Motown Magic - Motown the Musical is to open in the West End. The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2013, will begin previews at the Shaftesbury Theatre in February 2016. The show had initially been planned to run at the Dominion Theatre. Featuring more than 50 Motown tracks, the musical tells the story behind the record label's success.
Motown founder Berry Gordy, who has written the book for the show, said, "I am thrilled to be bringing Motown back to the UK 50 years after our first visit back in 1965 when Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and I came to London for our very first UK tour. Half a century later we are delighted to be returning, this time bringing our story and the Motown sound on stage at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the legendary West End."
Film Views - Makers of a biopic about Amy Winehouse, which has been criticised by the late singer's family, have defended their work at its screening in Cannes. Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia, was given a midnight screening at the film festival, to a generally good reception. The documentary shows the singer from an early age through to her death in 2011 from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. It uses interviews from some 80 of Winehouse's friends, family and collaborators - layering their words over footage of the musician. The Winehouse family claimed the documentary contains allegations against them and the singer's management that are "unfounded and unbalanced". Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, said he wanted to dissociate himself from the film.
Flight Delayed - Sarah Brightman says she has postponed her trip to the International Space Station. The singer spent up to 16 hours a day training in Star City near Moscow and was due to blast off in a Russian Soyuz rocket on a tourist flight on 1 September. However, a statement on Brightman's Facebook page said her plans had changed for "personal family reasons".
Billboard Awards - Taylor Swift dominated the Billboard Music Awards with eight wins, including top artist, while Kanye West was booed during his performance that closed the three-hour event. One Direction, which recently downsized to four members, won the awards for top duo/group and top touring artist.
Fair Play - Seven songs dropped from the musical My Fair Lady will be heard in public for the first time in almost 60 years when they are performed later today (Tuesday). Composers Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner cut two songs and a ballet from the show after the first night in 1956. Five more numbers had been dropped before the show even reached the stage.
The scores were found in an archive by the University of Sheffield's Dr Dominic McHugh and will be performed during a special concert at Firth Hall in Sheffield, titled Accustomed to Her Face: The Lost Songs of My Fair Lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a momentous hit, setting a record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. After its success on stage, My Fair Lady went on to become a film starring Audrey Hepburn as Eliza, which won eight Oscars in 1965.
Record Breaker - This year's BBC Proms saw record-breaking sales within hours of the box office opening. More than 118,000 tickets were snapped up in the first 12 hours of them going on sale. This year's eclectic
