Mary Wells News

Broadway star N'Kenge (Motown) is performing with the Naples Philharmonic, now through January 11, 2014.

Motown founder Berry Gordy and GRAMMY() winner Smokey Robinson will be honored with The GRAMMY Museum's first-ever Architects of Sound Award today, Nov. 11, 2013, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles -- will provide essential support for the Museum, an educational and interactive museum dedicated to engaging both children and adults in the power of music through dynamic exhibits, educational programs, live performances and more. The event will be hosted by music industry veteran and television personality Randy Jackson.

N'Kenge, who has been busy with Motown eight shows a week will take a quick break from Broadway to perform as a soloist continuing the era of the 60's with Indianapolis Symphony. NY Post calls N'Kenge 'Electrifying' in the role of Mary Wells in Motown and she made her Broadway debut in Sondheim on Sondheim alongside Vanessa Williams and Barbara Cook. Indianapolis Symphony will turn back the clock to the 1960's when the 'Fab Four' took the world by storm, the Beach Boys made summer 'endless,' and the Supremes put Motown on the map. Reminisce with music from television, movie themes, as well as popular hits from the airwaves, including music by Burt Bacharach, Simon & Garfunkel, Frankie Valli and more.

Each year, the New York Landmarks Conservancy recognizes distinguished New Yorkers who have made extraordinary contributions to the City and honors them as Living Landmarks at a gala in the fall. This year The New York Landmarks Conservancy will honor Ann L. Buttenwieser, Joel Grey, Robert I. Grossman, MD, William vanden Heuvel (Lew Rudin Award), Mary Wells Lawrence, and Brooke Shields on November 14, at the Plaza. The special celebration will be hosted by Living Landmark Liz Smith.

The GRAMMY Museum To Honor Berry Gordy And Smokey Robinson With First-Ever Architects Of Sound Awards On Nov. 11

Motown founder Berry Gordy and GRAMMY winner Smokey Robinson will be honored with The GRAMMY Museum's first-ever Architects of Sound Award, it was announced today by Bob Santelli, executive director of the Museum. Proceeds from the inaugural GRAMMY Museum benefit gala dinner and concert — to be held on Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles — will provide essential support for the Museum, an educational and interactive museum dedicated to engaging both children and adults in the power of music through dynamic exhibits, educational programs, live performances and more. The event will be hosted by music industry veteran and television personality Randy Jackson.

Mary Jane Wells is a UK voice talent and performance transplant who brought to life the audiobooks that inspired the award-winning series Downton Abbey. With another 11 audiobook projects being published this year, and a world class entertainment career behind her, Mary Jane will be an expert panelist for The Digital Author and Self-Publishing Conference this Sunday, October 13th, 2013. The conference is a full weekend focused on the new paradigms for authors in an increasingly digital world. Workshops, inspirational sessions, and focused panels will be attended by professionals representing every genre and level of the industry. A member of the Writer's Junction and Voices.com, and currently in the process of writing a play, Mary Jane will be speaking about the trust process involved in the construction of an audiobook. Mary Jane will explain how, as a writer, you can best choose the right narrator to voice your imaginative world. 'My hope for the event is that writers get the support and connections they need to further their work to spectacular new platforms, especially audiobooks,' Mary Jane reveals. 'This conference is very specific, very current, and has high-level experts and representatives who can be approached in all strata of the digital publishing world.' Mary Jane joins Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir, Roxanne Hernandez, Dean Sluyter, Jessica Kaye, and Christian Rummel on the New Revenue Streams for Authors from Audio Books panel. A writer of the highly successful adaptation of Virginia Ironside's The Huge Bag of Worries, the voice of the television commercial campaigns for Eharmony, Puma, LinkedIn, Think Finance and Jet2 Holidays, and has voiced many documentaries, animations, and videogames, Mary Jane brings a unique, varied insight to the audiobook space. Mary Jane's advice to the creative professionals who dream up, write, edit, publish, and record the stories? 'Create with the heart, build with the mind: collaborate with both. Creative strategy is not a solo sport.' Media Contact: Trisha Beausaert Public Relations Manager 519-858-5660 ext. 536 trisha.beausaert@voices.com About Mary Jane Wells Formally trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Mary Jane Wells has been a prominent fixture in the UK and European theatre scene. Mary Jane first came to the US for the Mark Taper French classic, The Red Balloon. A solo show, Martha, for the Annenberg Centre followed, then a tour to the Kennedy centre, the New Victory on Broadway, and the International showcase in Philidelphia where she won the Victor Award. Mary Jane has worked on BBC's 'Half Moon Investigates,' and she narrated BBC3's TV show, My Childhood which won a Scottish BAFTA. In 2008, Mary Jane joined Honolulu theatre, where she played Ariel in the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid. Since then, she has been shooting, writing and voice acting in London and Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.maryjanewells.org.

