Vocalist and Actress Vanessa Williams performs a night of hits at The Ridgefield Playhouse on November 4

Grammy Award-nominated Vocalist and Actress Vanessa Williams performs a night of hits at The Ridgefield Playhouse on November 4

Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominated singer/actress Vanessa Williams brings a night of music to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, November 4 at 8 p.m. as part of the Ridgefield Magazine Broadway and Cabaret Series.  Williams rose to fame in the 1980’s and released her first album, “The Right Stuff,” in 1988, which produced her first #1 single, “Dreamin’.” She followed up that success with the wildly successful album “The Comfort Zone,” the album which contained her best-known hit, “Save the Best for Last.” The song hit #1 on the charts in the United States and held the top spot for five weeks.

The album was certified triple-Platinum, and earned Williams five Grammy Award nominations.  Her success continued into the 1990’s and early 2000’s. In 1995, Williams provided the soundtrack hit “Colors of the Wind” for the Disney animated feature “Pocahontas.” The award-winning song nabbed Williams an Academy Award for Best original Song as well as a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie.  Fans can also purchase special VIP Tickets which includes a pre-show cocktail party in the lobby from 6:30-7:15pm and meet and greet with Vanessa Williams to benefit The 25th Anniversary of the Hord Foundation.  Stop by Nature’s Temptations (32 Prospect Street, Ridgefield) and enjoy a free smoothie with any purchase in November when you show your ticket to this show!

Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in entertainment today.  She has conquered the musical charts, Broadway, music videos, television and motion pictures.  She has sold millions of albums worldwide and has achieved critical acclaim as an actress on stage, in film and on television.  She is also the recipient of numerous nominations, honors, and awards including Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and NAACP Image awards. Williams received three Emmy nominations playing the role of Wilhelmina Slater on the hit series, “Ugly Betty.” 

She most recently appeared in the final season of “Desperate Housewives,” ABC’s “666 Park Avenue,” guest-starring roles on “Royal Pains” and “The Good Wife.” Ms. Williams also received rave reviews in the New York, Los Angeles and Lifetime Television productions of “The Trip to Bountiful,” opposite Cicely Tyson.  She also took to Broadway to appear in a variety of productions, including a Tony Award-nominated turn as The Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”

Vanessa Williams can also be seen in the lead role in VH1’s scripted series inspired by Star Jones 2011 book “Satan’s Sisters: A Novel of Fiction.”  Set in the bright lights of daytime television, the fireworks start every weekday at noon when the hosts of “The Lunch Hour” — a long-running popular TV talk show — discuss life, love, family, politics, and gossip.  Ms. Williams will play the role of Maxine, the creator and host of “The Lunch Hour;” a formidable, powerful, and decisive woman, but fears she’s being put out to pasture.  Slated for a 2017 premiere, the series will focus on Maxine and her co-hosts, five women with very different points of view, are best friends and sisters…while they’re on TV.  But behind the scenes, they are “Satan’s Sisters” — a backstage world filled with power struggles, personal demons, diva fits, love affairs, man troubles, cat fights…and cocktails.    

For tickets ($75, VIP Meet and Greet Cocktail Party Tickets $125), call the box office at 203-438-5795, or visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.  The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.