Jackie Wilson News

L.A.-based arranging and composing phenomenon Benjamin Wright will perform with The Philly POPS and his all-star band of musicians on October 20, 2018 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in the show, Experience Benjamin Wright, a Heritage Music Group production.

On November 15, 1949, in Hollywood, California, an up-and-coming young actress met a handsome movie star for dinner -- a blind date that changed history.

On November 15, 1949, in Hollywood, California, an up-and-coming young actress met a handsome movie star for dinner -- a blind date that changed history.

Afflicted with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy that required nine major surgeries before he hit his teens, Reggie Codrington has a mother, Joyce Codrington, who used to exercise him four times a day. Now she is the one in pain and when her son learned that the antioxidants in cherries can help reduce pain and inflammation, he brought her some. It worked. She began to feel better and her discomfort eased. That's the inspiration behind “Cherry Sweet,” the joyous first single from the urban-jazz saxophonist's “Against The Odds” album from M.A.N.D.A.T.E. Records.    

HEARTBREAK HOTEL announced today that the production will no longer play through October 28th and is now in its final three weeks at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut Street). HEARTBREAK HOTEL will close September 9, 2018 in Chicago.

MUSE/IQUE, Pasadena's pioneering live music organization and counter-conventional orchestra, concludes STATES/UNITED: Mapping Musical America, its inaugural summer series at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, on August 25, 2018, with U.S./ROUTES, at the Brown Garden Lawn, adjacent to the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. Tickets are on sale now at http://muse-ique.com/.

Broadway In Chicago, the producers of HEARTBREAK HOTEL, and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises today, are thrilled to announce a new four-week extension of their smash hit musical.  Tickets for the new block of tickets will go on-sale today.  Tickets will be available for performances through October 28, 2018.

The cast of HEARTBREAK HOTEL are inspired to host a Candlelight Vigil to honor Elvis as part of Elvis Week on Thursday, August 16, 2018 at 6:15PM in front of the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut).  Elvis Week is an annual celebration to commemorate the life and legacy of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.  Elvis and HEARTBREAK HOTEL fans alike are welcome to join this celebration, which will be a Chicago addition to the Graceland tradition.

Vicky's of Santa Fe located on Highway 111 & Club Drive in Indian Wells will host the 2019 Show Supper Club Series.  An array of Broadway style song and dance shows featuring Broadway credited performers and music artists presented in an intimate and elegant dinner concert setting.

Hologram USA Inc. has announced the Chief Keef and Icons of American Music Tour. The 90-minute hologram experience, hosted by hip hop renegade Chief Keef's billionaire label boss, Alki David, launches at London's famous Hammersmith Eventim Apollo theater on August 31st and September 1st before heading to Chicago to start a nationwide tour of the U.S. Chief Keef will beam in live to the shows to deliver his message of peace and anti-violence, despite having been banned from entering the UK. and the city of Chicago.

Due to Wilson's fervor when performing, with his dynamic dance moves, impassioned singing and impeccable dress, he was soon christened 'Mr. Excitement,' a title Wilson would keep for the remainder of his career. His live performances consisted of knee-drops, splits, spins, back-flips, one-footed across-the-floor slides, removing his tie and jacket and throwing them off the stage, and a great deal of basic boxing steps, advance and retreat shuffling, and one of his favorite routines, getting women in the audience to come up to the stage and kiss him. In fact, the only thing Wilson loved more than music, it seems, was women, many of whom you will meet during several interviews about his life included in THE JACKIE WILSON STORY.

Broadway In Chicago presents HEARTBREAK HOTEL, a musical premiere that ignites the stage of the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut). Get a first look below!

Broadway In Chicago presents HEARTBREAK HOTEL, a musical premiere that ignites the stage of the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut). Get a first look below!

On November 15, 1949, in Hollywood, California, an up-and-coming young actress met a handsome movie star for dinner -- a blind date that changed history.

Broadway In Chicago, the producers of HEARTBREAK HOTEL, and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises today, are delighted to announce the full casting for HEARTBREAK HOTEL, a musical premiere that will ignite the stage of the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) beginning June 30, 2018.

In celebration of 85 Years of Theatre By The Sea (TBTS), owner and producer Bill Hanney is proud to announce a New Monday Concerts and Events Series, which begins with A Broadway Celebration on July 9.

It looks like we'll be seeing stars next year as more Broadway names are added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. CBS LA has reported that the full list of entertainment industry professionals have been selected to receive their stars and were announced on Monday.

Broadway - today and over the last decade or more - has played host to programs spotlighting the legends of the music industry: From Billie Holliday, Fat's Waller, and Kurt Weill to Carole King, Frankie Valli, ABBA, Janis Joplin, and Johnny Cash; to Peter Allen, Jimmy Buffet, Donna Summer, The Shirelles, The Gogos, Green Day, Tupac Shakur ... and lots of Beatles tributes ... with CHER planned for next season.

MOTOWN is not just a company. It is an icon. This was the soundtrack of decades of change in America and still serves as the inspiration for current innovators in music. So it only seems inevitable that someone would see that this needed to be adapted for the musical theatre stage.

Hologram USA Networks Inc. today announced the date for the launch of its new hologram stage show, Higher & Higher: The Jackie Wilson Story. The show, from the leader of hologram technology founded by Greek billionaire Alki David,  tracks the wild life of the R&B star, dubbed Mr. Excitement, all the way to the end when Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley paid his hospital bills. In the same 30-minute narrative format that Hologram USA pioneered with its successful show, Billie Holiday Alive!,  the new show dramatizes scenes from the legend's life--including the sex, drugs and rock & roll-- in addition to presenting his stage presence in all its glory.