Article published in Dropline.biz on April 17, 2006

Broadway’s Obba Babatundé

By Regina Washington (co-authored by Dino M. Zaffina)

Obba Babatundé is returning to Broadway starring as “Billy Flynn” in Chicago. Obba has just completed a nine month tour performing as “Billy Flynn.” In the summer of 2005 he toured with the Chicago group for four weeks in Tokyo and one week in Osaki. In early January 2006, he was asked to return for a week of special engagements. During February, Obba entertained audiences on American soil while on a U.S. National Tour. On April 17, 2006, he will return to Broadway for a two months run of Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre.

Babatundé is one of the busiest actors in the Motion Picture and Television Industry, and on Broadway. When directors want a strong character actor they turn to Obba Babatundé. He currently can be seen on the silver screen in the soon to be released The Celestine Prophecy which opens in limited release on April 17, 2006. Babatundé is also a semi-regular on UPN’s No. 1 show, Half & Half playing “Charles Thorne.” (See More Credits).

Obba is not only a busy actor, but he writes and produces as well. He currently has three documentaries available on DVD that can be purchased by clicking their links below. The first one aired on KCET entitled, Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty, before going to DVD. It is about the life and times of Dorothy Dandridge told through rare and unseen footage and personal interviews with people that actually knew her. Obba is the narrator. The second documentary is Oscar’s Black Odyssey: From Hattie to Haley. It gives a retrospect from the first black woman to win an Oscar (Hattie McDaniels), to the most recent being Halle Berry. The third documentary is TV in Black: The First Fifty Years.

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