Casting has been announced for the U.K. and Ireland tour of Motown the Musical, which will launch October 11 at the Birmingham Alexandra Theatre and will continue through fall 2019.
The company will be headed by Edward Baruwa as Berry Gordy, Karis Anderson as Diana Ross, Nathan Lewis as Smokey Robinson, and Shak Gabbidon-Williams as Marvin Gaye.
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.
With music and lyrics from the Motown catalog and a book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, the musical received its world premiere in April 2013 in New York and recouped its $18 million investment by the end of 2014. The London production opened in February 2016 and continues to play to at the Shaftesbury Theatre through April 2019.
Read: MOTOWN SETS CLOSING DATE IN LONDON'S WEST END
Director Charles Randolph-Wright stated, “I am so thrilled that we have been able to find this incredible cast of British artists for the UK tour of Motown the Musical. Their talent has astounded us all, as they embody the soul of Motown and capture the energy and essence of those iconic artists. We are so excited to bring this show to cities across the UK and can’t wait to begin.”
Motown has music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Ethan Popp, co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Bryan Cook, dance arrangements by Zane Mark, choreography 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.
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