A memorial service for late Broadway star and musician Lawrence Hamilton will be held today (April 8) at 2 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, located at 1101 N. Mississippi Ave. in Little Rock.
Hamilton, a Foreman (Little River County) native died last Thursday due to complications from surgery in New York City. He was 59.
Hamilton’s career spanned the globe, with Broadway credits including “Play On,” “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “The Wiz,” “Uptown It’s Hot,” “Blues in the Night” and “Ragtime.”
He was musical director for opera star Jessye Norman and performed at the White House, at the Vatican for Pope Paul II, and in concert with the legendary Lena Horne.
At the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, he appeared as Whining Boy in “The Piano Lesson,” created by Souvenir.
Hamilton was also a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.
Little Rock Soirée featured Hamilton in 2011. Read the story here.