Charles Randolph-Wright News

Tickets for the West End production of Motown the Musical, opening at the Shaftesbury Theatre in February 2016, are released for sale today (15 May 2015).  With music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue and book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Motown the Musical is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. London previews will begin on 11 February 2016 with press night on 8 March 2016 with the show booking to 22 October 2016.  Casting and further information about Motown the Musical will be released shortly.

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, just honored Tony Award winning actor and Chairman of the Board of The Actors Fund, Brian Stokes Mitchell with their 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 66th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The event featured musical performances from some of Mitchell's most memorable shows by Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams (King Hedley II, Hallelujah Baby), Nicolette Robinson (Brooklynite, TV's 'The Affair,' 'Hart of Dixie') and Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton, NBC's 'Smash'), and Tony nominated Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q, Carnival at City Center Encores!). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the event below!

As previously announced, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will be shakin' it in the West End next spring. And now The Daily Mail has revealed the musical's dates at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, the show is set to begin previews on February 11, with an opening slated for March 8, 2015. 

Tonight's performance of THE OTHER THING at Second Stage Uptown has been cancelled following a nearby apartment fire, BroadwayWorld has confirmed.

Turning a profit in the theatre business is challenging at best but it isn't surprising that MOTOWN THE MUSICAL easily recouped its initial investment during its run on Broadway, or its outlay for the First National Tour, now playing at the Hollywood Pantages. The popularity of the Motown sound is undeniable. Even if you wanted to, it's impossible to keep from being carried away by the irresistible groove of the music. And why would you even want to try?

= Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy have announced that First National Tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will celebrate its one year anniversary on May 8, 2015.

Broadway at the National announces its 2015-16 season, featuring the Washington premieres of Motown The Musical, the story of Berry Gordy's journey from featherweight boxer to heavyweight music mogul, the Tony® Award-winning Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, with its fresh new take on the beloved tale, and the reconceived adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, featuring additional new songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The full subscription series also includes the highly anticipated return of Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, as well as everyone's favorite orphan, Annie.

Martin Wilkins has an intensive professional theater career that include a long list of fellowships and freelance assignments at impressive venues such as The Arena Stage (Washington, DC) and The Eugene O'Neill Center Theater. Yet, here in Charlotte, we are glad to call him one of our own.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta are proud to announce that single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale Sunday, April 12 at 10 a.m.

After hinting at a summer run in London, it looks like MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will be shakin' it in the West End next spring.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy present the First National Tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, which plays The Buell Theatre tonight, March 31-April 19 only. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the production below!

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL recently opened at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, taking the packed house captive for 2 hours and 45 minutes with nonstop songs covering 25 years of emerging superstars.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Omaha Performing Arts are proud to announce MOTOWN THE MUSICAL tickets are available through Ticket Omaha.* The tickets, starting at $30 each, are available by going online at TicketOmaha.com; by phone at 402.345.0606; or by going to the Ticket Omaha box office inside the Holland Performing Arts Center. MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will play at the Orpheum Theater Today, March 25 through Sunday, March 29. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets by calling 402.661.8516 or toll-free at 866.434.8587. The show is part of Omaha Performing Arts' Broadway Series.

Atlanta's nationally acclaimed Alliance Theatre and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth are pleased to announce the 2015/16 Season for the Alliance Stage, Hertz Stage, Theatre for Youth and Families, and Theatre for the Very Young series. The 47th season includes five world premieres, a musical by BeBe Winans and Charles Randolph-Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, a literary classic featuring an all-Atlanta cast, and exceptional productions for youth and families.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts and producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy are proud to announce that single tickets for the Orange County engagement of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL are on sale now. Single tickets start at $29 and may be purchased online at SCFTA.org, the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746. The 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, June 27, 2015 will include audio description, open captioning and sign-language interpretation.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy are proud to announce that the First National Tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL has recouped its $8.5 million dollar capitalization cost in less than ten months on the road.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presents a new Broadway production of the classic musical On the Twentieth Century starring Tony & Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, Golden Globe, SAG Award winner & Tony nominee Peter Gallagher, Tony nominee Andy Karl, Mark Linn-Baker, Tony winner Michael McGrath and Tony winner Mary Louise Wilson. On the Twentieth Century is choreographed by Tony winner Warren Carlyle and directed by six-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis, and features music by Cy Coleman, and book & lyrics by Betty ComdenandAdolph Green. On the Twentieth Century is based on plays by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur & Bruce Millholland. The original Broadway production was directed by Harold Prince. The production officially opened last night, and you can check out photos from the red carpet below!

How do you cram 50 hit songs, over 90 characters, and 25 years of history from one of music's most important companies into a dramatically satisfying, two hour and 45 minute musical? The answer is, you don't; but based on the enthusiastic response to MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, playing at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts through March 15th, that really doesn't matter. What does matter is that the music of Motown (the record company and the musical) is here to make people happy. That mantra is repeated multiple times during the show's most difficult situations by its central figure, Berry Gordy. According to the musical, Motown's founder created the most successful independent record label of all-time on little more than determination and a desire to spread joy. As anyone familiar with Motown's mile-long string of hits, or the stage show that they inspired, can attest to, Gordy, Hitsville U.S.A., and MOTOWN THE MUSICAL more than delivered on creating joy for countless generations of music fans.

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner and acclaimed D.C. actor Edward Gero stars as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia-in the world-premiere political drama The Originalist, by Charles MacArthur Award winner and Arena Stage resident playwright John Strand. When a bright, liberal law school graduate embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Scalia, she discovers him to be both an infuriating sparring partner and unexpected mentor. How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation's highest court? Artistic Director Molly Smith directs this daring new play, which offers a rare portrayal of a sitting Supreme Court justice, and for the first time the intimate Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle will be configured into a three-quarter thrust configuration. The Originalist runs March 6-April 26, 2015.

In the 2015-16 season, David Mirvish will present 14 shows in Toronto, consisting of seven shows in the Mainstage Subscription Series, three in the Off-Mirvish Subscription Series and four shows off-subscription.