Motown the Musical Tour 2017 - Articles Page 8

Transport Group has announced casting for its world premiere musical, Renascence, which begins performances Friday, October 5 at 7:30pm, at the Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street. Renascence has music by Carmel Dean (musical director If/Then, American Idiot), book by Dick Scanlan (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Everyday Rapture), and lyrics from the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay. The musical is directed by artistic director Jack Cummings III and Dick Scanlan. The opening is set for Thursday, October 25 at 7:30pm.

Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.

The pre-Broadway run of 'Ain't Too Proud-The Life and Times of The Temptations' at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre officially opened on August 24 at 8 p.m. Let's see what the critics are saying...

This 'eye-opening, life-affirming, unmissable' (TIME Magazine) Tony Award-winning play by Simon Stephens comes to Virginia Rep's November Theatre this Fall. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens Friday, September 21st, and runs through Sunday, October 14th, with two preview performances on Wednesday, September 19th and Thursday, September 20th. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Mark Haddon.

Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.

American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.), under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, announces complete casting and creative team for The Black Clown. The production begins previews Friday, August 31; opens Wednesday, September 5; and closes Sunday, September 23, 2018 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.

RyCa's 'Musical Theatre Reimagined' cabaret is back again, this time to celebrate it's first birthday.

American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.), under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, announces complete casting and creative team for The Black Clown. The production begins previews Friday, August 31; opens Wednesday, September 5; and closes Sunday, September 23, 2018 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Octavia Spencer and Queen Latifah will star in in The Rhinelander Affair following the controversial 1925 DIVORCE trial in New York involving a man from an upper-class New Rochelle family who married a bi-racial, working-class woman. It is a ripped from the headlines story from the 1920s with many meaty roles in what was a roller coaster ride about money, love, racism and betrayal.

Tear down the mountains. Yell, scream and shout for Dreamgirls, Playhouse on the Square's final musical offering of its 2017-2018 season. Co-directed and choreographed by Jordan Nichols and Travis Bradley, Playhouse on the Square's Dreamgirls is a two and a half hour theatrical energy drink, jam packed with slick production numbers performed by a fresh cast that is plainly up to the task of quenching the audience's thirst for a great time. There is much to be excited about with this production of Dreamgirls, which seems uniquely at home in Memphis, a city whose history and reputation are so intertwined with music and the superstars it has produced. Although the first third of Act I can be described as somewhat frenetic, the production quickly settles in and finds its footing, anchored by electrifying, well-directed performances by Breyannah Tillman as Effie, and Napoleon M. Douglas as Jimmy Early.

Featuring shows from around the world and shows from around the corner, the 2018-19 Season of Performing Arts at the Harris Center for the Arts are now on sale.

An inspired mash-up of posh and punk, Head Over Heels is an unpredictable, Elizabethan romp about a royal family that must prevent an oracle's prophecy of doom. In order to save their beloved kingdom, the family embarks on an extravagant journey wrought with mistaken identities, jealous lovers, sexual awakening, scandal and self-discovery, where everything (and everyone) is not quite what it seems. Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!

Matt Manuel was born and raised in Detroit, MI, 'the heart of Motown.' He got his start as a competitive gymnast. When he was 13, he had to quit gymnastics, which he says broke his heart. His mother convinced him to try a piano lesson while his brother took a voice lesson. The teacher accidentally switched their lessons, which made Manuel realize he could sing. He studied theatre in high school, but once in college, focused more on vocal performance, so he would be classically trained. He was a contestant on season 13 of AMERICAN IDOL, which jump started his career. Since then, he has never stopped working. Manuel plays Marvin Gaye in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL. I had the chance to speak with him while MOTOWN recently had a tour stop in Boston, MA.

Creators Carly Brooke Feinman and Cassie Willson are thrilled to announce the casting for their original musical If Sand Were Stone, making its Off-Broadway debut this July as part of the 2018 New York Musical Festival's (NYMF) Next Link Project. Featuring original music by Ms. Willson and original book & lyrics by Ms. Feinman, If Sand Were Stone will play a 5-performance run at The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row beginning July 18, 2018.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, (www.theritzmusical.com) is set for a staged reading for the theater industry at 7pm, Monday, June 18, and 1PM Tuesday, June 19 at the Dramatists Guild Fund's The Music Hall, 356 W. 40th St., 2nd Floor.

Summer is here and the Flat Rock Playhouse is ready to celebrate by transporting the beach to the mountains with upcoming Music on the Rock Concert, Carolina Shag! Celebrating the musical phenomenon that developed in the early 50's on the Carolina Coasts, Carolina Shag will feature upbeat beach music from artists such as The Embers, The Tams, Chairmen of the Board, The Drifters. Carolina Shag, a genre sometimes known as the "swing of the South", promises all the lighthearted fun of a lively summer night at the beach, perfect for experts and rookies.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Allee Willis loves Detroit.  So much so that the Detroit native named her one-woman show, ALLEE WILLIS LOVES DETROIT!  And fans are invited to party and sing along with her at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 18-19 at Detroit's City Theatre. The Grammy, Tony, Emmy and Webby award-winning-and-nominated songstress--writer of many mega-hits including Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' and 'Boogie Wonderland;' 'Neutron Dance,' the theme from television's 'Friends' and Broadway's Oprah-produced musical The Color Purple has been defending 'The D' from her kitschy Pepto-Bismol-pink house in North Hollywood, Calif. for over 40 years.

This year marks 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and 30 years since the first performance of the late Martin Smith's acclaimed musical KING. Hackney Empire, in co-production with London Musical Theatre Orchestra, presents a special concert version for two performances only.

The Wallis production of BLUES IN THE NIGHT, conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, starts performances next week in the intimate Lovelace Theater! Artistic Director Paul Crewes snuck into rehearsal to chat with cast members Yvette Cason, Bryce Charles, Chester Gregory, and Paulette Ivory about this exciting new production.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the musical hit Mamma Mia! to close its 2017-2018 season, running Friday, May 11 through Saturday, May 26, 2018.  The New York Times said Mamma Mia! 'creates the beguiling illusion that you could jump onstage and start singing and fit right in.'

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL presented by Worklight Productions is coming to the Palace Theater May 11 - 13 for four performances.

DETROIT MUSIC WEEKEND grows bigger, better, and bolder in 2018 with a huge collection of unique Detroit shopping and dining opportunities, multiple downtown happenings, and – of course – music, and lots of it. This blockbuster event is what the world expects from Detroit, and this June 14-17, the city's performing arts come together for a total downtown Detroit experience.

The Muny announced today that Grammy Award-winner Nathan Lee Graham will play the title role in The Wiz. Starring alongside Graham will be Jared Grimes as Scarecrow, Mykal Kilgore as Lion and James T. Lane as Tinman. In its first Muny staging in 36 years, The Wiz is the second production of the historic outdoor theatre's centennial season. The Wiz is directed by Denis Jones and choreographed by Camille A. Brown with music direction by Darryl Archibald. The Wiz is proudly sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors.

Initial casting has been announced for The Muny's production of THE WIZ - part of their 100th season. Grammy Award winner Nathan Lee Graham will star as The Wizard, Jared Grimes will portray the scarecrow, Mykal Kilgore will ring to life the Lion, and James T. Lane will ease on down the road as the Tinman.