NEW YORK (AP) – We’ve heard it through the grapevine – “Motown the Musical” is coming back to Broadway.
Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and producer Kevin McCollum said Monday that the musical that tells the story of how the record label rose and fell and then rose again will return to New York starting July 2016 for an 18-week stand.
McCollum said the show has gotten stronger since opening cold on Broadway two years ago and Gordy has been sharpening the story. “It’s a much crisper and shorter and has a real pop to it,” he said.
The show is currently on tour and will play the holidays in Washington, D.C. Early next year, it hits Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio and Wisconsin, among other places. It also plays the Shaftesbury Theatre in London’s West End in February.
McCollum, whose shows currently include “Something Rotten!” and “Hand to God,” said the “Motown” creators have tinkered with the musical since it left Broadway, something not possible in New York. “Mr. Gordy doesn’t quit and neither do I,” he said.