Listen Live
Listen Live Graphics (Indy)

Previews for “Motown: The Musical” begin Monday night in New York. Motown founder Berry Gordy wrote the script for the highly-anticipated show, which interweaves the label’s story with Gordy’s romance with Diana Ross. Gordy describes the stage production as “magical” and “different.” He tells “Detroit Free Press” that the show isn’t just something for him to feel good about, but is for the fans throughout the world who believed in him when “everybody was saying a kid out of Detroit could never do a Motown.” Universal Music’s Bruce Resnikoff says he sees the production as “an opportunity to introduce another generation to some of the greatest music in history.”

Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson are among the characters in the show, which focuses on Motown’s first 25 years. Some critics have expressed concerns that the music and stars will take a back seat to Gordy in the show. But Robinson and Aretha Franklin were among those who turned out in support of the production at a special launch event last fall. “Motown: The Musical” will have its official premiere at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York on April 14th.

(source-Kathy Taylor/Metro News)