‘Motown: The Musical’ is weeks away from its first curtain call and Berry Gordy is giving an inside look into the year’s most anticipation Broadway production.
While the musical journeys through the exciting careers of Motown artists like The Supremes, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, Gordy said it also exposes some of the dark days of the iconic record label.
“The hard part was writing it in the first place. When Diana left me for $20 million I was crying inside. I was crying. It was like horrible for me,” the music mogul admitted. “But I had to do what was best for her, because I promised her when we had our love affair that I wanted her to be the biggest star in the world, and would never let our relationship interfere with that.”
Valisa LeKae, who plays Ross in the upcoming show, is hoping her rendition of “You’re All I Need to Get By” does the diva justice.
“I want people to know that she’s human. I think there’s a little bit of perfectionism in her because she wants to give her crowd what they came here for,” LeKae said. “She’s probably had moments where she gets upset, and I get that. She gets upset in the act. It’s a natural response to life at times. So I think in order to embody this woman you have to see the colors of who she is.”
The show’s executive producer Kevin McCollum is confident that audiences will fall so in love with the production that it will make its way to the big screen.
“Berry started in clubs recording songs and then he became a record executive. Then he took the company and knew that film was the next thing and he made two of the most important films, especially for African Americans. It was one of the first times when African Americans could take a look at themselves on the big screen and say, ‘we’re glamorous.’ So the idea of a movie after the musical, it absolutely makes sense.”
“Motown: The Musical” opens March 11 in New York City.
(Photo: AP)
