Theatre News

Broadway hit Motown the Musical set for Shaftesbury Theatre

The Tony-winning jukebox musical charts the rise of Motown Records

| London | London's West End |

15 May 2015

Sydney Morton, Valisia LeKae and Ariana DeBose in Motown on Broadway — Sydney Morton, Valisia LeKae and Ariana DeBose in *Motown* on Broadway

Tony Award-winner Motown the Musical is transferring to the West End next year, it has been confirmed.

The show, which follows the career of producer and songwriter Berry Gordy and the creation of Motown Records, will run at the Shaftesbury Theatre from 11 February 2016, with an official opening night on 8 March.

Gordy's label signed artists including Diana Ross and the Supremes, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations.

Featuring hits including "My Girl," "What's Going On," "Dancing in the Street," "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", the show premiered on Broadway in 2013.

Berry Gordy said: "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.

"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."

At the Shaftesbury it follows fellow Broadway import Memphis the Musical, which finishes its run on 31 October 2015.

Motown is initially booking until 22 October 2016. Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, it has music supervision by Ethan Popp, co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Bryan Cook, dance arrangements by Zane Mark and music direction by Gareth Weedon.

Choreography is by Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams, scenic design by David Korins, costumes by Esosa, lighting by Natasha Katz, sound by Peter Hylenski and projections by Daniel Brodie.

Motown the Musical will be produced in the West End by Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris, Berry Gordy and Adam Spiegel.

McCollum told the Daily Mail the show will be "revamped" for the West End, including a slight cut to the running time, and that he'd "prefer an all-British [acting] company".