Singer, songwriter, musician, and poet HOLLAND GRECO's debut album, VOLUME 1, due out February 2014 on Zappa Records, will mark the first original artist signed this century to the label headed byGail Zappa. The multi-faceted GRECO--keyboards, rhythm guitar, banjo, accordion AND ukulele--lives up to the honor with an eclectic musical palette that is in full effect on the album which showcases her double vision in the two halves of VOLUME 1: the light and dark sides of her personality, expressed in the high-pitched sing-song falsetto ofTunnel Vision and the deeper, smoke-filled vocals in the gothabilly ofMurdergram: Songs Of The Misfits.

Motown The Musical's N'Kenge will give a special performance at the New Yorker Hotel for Couture Fashion Week's Final Showing on Sunday Sept 8th at 8:00PM located at 481 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10001. N'Kenge will be wearing a custom designed dress by Chauncy Couture by BLT Evans.

There's no need to stretch one's imagination when people jump to their feet and dance in the aisles, shaking and grooving the night away. They've already formed their own images and feel the magic. Motown's a fun show with 12 pretty great singers and a full orchestra center stage under the nifty musical direction of Andrew Reyes.

Curating worldwide video archives with rare footage from the vaults, 60s GIRL GROOVES (MY MUSIC) is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning August 3, 2013(check local listings).

Curating worldwide video archives with rare footage from the vaults, 60s GIRL GROOVES (MY MUSIC) is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning August 3, 2013(check local listings).

Marty Thomas presents DIVA is a weekly show at Industry Bar in midtown Manhattan. Featuring a cast of Alexa Green (Wicked, Company), Kelly King (Babyface, Michael Bolton) and Marissa Rosen (My Big Gay Italian Wedding), it is hosted and produced by Marty Thomas (Xanadu, The Secret Garden and Wicked). DIVA celebrates fabulous female vocalists paying tribute to some of histories most over the top icons! The cast performs a brand new show every week with exciting new guests rotating. Monday, July 22, the divas are joined for by Broadway star N'KENGE!

Just as Motown The Musical is taking Broadway by storm, Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre is offering Forever Motown featuring a fabulous cast of four male and three female vocalists, backed by a band of incredible musicians, represents Motown Royalty when they take the stage of Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre stage for two performances only at 5pm and 8pm tonight, June 15 (2013).

Just as Motown The Musical is taking Broadway by storm, Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre is offeringForever Motown featuring a fabulous cast of four male and three female vocalists, backed by a band of incredible musicians, represents Motown Royalty when they take the stage of Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre stage for two performances only at 5pm and 8pm on Saturday, June 15(2013).

An Evening With Berry Gordy provides a rare inside look into the life and times of boxer, songwriter, producer, movie director, entrepreneur and Motown founder Berry Gordy. This one-on-one interview was taped in front of a live audience at the Art Institute of Chicago with PBS-TV journalist, Gwen Ifill, serving as the host interviewer. Click below to watch the full special!

It was the best of musicals, it was the worst of musicals.  It was a score of wisdom, it was a book of foolishness.  It was the epoch of belief in the entertainment value of songs like 'Dancing In The Streets' and 'My Girl,' it was the epoch of incredulity in hearing lines like 'Your little Stevie is a wonder' and 'You built a legacy of love.'  We had everything before us, we had nothing before us.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL opens tonight, April 14, 2013, at Broadway's The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street). Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL features a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue. Let's see what the critics had to say...

In this week's edition, we caught up with N'Kenge, who is starring as 'Mary Wells' in Motown- currently playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Mindpix Corporation today announced that it has completed the digitization of the first 2,500 songs of its catalog of over 17,500 songs by renowned artists. The company has strategically selected these 2,500 songs to bring to market in a variety of means completing this first phase of digitization, a major milestone for the Company that is intended to begin generating revenues.