The New Theatre Oxford is delighted to announce it’s Christmas production for 2019 will be Motown The Musical. The award-winning show will be in the city of dreaming spires from Tuesday December 17 – Saturday January 4. Tickets go on sale to ATG Theatre Card holders and group bookers at 10am on Friday, February 22, before going on general sale at 10am on Friday, March 1.
With music and lyrics from the Motown catalogue and book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Charles Randolph-Wright’s production features a live orchestra playing 50 Motown tracks including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I’ll Be There, Dancing In The Street, Stop! In The Name Of Love, I Heard It through the Grapevine, My Girl and tells the story behind the classic hits.
Berry Gordy founded the Motown label in 1959 and the production tells the story of how with just $800 borrowed from his family he went from a featherweight boxer to heavyweight music mogul, discovering and launching the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and many more. Motown the Musical uncovers the true story of the legendary record label that changed music history and created the soundtrack of a generation.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Motown.
Creative consultant, Michael Lovesmith said: “The UK has kept Motown alive and is one of the reasons why Motown is still so successful and loved today. The vibe here is fantastic, audiences are screaming and cheering and it’s incredible, it’s like being back in one of the shows from the 70s. We are so lucky to be able to continue sharing this incredible music today.”
The cast for the UK and Ireland tour includes Edward Baruwa who plays the leading role of ‘Berry Gordy’, Karis Anderson as ‘Diana Ross’, Nathan Lewis as ‘Smokey Robinson’ and Shak Gabbidon-Williams as ‘Marvin Gaye’.
Edward Baruwa’s previous credits include the West End productions of “Motown the Musical” at The Shaftesbury Theatre, “Les Misérables” at the Queen’s Theatre, “Five Guys Named Moe” at the Marble Arch Theatre and the UK Tour of “Sister Act”.
Karis Anderson is best known as being one third of pop band ‘Stooshe’ who celebrated a top five single ‘Black Heart’ in 2012 for which they received a nomination for Best British Single at the 2013 Brit Awards.
Nathan Lewis was a finalist on ITV’s The X Factor in 2016 as part of boyband ‘Five After Midnight’. Nathan makes his stage debut as ‘Smokey Robinson’.
Shak Gabbidon-Williams' previous credits include ‘Young Simba’ in “The Lion King” in the West End and most recently starred as ‘Seaweed’ in the UK tour of “Hairspray”.
The ensemble includes, Dayo Adeoye, Scott Armstrong, Simeon Beckett, Natalia Brown, Ethan Davis, Andrew Dillon, Akeem Ellis-Hyman, Christopher Gopaul, Daniel Haswell, Olivia Hibbert, Karis Jack, Michael Jeremiah, Amana Jones, Abz Kareem, Kane Matthews, DeeArna McClean, Matt Mills, Cordell Mosteller, Nicole Nyarambi, Spencer O’Brien, Perry O’Dea, Alex Okoampa, Reece Richards and Emma Robotham-Hunt.
“Motown The Musical” has music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Ethan Popp, co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Bryan Cook, dance arrangements by Zane Mark. Choreography is by Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams, scenic design by David Korins, costumes by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Peter Hylenski, video by Daniel Brodie and Wig design by Charles Lapointe. “Motown the Musical” is produced in the UK by Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris, Adam Spiegel and Berry Gordy.
The original Broadway cast recording of “Motown the Musical” is available via Motown Records, a label of UMG Recordings - www.classicmotown.com
Tickets can be purchased from the New Theatre box office on George Street, by ringing 0844 871 3020 or by visiting our website at www.atgtickets.com/oxford (phone and internet bookings subject to booking/transaction fee. Calls are charged at 7p per minute, plus your phone company's access charge) For bookings of 10 or more please call 0333 009 5392 (calls are charged at local rate – for group bookings only) and for access bookings please call 0800 912 6971 and speak to a member of our dedicated booking team.