{blackbabes} QUEEN LATIFAH, P!NK, JESSE TYLER FERGUSON, ALEX NEWELL, ADRIENNE WARREN, JULIANNE HOUGH, WHITNEY LEAVITT, DYLAN MULVANEY AND MORE TO CELEBRATE “CHICAGO’S” 30TH ANNIVERSARY WITH SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AT “THE 79TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS” LIVE SUNDAY, JUNE 7 ON CBS

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• The Tony Awards® announced today that Broadway’s record-breaking hit musical “Chicago” will celebrate 30 years on Broadway with a very special performance. Queen Latifah, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as Matron Mama Mortin in the film adaptation, will join Tony Awards host P!NK, as well as Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Whitney Leavitt, Dylan Mulvaney and more for a can’t-miss tribute performance from this iconic production which has been a Broadway mainstay since 1996.

 

• Broadway’s biggest night will also feature performances from “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titaníque,” “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” “CATS: The Jellicle Ball,” “Ragtime” and “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show.”

 

• “The Book of Mormon” entire original cast, including Tony Award nominees Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells and Rory O’Malley and Tony Award winner Nikki M. James, will take the stage to celebrate the show’s 15^th anniversary on Broadway. The performance will be introduced by Tony Award winners Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez.

 

• Additional performances will be announced this week.

 

• THE 79^TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS will return to the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 7. Hosted by music superstar and global icon P!NK, the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards will broadcast LIVE to both coasts, (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/5:00-8:00 PM, PT), on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+*.

 

• Prior to the broadcast, Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti and Emmy® and SAG-nominated actor, musician and writer Tituss Burgess will host THE TONY AWARDS: ACT ONE, a live pre-show with exclusive content that is available to viewers for free on Pluto TV – a global leader in free streaming television – beginning Sunday, June 7 at 6:35-8:00 PM, ET/3:35-5:00 PM, PT. The two stage-and-screen icons will kick off Broadway’s biggest night with the presentation of the first round of Tony Awards during the exciting pre-show telecast.

 

• The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League. Raj Kapoor, Sarah Levine Hall and Jack Sussman will produce this year’s show. Kapoor and Levine Hall will also serve as co-showrunners. Patrick Menton and Rob Paine will co-executive produce, with Menton also serving as head of talent.

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{blackbabes} Serena Williams to play doubles at Queen's Club

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PARIS — Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis at age 44 after nearly four years away from the sport.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has accepted a wild card invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen’s Club grass-court tournament in London, the WTA Tour announced Monday.

Williams also made a post on social media with the caption, “Guess everybody heard the news.” The post had a video with her phone ringing, during which she said, “I gotta change my number.”

The Queen’s Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”

Last week, reports suggested that Williams was eying rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko — who is ranked No. 9 in singles — as a potential partner for the tournament.

Mboko was asked about the possibility of playing with Williams after winning her second-round singles match on Thursday at the French Open.

"I think for me I want to kind of let the moment (be) for her," Mboko said, per AFP.

"I feel like if she's ready to come back on her own terms, then I feel like it's up to her to announce that.

"Other than that, I don't really have much to say. I think the moment is all up to her and when she's ready to come back. Yeah, it's up to her."

A return on grass will raise speculation that Williams also plans to compete at Wimbledon, which starts June 28. She’s won seven singles titles at the All England Club.

Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, Williams said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared that she was “evolving” away from tennis.

“Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” said Martina Navratilova, the previous oldest former No. 1 to launch a comeback, at 43 years, 10 months.

“To many of the younger players, they never had the opportunity to play her; some may have never watched her on television so this will be a new and exciting experience,” Navratilova said.

Williams, who has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis’ mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier — which is the first step toward a comeback.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.

“It will bring people to watch tennis,” Osaka said Thursday at the French Open. “I’m going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it’s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.”

Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with her daughter: “Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in the post.

Williams’ second daughter was born in 2023.

When it was revealed last year that Williams had signed up to return to the drug-testing pool, she wrote on social media: “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”

Gauff never got to play Williams

“One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,” defending French Open champion Coco Gauff said in Paris. “It would be cool for this sport to have a legend back playing.”

American player, Iva Jovic, 18, also sounded thrilled.

“I think it’s amazing. It’s really cool,” she said. “I have never seen Serena in real life. Obviously I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis, so it’s going to be incredible.”

Like Osaka, she thinks it will boost tennis in general.

“It’s going to make a lot of headlines and it’s something that people are going to talk about,” Jovic said.

Added fellow American player Madison Keys, “Serena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let’s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.

“I mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,” Keys added. “So why not watch more?”

WTA chair Valerie Camillo said that “Serena is one of the greatest athletes of all-time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court.

“Her return is an expression of her passion for competition and I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players," Camillo added. “Serena is not just a great champion. She’s a successful entrepreneur, a powerful advocate for the issues that matter – and one of the most iconic women in the world. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the WTA Tour at this hugely exciting moment for women’s tennis.”

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