| One Love: | |
|---|---|
| The Bob Marley Musical | |
 Artwork for Birmingham production | |
| Music | Bob Marley |
| Lyrics | Bob Marley |
| Book | Kwame Kwei-Armah |
| Basis | The life and music of Bob Marley |
| Premiere | 13 May 2015: Center Stage, Baltimore |
| Productions | 2015 Baltimore 2017 Birmingham |
One Love: The Bob Marley Musical previously titled Marley is a stage musical based on the life and music of Bob Marley, written by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
The musical received its world premiere under the original name of Marley at Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, and ran from May 13 to June 14, 2015 with previews from May 8. It was directed by Center Stage artistic director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, choreographed by Germaul Barnes, scenic design by Neil Patel, costume design by ESOSA, lighting design by Michelle Habeck and sound design by Shane Rettig. [1] The cast included Mitchell Brunings as Bob Marley, Saycon Sengbloh as Rita Marley, Michael Luwoye as Peter Tosh, Howard W. Overshown as Michael Manley, David Heron as Tony Welsh, John- Andrew Morrison as Claudie Massop, Damian Thompson as Bunny Wailer and Michaela Waters as Cindy Breakspeare. [2]
On 30 September 2016 it was announced that the musical will make its UK premiere under the new title, One Love: The Bob Marley Musical, with Kwei-Armah directing at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 10 March to 8 April 2017, before being extended to 15 April due to popular demand. The production was produced by The REP in association with Playful Productions and Stage Play Limited. [3] Following the original Baltimore production, Mitchell Brunings returned to the role of Bob Marley with a cast that included Alexia Khadime as Rita Marley, Jacade Simpson as Peter Tosh, Adrian Irvine as Michael Manley, Ricardo Coke-Thomas as Tohy Welsh, Claudie Massop as Thomas Vernal, Newtion Matthews as Bunny Wailer and Cat Simmons as Cindy Breakspeare and Marcquelle Ward as DJ Sway/first cover Bob Marley. [4]
Kwei-Armah stated that this production was "50% different than the Baltimore run". [5]
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Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had started laying down tracks for JAD Records when a disputed CBS contract with Danny Sims created tensions. The band did not have enough money to return to Jamaica, so their road manager Brent Clarke approached producer Chris Blackwell, who agreed to advance The Wailers money for an album. They instead used this money to pay their fares back home, where they completed the recordings that constitute Catch a Fire. The album has nine songs, two of which were written and composed by Peter Tosh; the remaining seven were by Bob Marley. While Bunny Wailer is not credited as a writer, the group's writing style was a collective process. For the immediate follow-up album, Burnin', also released in 1973, he contributed four songs. After Marley returned with the tapes to London, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios, with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on three overdubbed tracks. The album had a limited original release under the name The Wailers in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter, designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; subsequent releases had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis, featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a "spliff", and crediting the band as Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Kwame Kwei-Armah is a British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. He is best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. In 2005, Kwei-Armah became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London. Kwei-Armah's award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama. He was artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, succeeding David Lan, announcing his departure in February 2024.
Alfarita Constantia "Rita" Marley is a Cuban-born Jamaican singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. She is the widow of reggae legend Bob Marley. Along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, Marley was a member of the reggae vocal group the I Threes, the backing vocalists for Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland, and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater.
The One Love Concert (OLPC) was a large concert held on 22 April 1978 at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Wailing Wailers is the 1965 eponymous debut studio album by the Wailers, later known as Bob Marley and the Wailers. Released on the Studio One label, the album is a compilation of various recordings made between 1964 and 1965 by Neville “Bunny” Livingston, Robert Nesta Marley and Peter McIntosh. It compiles what Clement Coxsone Dodd considered the best Wailers recordings from this period. They were accompanied by the Studio One backing band, The Soul Brothers.
Alvin "Seeco" Patterson was a Cuban-born Jamaican percussionist. He was a member of The Wailers Band.
The Smile Jamaica Concert was a reggae concert held on 5 December 1976 at the National Heroes Park in Kingston, Jamaica, aimed at countering political violence. Bob Marley had agreed to perform, but, two days before the concert, he was shot in his home. He recovered and, with The Wailers, played a 90-minute set for the 80,000 people in attendance.
Robert Nesta Marley was a Jamaican reggae singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of the genre, Marley fused elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady in his music and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contribution to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and made him a global figure in popular culture. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafarian icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. He also supported legalisation of cannabis, and advocated for Pan-Africanism. In 1976, Marley survived an assassination attempt in his home, which was believed to be politically motivated.
Elmina's Kitchen, first performed in May 2003, is the fifth play from the British actor, playwright and broadcaster, Kwame Kwei-Armah. Set in a West Indian restaurant in London, Elmina's Kitchen tells a tale of family, drugs and crime on Hackney's Murder Mile. The play is centred on the character of Deli, the owner of a West Indian restaurant and father to Ashley. Ashley is a misguided teen who cannot help but be seduced by the gangster culture that surrounds him. Deli tries to run a successful restaurant while attempting to keep his son on the straight and narrow particularly when his son gets closer to a well-known local gangster, Digger.
Thomas Robert Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won two Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal, as well as Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations for If/Then and SpongeBob SquarePants. He has been nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Jagged Little Pill in 2021.
Marley is a 2012 documentary-biographical film directed by Kevin Macdonald documenting the life of Bob Marley.
Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.
Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM, professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bob Marley:
Hercules is a musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel, and a book by Kristoffer Diaz, Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah. Based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios 1997 film of the same name. The production is also loosely based on the legendary hero of the same name, the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology.
Bob Marley: One Love is a 2024 American biographical drama musical film based on the life of reggae singer and songwriter Bob Marley, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, from his rise to fame in the mid-1970s up until his death in 1981. The film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, and Zach Baylin. It also stars Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley, and James Norton as Chris Blackwell.
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical is a musical based on the life and music of Bob Marley written by Lee Hall.
The Visitor is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and a book by Yorkey and Kwame Kwei-Armah, based on the 2007 film of the same name. It premiered at The Public Theater in October 2021.
Mitchell Brunings is a Dutch musician known for his vocal resemblance to Bob Marley.
