammy Award-winning icon k.d. lang(2/11/14 - 3/9/14), Grammy Award-winners Toni Braxton & Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds (3/17/14 - 3/30/14) and multi-platinum recording artist and actressVanessa Williams (4/1/14 - 5/11/14). Patti joins After Midnight for a three-week engagement (6/10/14 - 6/29/14).