Obioma Ugoal takes over as Smokey Robinson in Motown; booking extended to October 2017

The West End production of Motown the Musical has extended its booking period at the Shaftesbury Theatre to 28th October 2017.

Featuring music from the Motown catalogue and book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Motown the Musical opened in London in March.

It has also been announced that Obioma Ugoala is joining the cast as Smokey Robinson from 4th July 2016, replacing former Broadway cast member Charl Brown.

The show features 50 Motown tracks including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I’ll Be There, Dancing In The Street, Stop! In The Name Of Love, My Girl and I Heard It through the Grapevine, Charles Randolph-Wright’s production tells the story behind the classic hits.

Ugoala (Smokey Robinson) joins Cedric Neal as Berry Gordy, Lucy St. Louis as Diana Ross, Sifiso Mazibuko as Marvin Gaye, Keisha Amponsa Banson as Mary Wells, Cindy Belliot as Anna Gordy, Samuel Edwards as Jackie Wilson, Tanya Nicole Edwards as Florence Ballard, Portia Harry as Teena Marie, Aisha Jawando as Martha Reeves, Joshua Liburd as Eddie Kendricks, Simeon Montague as Jermaine Jackson, Cleopatra Rey as Gladys Knight, Brandon Lee Sears as Tito Jackson, Jordan Shaw as Stevie Wonder and Cherelle Williams as Mary Wilson. 

Eshan Gopal, Kwame Kandekore and Bradley Morton alternate the role of Young Michael Jackson. Completing the cast are Jay Bryce, Daniel Bailey, Edward Baruwa, Eddie Elliott, Christopher Fry, Alex Hammond, Edward Handoll, Simon Ray Harvey, Elias Hendricks, Brian James Leys, Jayde Nelson, Kieran McGinn, Simone Mistry Palmer, Carl Spencer and Marcel J Whyte.

Ugoala’s previous theatre credits include Richard II, Henry IV part I & II, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Holy Warriors and Antony and Cleopatra for Shakespeare’s Globe, The Jungle Bookand Crime and Punishment for the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and The Physicists for the Donmar Warehouse. His television credits have included Doctors for the BBC and on film he will be seen in the upcoming Disney live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.