‘Motown: The Musical’ Announces Broadway Opening Date and Lead Cast

‘Motown: The Musical’ Announces Broadway Opening Date and Lead Cast
Posted by Wilson Morales

August 27, 2012

Source: The New York Times

Brandon Victor Dixon will play Berry Gordy Jr. and Valisia LeKae will play Diana Ross when “Motown: The Musical” opens on Broadway in April, producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy announced on Monday.

The show, which uses material from the Motown catalog as it traces Mr. Gordy’s life in the music business, will begin previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater on March 11 for an April 14 opening.

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will feature a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the Motown legendary catalogue. MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is the real story of the one-of-a-kind sound that hit the airwaves in 1959 and changed America forever. This exhilarating show charts Motown Founder Berry Gordy’s incredible journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross and The Supremes, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and many more.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL tells the gripping story behind the hits as Smokey finds his unique voice, Diana skyrockets to stardom and Berry fights against the odds to turn his improbable dream into a triumphant reality. The music that shattered barriers and shaped our lives finally comes to the Broadway stage in the season’s most highly anticipated world-premiere event.

Building shows around pop hits has proven to be a commercially successful formula on Broadway, as musicals like “Mamma Mia!” and “Jersey Boys” have enjoyed long runs. “Motown” is the only such show announced so far for the 2012-13 season.

Mr. Dixon is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Harpo in “The Color Purple” on Broadway, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award in 2006. He also received a Drama Desk Award nomination for “The Scottsboro Boys” Off-Broadway. Ms. LeKae has had a lower profile, but has appeared in several Broadway musicals, among them “The Book of Mormon” and the 2009 revival of “Ragtime.”