Sony Music Masterworks Signs Strategic Deal with Roast Productions

Sony Music Masterworks launches a joint venture with UK-based live entertainment company Roast Productions.

Sony Music Entertainment’s Sony Music Masterworks has announced a strategic joint venture with Roast Productions, a London-based live entertainment company founded by Bonnie Royal and Michael Stevens (pictured). Operating internationally, Roast Productions focuses on producing theatre, concerts, and family entertainment events.

Royal and Stevens will collaborate with Masterworks on the development of a range of new productions, working closely with Masterworks President Mark Cavell and UK producer/promoter Senbla founder Ollie Rosenblatt, while continuing to lead Roast’s day-to-day operations. The company will also offer production, general management, and marketing services.

Current and recent shows include Macbeth, starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, playing in Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, and Washington, DC; 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Apollo Theatre, touring the UK and Australia; Christmas Actually, a Christmas variety show curated by Love Actually filmmaker Richard Curtis and produced in partnership with Senbla; the West End run of Vanya, starring Andrew Scott; the musical Cowboy Bob at the Alley Theatre in Houston; and the 2024 UK tour of The 13-Storey Treehouse, based on the best-selling book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton.

“I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Bonnie and Michael to the Sony Music Masterworks family,” says Mark Cavell, President of Sony Music Masterworks. “Their creativity and expertise will further support our endeavors in securing and creating new quality and original live productions that will captivate and entertain audiences across the globe, and provide first-class content for our other partners to promote and market.”

“It is an absolute honor to join Sony Music Masterworks and develop new work and new markets together. The strength of its vision and values makes it the ideal partner for us as we develop a diverse body of work in the UK and internationally,” add Bonnie Royal and Michael Stevens, Producers and Co-Managing Directors of Roast.

Sony Music Masterworks’ partnership with Roast Productions is the latest in a series of strategic ventures and acquisitions, furthering its growth as a multi-faceted worldwide entertainment business. The network of companies includes Black Ink Presents, Culture Creative, GEA Live, The Luna Entertainment Group, MAC Global, Proactiv Entertainment, Raymond Gubbay Ltd., RoadCo Entertainment, Seaview, Senbla, and Terrapin Station Entertainment.