Motown inspired musical headed to Broadway

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The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Sony Entertainment and Berry Gordy confirmed Tuesday that they will be teaming up to bring the legendary Motown story to Broadway in 2013. The show will be based on the life of Berry Gordy and the story of his rise to fame as the head of Motown records. It’s reported the production will feature Motown hits from Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson. The show is scheduled to open at a Nederlander theater. The cast will be revealed at a later date.

NEW YORK — The life of legendary Motor City music empire founder Berry Gordy will get stage treatment when Motown: The Musical opens on Broadway in spring 2013.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Sony Music Entertainment chairman and CEO Doug Morris and Gordy confirmed plans for the show Tuesday. Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and written by Gordy, it will feature songs from the Motown catalogue made famous by recording artists such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five.

The production is scheduled to open on Broadway at a Nederlander theater to be announced, along with casting and additional creative team.

Motown will trace the story of Gordy from his beginnings as an ambitious young African-American songwriter in 1959, when he founded Tamla Records in Detroit with an $800 loan from his family. That company became the cornerstone of an influential music-industry force that crossed over to mainstream success at a time when segregation and racial tension still divided the country. Motown has generated more than 180 No. 1 hits worldwide.

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