In April 2011 Harry Connick, Jr., the Tony nominated and Grammy Award winning musician, will be playing five performances at Colonial Theatre in Boston.

Connick, after this past summer’s extended concert engagement on Broadway at Neil Simon Theatre, is continuing his cross country tour “Harry Connick, Jr. and Orchestra.”  His shows in Boston will run from April 26 through April 30, 2011.

The shows will highlight songs off of “Your Songs,” his latest album, which features pop classics like “Smile,” “Who Can I Turn To?,” “Close to You,” “Some Enchanted Evening” and “The Way You Look Tonight.”

As part of their winter and spring programming, the PBS show “Great Performances” will be airing “Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert on Broadway.”

Connick made his debut on Broadway in 1990 at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre with “An Evening with Harry Connick Jr. and His Orchestra.”  For “Thou Shalt Not,” a short-lived musical on Broadway, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Score.  He was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for his work in “The Pajama Game.”  The screen roles for Connick include “Living Proof,” “Bug,” “Mickey,” “P.S., I Love You,” “Hope Floats,” “Independence Day,” “Little Man Tate,” “Memphis Belle,” and “Will & Grace.”  His “Harry Connick, Jr.” Only You in Concert,” earned him an Emmy Award.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com or calling 800-745-3000.  The address for the Colonial Theatre is 106 Boylston Street in Boston.

When Simon Cowell, the cranky Brit, leaves “American Idol” later this month to go to “The X Factor,” Fox needs to name Harry Connick Jr. as his replacement. Connick worked the mentoring gig of his over like it was a week long audition.

Connick arranged the kids’ music, gave them lots of practical performance advice, and with Ryan Seacrest held his own. He told the audience a story about Frank Sinatra and even said out loud what all of us have been thinking regarding contestants on the show parading their kids to get sympathy votes.

Connick said, that I have a baby. Drop it right now. He might have been joking, however every joke has a kernel of truth to it. Fox also needs to bring Paula back and lose Ellen.

The antics of Connick were joke, joke, joke. A gag reel was even put together by “Idol” of them. There’s Connick with his explanation of wanting to be a centaur instead of mentor. Then Connick is on the phone talking to the mom of Casey James, saying that he thought of himself as Chris Isaak. Connick even jabbed Crystal Bowersox. He thought Crystal was checking her cell phone out, but she was really checking out the insulin pump. Ooops.

In 2006, Harry Connick Jr. excited Broadway audiences by appearing on the stage for the revival of “The Pajama Game.” Connick received a Tony nomination for ‘Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical’ for his efforts. Well it seems the bright lights of Broadway are pulling him back in. Connick has officially signed on for 11 performances at the Neil Simon Theatre that will be entitled “Harry Connick Jr. in Concert on Broadway.” The residency dates will run from July 15 through July 26. Tickets go onsale to the general public on May 4 through Ticketmaster, but American Express cardholders can already take advantage of presale opportunities.

Harry Connick Jr. is currently in the midst of a world tour, recently wrapping up the New Zealand and Australia leg before he heads to Europe for select dates. His US tour dates will begin June 11 in St. Louis and run through September 21 in Livermore, California.

Venerable jazz man Harry Connick Jr. will be spending his January on the west coast and his February on the east. He’s mapped out a 13-city tour starting in Indio, California on January 23 and extending through February 19 at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Full Harry Connick tour dates are outlined below. Tickets went onsale via Ticketmaster and the venue websites on Monday (12/21). Full Harry Connick Jr tour dates are listed below.

Connick’s most recent release is entitled “Your Songs” and was released on September 22, and it is a featured set of covers including classics like Billy Joel’s ‘Just the Way You Are,’ Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ and the Carpenters ‘Close to You.’ Clive Davis handled production responsibilities on the new album.

He received a Grammy nomination for “Your Songs” in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. He already has three statues in his current Grammy collection. Connick will also be a performer during the 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors that will take place on December 29 at 9pm EST. His performance will take place during the portion of the show honoring Mel Brooks. Other recipients include Dave Brubeck, Bruce Springsteen and Robert DeNiro. The special will air on CBS.

2010 Harry Connick Jr. Concert Tour
January 2010
23 – Indio, CA – Fantasy Springs Resort Casino & Special Events Center
24 – Temecula, CA – Pechanga Resort & Casino
26 – Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theatre
27 – Friant, CA – Table Mountain Casino
28 – San Diego, CA – Copley Symphony Hall

February 2010
11 – Fort Meyers, FL – Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
12 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
13 – Melbourne, FL – King Center for Performing Arts
14 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
16 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
17 – Charleston, WV – Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences
18 – Baltimore, MD – The Lyric
19 – Virginia Beach, VA – Sandler Center for the Performing Arts

Harry Connick Jr., jazz singer and actor, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, HIV co-discoverer, Jessie Gruman, health care advocate, and William McDonough, architect, will be receiving honorary degrees from Tulane University at their 2009 Commencement ceremony to be held at the Louisiana Superdome on May 16.

