Motown The Musical has this morning extended its West End booking period at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 5 January 2019, sixty years since the record company was founded.
The hit musical, which will celebrate its third year in London as a result of the additional 500,000 new tickets released for sale, has also announced plans to hold children’s open auditions next month for the role of Young Michael Jackson/Berry Gordy/Stevie Wonder.
Registration for these auditions will open at 9.15am on Saturday 19 August at Brixton Community Base, Talma Road, with budding stars aged 8 to 13 encouraged to apply. More information can be found on the show’s website.
The musical follows Motown founder Berry Gordy who, with just $800 borrowed from his family, rose from featherweight boxer to heavyweight music mogul.
His influence on the industry – discovering and launching the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and many more – changed music history and crafted the soundtrack of a generation.
On 4 September 2017, David Albury and Kayi Ushe will join the cast as Smokey Robinson and as Marvin Gaye respectively.
With music and lyrics from the Motown catalogue, and book by Gordy, the show features over 50 Motown tracks including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I’ll Be There, Dancing In The Street, Stop! In The Name Of Love, My Girl and I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Director Charles Randolph-Wright’s show tells the story behind the classic hits.
Motown The Musical has played at the Shaftesbury Theatre since February 2016, where Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Mary Wilson enjoyed its opening night.