Michelle Obama book tour will include glittery lineup of celebrities. First up: Oprah
Michelle Obama launches a nationwide book tour on Nov. 13 and it appears that a red carpet would be in order given the special guests lined up.
The former first lady will be interviewed by her celebrity friends at some of the events. They’re billed as “intimate conversations” but will take place in huge arenas where NBA teams play and rock stars perform.
Oprah Winfrey will be the first guest interviewer. Winfrey will moderate the first event at Chicago’s United Center on the night of Nov. 13, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Reese Witherspoon, Tracee Ellis Ross and Sarah Jessica Parker will appear at other stops, Live Nation and Crown Publishing announced in a statement on Tuesday. Obama will stop in 12 cities, according to the Live Nation website.
Her memoir is called “Becoming,” and details her life from her childhood on Chicago’s South Side to her role as the first African-American first lady of the United States.
Tickets to her book tour stops have been selling fast, according to Entertainment Weekly, which said the tour has “some serious star power.”
“She’s putting on the kinds of events more typical of A-list comedians and iconic musicians, taking over venues which hold tens of thousands of people, including the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the final stop,” EW noted. “Safe to say, the level of interest isn’t enough for your local Barnes & Noble to accommodate.”
Ross, who stars on the ABC comedy “Black-ish,” will moderate the second event on the tour at The Forum in Los Angeles, Live Nation announced. Former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett will appear with Obama at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Witherspoon will moderate the event at Denver’s Pepsi Center Arena, and Parker will interview Obama on the last stop at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Dec. 19.
Other moderators include journalist Michele Norris, poet Elizabeth Alexander and comedian Phoebe Robinson, Live Nation announced.
The first stop with Oprah takes place not only in Obama’s hometown but where Winfrey taped 25 seasons of the talk show that made her famous, the Chicago Tribune noted.
It’s also where Winfrey started her book club, which launched innumerable authors and titles to “instant fame,” the Tribune wrote.
Winfrey, a longtime supporter of the Obamas, was “among the top donors who gave at least $1 million to the Obama Foundation to help pay for the construction of the Obama Presidential Center, among other programs,” the Chicago newspaper noted.
Nearly all the tickets to the Chicago event sold just days after they went on sale, the Tribune reported. About 14,000 tickets went on sale - 1,400 of which were given away to charities and schools, according to the Tribune.
Live Nation said that 10 percent of the tickets at every stop will be given to charities, schools, community groups and other organizations.