The commencement will mark the departure of the “Katrina Class” for Tulane. Those were the students who had only been freshman at Tulane for a couple hours before being forced to evacuate right before Hurricane Katrine hit. On August 29, 2005 the hurricane devastated New Orleans and Tulane had to be closed down for a whole semester. Scott Cowen, President of Tulane, credits the fact that over 80 percent of that freshman class returned to Tulane after the hurricane with saving the university. Tulane sustained damages of over $650 million.

Two recipients of the honorary degrees helped directly in the city of New Orleans’ recovery from Katrina. Native son Harry Connick Jr. has been one of the driving forces in the recovery efforts in New Orleans. To help out as best he could he navigated the flooded streets via boat, testified on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. regarding the city’s condition, and dedicated proceeds from his albums to help with hurricane relief efforts and to launch Musicians Village, a project for rebuilding a community for the artists of New Orleans whose homes were devastated and destroyed by the hurricane Katrina. Harry Connick Jr. will be receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

One of William McDonough’s top concerns has been rebuilding homes after Katrina. He will also be receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. McDonough is a world-renowned designer and architect and a parter with Brad Pitts for the Make It Right Foundation, the leader in the Lower Ninth Ward redevelopment efforts. The foundation is building environmentally friendly and safe homes in the neighborhood.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi won the 2008 Nobel Prize, along with Luc Montagnier her research partner, for discovering the HIV virus that is the cause of AIDS. She will be receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. The HIV discovery of Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier led to methods being developed to diagnose and treat patients that had been infected with the HIV virus and also for screening blood products. These developments helped to substantially decrease AIDS from spreading and also helped to dramatically increase ADIS patients’ life expectancy.

Jessie Gruman, the Center for the Advancement of Health’s founder, executive director and president is the survivor of colon cancer, viral pericarditis, cervical cancer and Hodgkin’s disease. Gruman has completely dedicated her life for helping to improve other people’s health. Tulane is recognizing her personal triumphs and numerous contributions with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

With these four honorary degree recipients, along with Ellen DeGeneres, New Orleans native and keynote speaker ,as well as special tributes for the “Katrina Class,” the 2009 Commencement ceremony for Tulane University promises to be very memorable.

The first set of dates for Harry Connick, Jr.’s Holiday Celebration Tour 2008” have been set.

The tour for the Grammy award winning jazz pianist and singer will kick off in Louisville, KY on November 18 and through mid December will make its away across the eastern part of the US. Chicago and New York City will both see two night stands. Additional on sale information and shows will be announced later.

By the time Connick Jr. hits the road, the performing artist will have his new Christmas music set out to help get his fans in the holiday mood. On November 4 “What a Night! A Christmas Album,” is set to be released. It will feature the familiar holiday classics along with new tracks that were written by Connick Jr. himself.

The upcoming album follows two studio efforts form January 2007: “Chanson du Vieux Carre,” the third piano release for Connick on Marsalis Music’s label, as well as “Oh, My Nola,” a set which included four new songs as well as classics from New Orleans musical culture. “Chanson du Vieux Carree” reached No. 3 on the jazz chart of Billboard, while “Oh, My Nola” made it to the top of that chart.

In addition to Connick Jr.’s New Orleans musical tributes, the native of Crescent City also continues to help Rita and Katrina hurricane victims. Connick Jr. along with Branford Marsalis are honorary chairs for Operation Home Delivery of Habitat for Humanity. EventPro, a live event company, honored Connick Jr. and Marsalis with Humanitarian of the Year awards.

Connick Jr. has also kept busy in pursuit of his acting career. In “Living Proof,” an original movie and true story for Lifetime, he stars as Denny Slamon a doctor from UCLA who developed Herceptin 2, a breast cancer drug. The movie will air this month on Lifetime. Renee Zellweger is the executive producer for the movie. She also Connick Jr.’s co-star in “Chilled in Miami,” an upcoming movie. “Song for the Hopeful,” a song featured in the movie “Living Proof,” will also appear on the new Christmas album of the jazz star’s.

Next spring Connick Jr. will be returning to Broadway. He will appear in “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” a musical comedy. Connick Jr. will be in the role of a playboy from Long Island and features Ira Gershwin lyrics and George Gershwin music.

On Monday, producer Scott Landis announced that in Spring 2009 Harry Connick Jr. will be returning to Broadway, joining the cast of “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” a musical comedy that draws on Gershwin standards.

