Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, the children's play featuring the music of the famed reggae musician will take the stage at New York City's New Victory Theater in Times Square this Feb. 7.
According to the Associated Press, the show is based on a children's book co-written by the late musician's daughter Cedella Marley. It tells the story of Ziggy, a Jamaican child wary of the tropical storms and evil spirits in the outside world, he chooses to stay inside all day. But with a little help from his mother, a neighbor and a bird, the pint-sized hero gets the courage he needs to hop off the couch to face the rest of the world because, as they say, "every little thing is gonna be all right."
The show will include some of Bob Marley's classic songs "Three Little Birds," "Jammin'," "Roots Rock Reggae," "Is This Love," and an instrumental version of "I Shot the Sheriff."
"I want Daddy to speak to children through his music," Cedella Marley told the AP, adding she hopes the play will bring "a little bit of Jamaica to kids who probably never heard of it."
The play was inspired by the 2006 picture book written by Cedella Marley and Gerald Hausman about the Bob Marley song of the same name.
"There's something in the beat that he really fine-tuned that I think is infectious. It's a beat that can be felt in a universal way," said Michael J. Bobbitt, the producing artistic director of Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo, Md., who worked with Marley on turning it into a musical. "But beyond that, I think that his songs and his messages and his feelings of good vibe and just enjoying life are also something that's universal and infectious."
The play will open on the day before what would have been Bob Marley's 69th birthday.
"We all know the worries of the world are just getting bigger and more heavy, especially for our children," said Cedella Marley. " For Dad's birthday, it's crucial for him to remind them that, no matter what, every little thing will be all right."
