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A musical celebrating Ray Charles will open on Broadway on November 7th, with preview performances beginning October 8th.

The musical, titled “Unchain My Heart,” was originally staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2007 with the title “Ray Charles Live! A New Musical.”

“Unchain My Heart” will be produced by Stuart Benjamin, who worked with Ray Charles for 15 years and made the 2004 Oscar-winning movie “Ray.” The movie “Ray” covered Ray’s life up to 1965, but the stage show will start with his childhood and go right up to his death in 2004.

Commenting on the forthcoming production, Benjamin said:

“I want people to sit in the theatre and get the full gamut of experiences – I want them to laugh, I want them to cry, I want them to feel Ray’s pain, I want them to feel Ray’s elation.”

The Ray Charles Foundation is planning a series of events up to September 2011 as part of an extended celebration of Charles’ 80th birthday.

According to Valerie Ervin, President of The Ray Charles Foundation, we can expect “new music releases, a documentary DVD and the opening of the Ray Charles Memorial Library in Los Angeles.”

A recent release well worth looking out for is the deluxe reissue of “The Genius Hits the Road.” The original album has been remastered and there are also new liner notes and six bonus tracks.

Here’s a great vintage video of Ray Charles performing his first number one hit “Georgia on My Mind.”

Source – CBC News