Little Richard News

BroadwayWorld in Omaha sat down for a special interview with music royalty, Bill Medley, as The Righteous Brother prepare to bring that loving feeling to the midwest this next weekend.

Jarrod and Kellie have taken their big voices and beauty and added them to an intricately scripted, meticulously rehearsed, and blissfully spectacular new show that, just last night, came into the light.

Having a dream is like running with scissors. Harley, a singer-songwriter whose wife is expecting their first child, has decided to hang up his dream before it destroys his family. On the way to pawn his guitar, he stumbles across the bar where his musical hero, Floyd Whitaker, died. Upon entering, he finds an inhospitable bartender and a single surly customer who's strumming the blues on an old guitar. How could he resist an adventure like this?

Boogie Woogie piano genius and vocalist Tom Seals is set to join stage sensation Marisha Wallace for her UK tour date at London's Arts Theatre.

A collection of memories of a life lived loud. From his early days growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, to hitting the road at the age of 18, and all the music that followed, Dave Grohl draws from his upcoming memoir for two special evenings of storytelling at The Ford. In his own words, Dave writes: 

One of Bay Area's favorite Actors , finds himself re-living a reality while bringing others along on the ride to mass exposure. Dedrick Weathersby, continues his National Tour of Remembering James- The Life and Music of James Brown.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts Producing Artistic Director BT McNicholl will welcome you home to a very special return season of truly exhilarating events at the newly renovated theatre! Won’t it be amazing to once again laugh together at the unmistakable comedy of the one-and-only JAY LENO and the always hilarious MARGARET CHO?

This season looks to be very exciting at the FSCJ Artist Series with Broadway productions, concerts, ballets, operas, comedy shows, dance productions, school performances and variety shows.

With a cast consisting of stars from Broadway's greatest rock musicals, as well as incredible Rock & Roll singers, Neil Berg shares the often unknown stories from the fifty-year history of the music that changed the world forever. NEIL BERG'S 50 YEARS OF ROCK AND ROLL will rock the Times-Union Center on November 16, 2021 at 7:30pm.

After over a year of being shuttered due to COVID-19, Perseverance Theatre is reopening its doors and returning to live, in-person theatre in the fall. National and local health and safety guidelines will be in place.

The album will be released via Joe Bonamassa’s independent blues label KTBA Records. It was produced and recorded by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

They also flew in their drummer Rob Humphreys (Leonard Cohen, Jason Mraz) for the recording and worked with Chad Copelin (Sufjan Stevens, Christina Perri, Ben Rector) back in Oklahoma for keys and additional production as well as keyboardist Dan Walker (Heart). 

Boogie woogie piano genius and vocalist Tom Seals is hitting the road with his debut UK theatre tour. The 45s Tour will see Tom travel to venues across England and Scotland as he entertains audiences with a variety of genres from blues and jazz to swing and soul with his much-celebrated boogie-woogie style.

The five tracks featured on ENCORE were recorded during the same time as their critically-acclaimed major label debut, #KingButch. The band says, 'ENCORE is full of musical gems from the #KingButch sessions. With these songs, we go further into some of the directions that we tapped for the album.'

Originally released as a 5-CD box set, The Specialty Story offers 130 tracks from the artists noted above, plus Percy Mayfield, Camille Howard, Joe Liggins, Jesse Belvin, Eugene Church, Lil Greenwood, the Swan Silvertones, John Lee Hooker, and more.

Young Actors Theatre will present GREASE as its 2021 Summer Main Stage production, with live performances running June 25 to July 10, 2021. ​

This follows the diamond certifications of “Just the Way You Are, “Grenade,” and “Uptown Funk!(Mark Ronson)” Furthermore, “Just the Way You Are” is twelve times multi-platinum, “Uptown Funk!” and “When I Was Your Man” are eleven times multi-platinum, and “Grenade” and “That’s What I Like” are ten times multi-platinum.

honor of Black leaders who shaped and defined American history, The Marsh is presenting Darryl Van Leer’s riveting The Escape of Frederick Douglass on its digital platform, MarshStream. Van Leer wrote and stars in the acclaimed production, which brings to vivid life the early years of African American rights activist Frederick Douglass, from his youth as an unruly boy caught in a slave training camp to his gripping and suspenseful train ride to freedom. Immediately following the performance, Van Leer will be joined by The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman for a Q&A. The Escape of Frederick Douglass will be streamed on Saturday, April 24 at 7:30pm PDT. For more information, please visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld up with Van Leer last week from his home base in Nashville, Tennessee. An actor with some notable film & TV credits, Van Leer is perhaps best known for his stage works about political and cultural leaders, including musical performers such as Ray Charles and Little Richard. We discussed The Escape of Frederick Douglass and how he went about bringing such an iconic historical figure to life, and his thoughts on finding hope in difficult times. Van Leer has made it his mission to take inspiration from these great historical figures and pass it on to his audiences.

This special 90-minute show will be held at The Winter Park Playhouse with socially distanced seating in place.  Net proceeds will support The Winter Park Playhouse's year-round musical programming in-house and out in the community. 

SHOUT SISTER SHOUT! Has announced its creative team. Playwright Cheryl L. West (FANNIE: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer; Jar the Floor), will be joined by Kenneth L. Roberson (Avenue Q; All Shook Up), who will direct & Joseph Joubert (Respect; The Color Purple) as arranger & orchestrator for the musical about the Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll.