Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley died in 1981 at age 36 but every decade since his passing, his music gets bigger, louder, and for the 70th anniversary of his birth a musical based on his life could be headed to Broadway.
Already booked from May 6 to June 14, 2015, the world premiere of “Marley,” will make its international debut at the Center Stage Theatre in Baltimore and afterwards could hit the Great White Way.
Written and directed by British-born playwright/actor/director, Kwame Kwei-Armah, the musical will focus on a specific time in the singer’s life. Instead of staging a production capping the icon’s life story the director reportedly told reporters: “I said I would not do a musical about Bob’s life story,” the director said.
“Instead, I would choose a period in his life, 1975 to 1978, when there was an attempted assassination in Jamaica and he went into a self-imposed exile in London.”
The show focuses on the three-year period when Marley survived an attempted assassination at 56 Hope Road in Kingston, Jamaica and afterward went into exile in London. The musical will feature mid-’70s Marley albums “Exodus,” “Kaya,” and “Rastaman Vibration,” and include the hit singles “Jamming,” “Three Little Birds” and “Roots, Rock, Reggae.”
“The life of our father Bob Marley continues to inspire the young and the old as we continue to spread his positive message to the younger generation,” Cedella, Bob’s eldest daughter said.
“When it comes to our father’s work and legacy, we have always been mindful in selecting the artists with whom we choose to collaborate. We are thrilled to be working both with Kwame and with Centre Stage to bring part of our father’s story to life in a way that has never been done before.”
The world’s most famous Rastafarian was born in Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica. He grew up in the Trench Town, Kingston community.
He died in Miami, Florida from cancer, May 11, 1981.
The new musical was made possible through an agreement with Blue Mountain Music and the Marley-family owned Tuff Gong Pictures in Jamaica.
