Motown musical to premiere in London theatre

A musical about the record label Motown, is set to be launched on the London stage following a successful stint on Broadway.

The show, titled Motown- The Musical, will feature over 50 popular Mowtown tracks, while telling the inspiring story of record label owner Berry Gordy’s journey in to the musical hall of fame, representing the likes of Diana Ross and The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves.

Motown Records was first launched by Gordy in January 1959 under the name Tamla records, while he was living in Detroit. By September of that same year, the name was changed to Motown and over the course of the 1960s the label released an array of popular African-American songs, and within its first decade of launching, had nearly 80 records in the Billboards top ten charts. By 1971 they had 110 top ten hits, and had signed artists such as the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations, who all went on to become household names.

The musical, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, was first launched on Broadway in 2013, and will make its way to the UK on February 11^th 2016, playing at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre.

“I am thrilled to be bringing Motown back to the UK 50 years after our first visit back in 1965 when Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and I came to London for our very first UK tour,” Berry said. “Half a century later we are delighted to be returning, this time bringing our story and the Motown sound on stage at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the legendary West End.”