As if the likes of Mamma Mia sullying ABBA and Rock Of Ages an entire generation of 80s MTV hits wasn’t enough (and the less said about Green Day’s American Idiot musical the better), Berry Gordy, the Motown Records founder and producer is set to launch a musical based on his label.

The BBC reports that the famous Detroit record label that birthed “The Sound of Young America” in cultivating the careers of Lil’ Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five and Diana Ross & The Supremes, is set to be immortalised as a Broadway musical that plans to open at next year’s theatre season.

Producer Doug Morris described the show as “an amazing opportunity for everyone to experience the Motown phenomenon through the eyes of the man who lived it.”

Gordy is writing and producing the as-yet unnamed production. Talking of the production he said it was “a challenging and exciting opportunity to tell my story and share the magic of Motown”. Adding his excitement for the musical, “I can’t wait to feel that same Motown spirit come alive on stage every night,” he said.

The 82-year-old record magnate originally formed Tamla Records in 1959 with $US 800 borrowed from his family. At the time he had just two acts signed to his roster, Marv Johnson and The Miracles, whose leader – Smokey Robinson – first encouraged Gordy to start a record company.

The new Broadway musical plans to tell Gordy’s tale through the usual Broadway razzle dazzle and, of course, a love story. The show will contain “a gripping story about the protegés and stars of a uniquely talented musical family who, under Gordy’s guidance, began as the Sound of Young America and went on to become some of the greatest superstars of all time,” said producers of the planned Motown musical.

Gordy has also signed off on the use of the entire Tamla Motown catalogue to feature in the Broadway production, including a variety of hits made famous by his all-star roster including the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations as well as the aforementioned Stevie Wonder, Jackson Five, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross & The Supremes.

Is a Motown Musical a good idea for a Broadway spectacle with a gold soundtrack, or just another exploitative cash-grab using a back catalogue?

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