A DAY IN "THE LIFE OF RILEY"

purple

Some know but I’ll share again: Ant and I met the opening night of “Oprah Winfrey presents The Color Purple”. He was covering it for STARZ. I was covering it for aforementioned title producer’s talk show. Ten years later, Ant and I are HERE! And my ARISE 360 Broadway/theater segment producer Derrick Hemphill and I got to meet the cast of on THE COLOR PURPLE Revival for Broadway – due in November 2015. At Chelsea’s Pier 59 as the backdrop, we got to hang out with the ladies on their first day together: Cynthia Erivo as Celie (She played the part in the London run); Jennifer Hudson as Shug (EGOT anyone? She has the Oscar and the Grammy); and Danielle Brooks of “Orange is the New Black” FAME as Sophia. #thecolorpurple

all star karaoke

Hope we can get Miss Hudson and the ladies up to Billie's Black presents ALL STAR KARAOKE with Patrick L. Riley. We are UP AND RUNNING through mid-July! Join us next Tuesday for some special giveaways – including MISS JESSIE’s and a raffle for tickets to see the APOLLO THEATER's staged adaptation of E. Lynn Harris' New York Times best-selling debut novel "Invisible Life"….

This week was a BLAST! We welcomed another group of business journalism interns under the leadership of my NABJ brothers Will Sutton and Garry Howard. Shout out to the #DJNFbiz15 – the Dow Jones News Fund Business Internship program…

…we toasted and serenaded our ALL STAR KARAOKE show-runner Derrick Hemphill…

…and we welcomed singer Kylie Marcus Blue who sang her new single WONDER – available on I-Tunes and all platforms.

HERE'S A HIGHLIGHT VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/5t6cAyzUqSA

ALSO IN THE HOUSE: Celebrity designer Indashio came, saw, and conquered --- with the promise to return! MUCH LOVE!

Was also a treat to have ARISE ENTERTAINMENT 360 CO-HOST SHANNON LANIER in the house! I fill in for him at ARISE 360 when he's away. Now, we must get MISS LOLA OGUNNAIKE and the rest of the ARISE gang to come hang out at ALL STAR KARAOKE.

COME JOIN US NEXT WEEK – prepared to sing your favorite DIVA in the first hour of the night. We’ll have a “little giveaway” for the participant who BRINGS IT!

RESERVATIONS are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – if you want to sit and enjoy some SOUL FOOD & COCKTAILS! 212.280.2248. #DJNFbiz15 #billiesblack #allstarkaraoke

nectar imperial rose

Shout out to BFF Derrick Hemphill who invited me out to his birthday celebration extension: a Moet & Chandon-sponsored TOAST (of Nectar Imperial Rose - one of my FAVS!). The event at Cipriani was to introduce Nectar Imperial Rose's FIRST CREATIVE COLLABORATION: LIMITED EDITION BY MARCELO BURLON! FUN ROOM of GREAT FRIENDS and INDUSTRY BUDDIES I've not seen in a minute. ALSO IN THE HOUSE: my EVERY-STYLISH & GQ NEPHEW: HERMAN L. RILEY III. FUN to stumble into him... and a hang a bit! XO #MOETXMARCELO