In the show, Connick Jr. will playing a playboy from Long Island. The book is from Joe DiPetro, a writer from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” Lyrics are from Ira Gershwin and the music from George Gershwin.

The pre-Broadway engagement for “Nice Work If You Can Get It” is taking place at Colonial Theatre in Boston. Broadway preview performances will start in February. The theater has not been announced yet. The play will then open on Broadway in March. The rest of the casing for the musical will be announced at a later date.

The director and choreographer will be Kathleen Marshall. Connick Jr. and Marshall worked together last in 2006 in the Tony award winning revival “The Pajama Game.”

Harry Connick Jr., after taking a short break, will be hitting the road once again on April 4 along with his big band. They will be playing an entire new North American run of dates in the West and South.

In late February he kicked off his “My New Orleans” tour. The itinerary focused on the eastern portion of the US along with Canada that went through late April. On May 6 Connick Jr. will close the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival out, and then head West for an eight show run in California and finish up in Quebec on June 30th at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

The tour is in support of two new albums released by Connick Jr. in January. “Chanson du Vieux Carree,” the third piano release for Connick Jr. on Marsalis Music’s record label, and “Oh, My Nola,” which features classics that are central to New Orleans music culture along with four new songs that were written by Connick Jr.

In addition to Connick Jr.’s New Orleans musical tributes, he has tirelessly worked to help Katrina and Rita hurricane victims. Proceeds from “All These People,” his latest single, is going to help the hurricane victims. He is also serving as an honorary chair, along with Branford Marsalis, for the program Operation Home Delivery which is part of Habitat for Humanity. Earlier this month the live event company of EventPro named Connick Jr. and Marsalis as Humanitarians of the Year.

The Grammy award winning Connick Jr. has sold over 20 million albums over the course of his career. This year he also received accolades for his acting. He received a golden statue nomination for his role in “The Pajama Game” on Broadway.

Connick will be working on two film projects this year, “P.S., I Love You,” along with actress Hilary Swank, and “Bug,” which is a horror film with Ashely Judd as his co-star.

The 38th annual edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival being held this year will be presenting even more music than it ever has. Around 600 acts will be hosted on 10 different stages during the event that will take place at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans from April 27-29 as well as May 4-6.

The lineup of diverse artists include, Harry Connick Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Ludacris, Jill Scott, Brad Paisley, Van Morrison, John Legend, ZZ Top, Norah Jones, Steeley Dan and Rod Stewart. Harry Connick Jr., native son of New Orleans, will be closing the event out on Acura Stage on May 6.

Quint Davis, the Jazz Fest director and producer said in his statement, the best place for listening to music and singing and dancing in the world is New Orleans with the loving and open atmosphere. This year we will present even more music than we ever have. The Jazz Fest as always will give our festival goers the greatest opportunity for participating in the city’s joyful and powerful integration with the community and culture.

Festival tickets went on sale on January 25 at Ticketmaster outlets as well as the event’s website. Single day attendance tickets were priced at $35 in advance. At the gate they are $45. For children ages 2 to 11, the cost is $5.

There are also a limited number of packages available called Big Chief VIP Experience at the cost of $600 or with parking at $700. These packages include VIP amenities and full weekend passes.

According to the festival’s organizers, every year the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals draws an audience in the tens of thousands daily for all six days. Along with the 10 stages, the festival also includes a food fair that has over 100 Louisiana cuisine varieties and craft booths.

Next month, Harry Connick Jr. will release two new albums and then he, along with his big band, are going to go out on the road for a series of US dates starting in Boca Raton, FL on February 23.

So far there are several shows on the East Coast that have booked for February and March. More shows will be announced later.

The jazz pianist and singer will have two albums hitting the street on January 30. “Oh, My Nola,” features funk, country, R&B, brass band, gospel and jazz styles. It also will include songs that are new and written by Connick Jr. along with several classics central to New Orleans musical culture. The second album, “Chanson du Vieux Carre,” will be the third Connick Jr. piano release for the record label Marsalis Music. The album is a tribute to the performer’s home town of New Orleans.

The latest single from Connick Jr., “All These People,” an August release from “Oh, My Nola,” was a duet he sang with Kim Burrell, a gospel singer. The song was inspired from the suffering that Connick Jr. witnessed firsthand following Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from the single will all go to benefit New Orleans Habitat Musicians Village, which is a project started by Connick Jr. along with Branford Marsalis, a colleague and longtime friend of Harry’s.

In addition to Connick Jr.’s humanitarian work and music, he has kept busy as a film and television actor along with performing on Broadway. In January 2006 he made his theatrical debut on Broadway in the play, “The Pajama Game.” The production won a Tony Award and the cast album recently received a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Show Album.