Comic Bill Bellamy keeps busy on and off the stage

Bridgit Brown

Comedian/actor Bill Bellamy is on his way to Boston to blow up the stage at the Comedy Connection this weekend. Considering what it takes to break into the comedy industry, Bellamy has been fortunate. Full story

Keys makes big screen debut in ‘Smokin’ Aces’

Kam Williams

Alicia Augello-Cook was born in New York City on Jan. 25, 1980 to a Jamaican father and a mother who’s a mix of Puerto Rican, Italian and Irish. An only child whose father bounced while she was still a toddler, little “Lellow” was raised in Hell’s Kitchen by her doting mom, who recognized she had a prodigy on her hands soon after her young daughter started taking piano lessons. Full story

‘Jews and Blues’ combines old spirituals with funky soul

Susan Daniels

A musical collaboration between the Boston-based blues ensemble Housekwake and the Zamir Chorale, “Jews and Blues” debuts this weekend at Newton’s Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, with the five-piece band and the 50-member chorus exploring the traditions of African American and Jewish music.

“It’s a musical feast of brisket and ribs, black eyed peas and hamentaschen (holiday cookies). And it’s all good,” said Housekwake leader Nathaniel Stringfield, who described the program as “a melding of two cultures to create a happy and festive form of family entertainment — the message being that the two cultures can not only live together, but we can play and sing together and entertain you.”

With such diverse selections as “Oh, Rachel, Don’t You Weep” and “Hine Ma Tov Umanaim” playing alongside Etta James’ “At Last” and the closing number “Wake Up Everybody,” the musical lineup jumps from Jewish liturgical pieces spanning thousands of years of both popular and classical styles to a potent brew of soul/funk and R&B. Full story

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