Duke Fakir News

See  two of the biggest musical legends of Motown- The Temptations and The Four Tops in New York on  Friday, December 9 at 8:00 pm at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn or in Newark, Saturday, December 10th at 8:00 pm in Newark at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

A descendant of Motown royalty, Karla Gordy Bristol will present Motown: Celebrating The Music, The Magic, The Love  October 1, 2022. This world premiere, created, produced and directed by Karla, will feature a panel and show that includes: Shelly Berger, Janie Bradford, Duke Fakir, William Goldstein, Iris Gordy, Brian Holland, Brenda Holloway, Thelma Houston, Miller London, Scherrie, Lynda  & Susaye (Former Ladies of The Supremes), Martha Reeves, Paul Riser, Claudette Robinson, Smokey Robinson and Otis Williams. Pat Harvey acts as master of ceremonies, with Shadoe Stevens announcing and Patrice Rushen as panel moderator. Karla managed to carve out some time to answer a few of my queries.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present the world premiere of Motown: Celebrating the Music, the Magic, the Love on Saturday, October 1, 2022, 7:00 pm, at The Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater.

The Temptations and The Four Tops will be performing some of their most popular and award-winning songs that continue to inspire musicians around the globe. The Tamla Motown label broke down cultural and social barriers and The Four Tops and The Temptations were at the very forefront of that transformative period.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (BT McNicholl, Producing Artistic Director) announces that single tickets will go on sale today, Friday, May 27, 2022 at 11am PT for La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s previously announced 2022-2023 “Season of Shows” which include Sally Struthers starring as “Frau Blücher” in Mel Brooks’ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, A FEW GOOD MEN, GREASE, THE KING AND I, and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT.  Additionally, tickets are now on sale for all La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts newly-added “Special Events”-- including the triumphant hometown debut of country superstar GARY ALLAN,  the musically intoxicating DJANGO FESTIVAL ALLSTARS, plus the previously announced  THE POINTER SISTERS, “Dancing with the Stars” pros and finalists from “American Idol”  in DANCE TO THE MOVIES (featuring a special guest appearance by Academy Award nominee Lesley Ann Warren), the legendary FOUR TOPS, and the extraordinary AMY GRANT!

Today's top stories: Pass Over will be the first Broadway show to perform post-pandemic, Jordan Fisher will return to Dear Evan Hansen, and more!

The musical, titled 'I'll Be There!', is planning to come to Broadway, with producer Paul Lambert working alongside Fakir. It is currently aiming for an early 2022 opening. According to an insider, casting calls were recently held in Los Angeles, and the musical is now in rehearsals.

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, The Temptations and The Four Tops Tour with special Guests Odyssey has been re-scheduled to October 2021. Tickets remain valid for the new dates.

The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the artist-run, non-profit organization that championed the Music Modernization Act and CLASSICS Act, is leading the charge to reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and initiated the creation of a COVID-19 resource guide for musicians, today announced the formation of a Music Council.

Motown legends The Four Tops and The Temptations have announced that Odyssey will join them as special guests on their UK tour in November. The UK chart-toppers have been confirmed as special guests for all dates except Liverpool. Native New Yorker was a UK Top 5 hit for Odyssey in 1977 and the trio fronted by Lillian Lopez followed up with a string of UK hits in the eighties.

Motown legends The Four Tops and The Temptations are returning to the UK in November 2020 to perform some of their most popular and award-winning songs that continue to inspire musicians around the globe. The Tamla Motown label broke down cultural and social barriers and The Four Tops and The Temptations were at the very forefront of that transformative period. Original members, Duke Fakir and Otis Williams, of the Four Tops and Temptations respectively, hold a special place in the hearts of British fans, and they are both delighted to be returning to the UK for the 2020 8-date concert tour in October and November.

The Four Tops and The Temptations with special guests Tavares hit the UK in November for an 8 date Arena tour.

THE FOUR TOPS headline a Dinner Cabaret season at SOFITEL MELBOURNE ON COLLINS from Wednesday 5th to Saturday 8th December and SOFITEL WENTWORTH SYDNEY from Monday 17th - Thursday 20th December. The line-up includes original band member Duke Fakir plus Ronnie McNeir, Lawrence Payton Jr. and Harold "Spike" Bonhart.

For more than Sixty Years THE FOUR TOPS, a vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan helped define the Legendary Motown sound with a repertoire that included Soul Music, R&B, Adult Contemporary and Jazz. Their first Motown hit, "Baby I Need Your Loving" in 1964, made them stars and their sixties track record on the label is indispensable to any retrospective of that decade. Their songs, soulful and bittersweet, were across-the-board successes. "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", a No.1 R&B and Pop smash in 1965, is one of Motown's longest-running chart toppers, followed "It's The Same Old Song"; "Reach Out I'll Be There"; "Standing In The Shadows Of Love"; "Bernadette"; "It's All In The Game"; "Still Water (Love)"; "You Keep Running Away", and many more. THE FOUR TOPS are a one-in-a-million singing group.

Kenny Leon, Artistic Director of True Colors Theatre Company, will host a group of celebrity guests from the entertainment, sports, and media worlds for a two-day event of entertainment and golf to raise funds for the theatre company's education programs including the National August Wilson Monologue Competition for high school students.

Representatives of the worlds of music and politics will come together at The Recording Academy®'s 2017 GRAMMYs on the Hill® Awards on April 5 to honor four-time GRAMMY® winner Keith Urban.

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts continues its star-packed 25th anniversary season in April 2017 with an amazing array of musical performances from Broadway to Motown, from classy Nat King Cole to classic Cole Porter, from piano masterpieces to Pokemon. Also, a soul searing drama (Judgment at Nuremberg) and a side-splitting comedy (Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man).

Last night (19 October 2016), Duke Fakir, the last remaining original member of legendary Motown group The Four Tops, attended the performance of Motown the Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre and joined the West End cast on stage for the finale when he and the company received a standing ovation from the sell-out audience.

Legendary Motown singing groups The Temptations and The Four Tops unite on stage for an unforgettable evening of live music at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Sunday, Mar. 20, at 6:30p.m. Tickets for the one night only performance, sponsored by Ion Bank, range from $35 to $85 and can be purchased online at www.palacetheaterct.org, by phone at 203-346-2000, or in person at the Box Office, 100 East Main St. in Waterbury.

The premiere of the new Broadway-bound musical First Wives Club opened last night, March 11, 2015 at the Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph St.) and runs through March 29, 2015. Sean Cullen, Mike McGowan, and Tony Award-nominee Gregg Edelman go head-to-head with Tony Award-winner Faith Prince as 'Brenda,' Wicked star Carmen Cusack as 'Annie,' and Mamma Mia's Christine Sherrill as 'Elise,' as 'First Husbands' 'Morty,' 'Bill,' and 'Aaron,' respectively, in the new musical. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!