{"id":63423,"date":"2012-06-15T11:41:32","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T11:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2012\/06\/15\/berry-gordy-jr-motown-story-headed-to-broadway\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T10:52:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T10:52:46","slug":"berry-gordy-jr-motown-story-headed-to-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/berry-gordy-jr-motown-story-headed-to-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Story Headed To Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Story Headed To Broadway<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

June 15, 2012<\/p>\n

Source: New York Post<\/a><\/p>\n

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The New York Post’s Michael Riedel<\/strong> says that “Berry Gordy Jr.<\/strong> was in town last month meeting with agents, theater owners and producers about an autobiographical musical using his Motown catalog of hits.<\/p>\n

How do I know this?<\/p>\n

I heard it through the grapevine!<\/p>\n

Gordy\u2019s wanted to do \u201cMotown\u201d<\/strong> (the show\u2019s working title) on Broadway for years. Since he\u2019ll be 83 in November, he\u2019s telling everyone, \u201cLet\u2019s Get It On!\u201d<\/p>\n

(OK, enough with the Motown references. I\u2019m starting to sound like a correspondent for NY1\u2019s \u201cOnStage.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Kevin McCollum,<\/strong> the crackerjack producer behind \u201cHigh Fidelity\u201d and \u201c[title of show]\u201d (smash hits, both \u2014 not), is bringing \u201cMotown\u201d to Broadway next year. The co-producer is Doug Morris<\/strong>, who runs Sony Music.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest: Berry Gordy\u2019s going to be calling the shots.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Charles Randolph-Wright<\/strong>, who was in the original production of \u201cDreamgirls,\u201d is directing. He\u2019s staged countless shows in regional theaters, including \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d and \u201cSophisticated Ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Gordy\u2019s looking for a writer. He\u2019s met with Suzan-Lori Parks<\/strong>, who truncated \u201cThe Gershwins\u2019 Porgy and Bess,\u201d and Katori Hall<\/strong>, who wrote last season\u2019s \u201cThe Mountaintop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still looking for the right fit,\u201d says a production source.<\/p>\n

He should meet with Rick Elice<\/strong> and Marshall Brickman<\/strong>. They wrote the gold standard of catalog musicals \u2014 \u201cJersey Boys,\u201d which has a worldwide gross of $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Elice and Brickman recognized that the real-life story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was more interesting than any fictional plot they could come up with. So they wrote a musical that has all the drama and intrigue of a VH1 \u201cBehind the Music\u201d episode.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what Gordy wants to do with \u201cMotown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you\u2019d imagine, he\u2019s got great stories,\u201d a production source says.<\/p>\n

If \u201cMotown\u201d has a shot, Gordy can\u2019t sanitize his tale. You don\u2019t get to be an entertainment mogul by being Mr. Nice Guy all the time. There have been countless books written about Motown, some implying that the company had mob connections \u2014 a charge Gordy\u2019s always denied.<\/p>\n

I once got hold of a book proposal by Tony Turner<\/strong>, who was a Motown gofer in the \u201960s. Turner, who died of AIDS, unloaded a dump truck full of dirt on Gordy and Motown. I was working for the then-Daily News gossip columnist George Rush at the time, and we published Turner\u2019s allegations. Gordy sued the News for $250 million. The suit went on for years but was eventually settled over a round of golf at the Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles between Gordy and News publisher Mort Zuckerman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Who knows if all the allegations were true?<\/p>\n

But they were certainly dramatic \u2014 good fodder for a gripping musical.<\/p>\n

(I still have that book proposal, if you\u2019d like to refresh your memory, Berry.)<\/p>\n

In any case, Gordy will have to deal with the documented feuds, lawsuits, egos, divas and tragedies: the firing of Florence Ballard from the Supremes (\u201cAnd I\u2019m Telling You, I\u2019m Not Going\u201d \u2014 sorry, wrong show); legal battles with the Jackson 5; the rise of superdiva Diana Ross; the fatal shooting of Marvin Gaye.<\/p>\n

This is juicy material. Set against some of the greatest popular songs ever written, it could be shaped into a compelling musical.<\/p>\n

Broadway\u2019s the pinnacle, but if you have good songs, a strong directorial vision and a dramatic story, there ain\u2019t no mountain . . . well, you know where I\u2019m headed with this one.”<\/p>\n

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