UPDATE: Motown: The Musical will hit Broadway on on April 14, 2013 at the Lunt Fontaine Theatre (205 West 46 Street). Preview performances will begin March 11, 2013. The cast has been set. Tickets will go on sale October 1st.
Berry Gordy’s ‘Motown: The Musical’ is headed to Broadway in 2013.
Detroit Free Press
Brian McCollum
The show — with industry heavyweights Kevin McCollum and Doug Morris as co-producers — will include songs from Motown’s catalog, accompanying the story of the label’s rise from Detroit obscurity to global fame.
Gordy conceived the project several years ago and has regularly mentioned it during interviews. The New York Post reported earlier this month that development began in earnest this spring, with the story’s characters to include such names as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
Motown insiders have said they see the project as Gordy’s chance to tell the label’s story his own way: He and Robinson famously sought — and received — an apology from makers of the 2006 “Dreamgirls,” thought to be loosely based on the Motown tale.
In a statement this afternoon, Gordy said: “Broadway is the pinnacle of live theater and provides a challenging and exciting opportunity to tell my story and share the magic of Motown. I’ve discovered that Motown and Broadway have a lot in common — a family of wonderfully talented, passionate, hard-working young people, fiercely competitive but also full of love and appreciation for the work, for each other and for the people in the audience. I can’t wait to feel that same Motown spirit come alive on stage every night.”
McCollum is a veteran Broadway producer who has helmed such shows as “Rent” and “Avenue Q.” Morris is former head of Universal Music Group, which has owned Motown Records since 1998.
The musical will be directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.
0 Comments