Berry Gordy must be ecstatic. His Motown: The Musical grossed more than $1 million ($1.03 million) after its first week of previews on Broadway, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York.
And this was just after seven preview performances. Clearly, there’s a demand for it.
The production, which officially opens April 14, stars Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (The Color Purple, The Scottsboro Boys) as the older Berry Gordy, and Valisia LeKae (Ragtime, The Book of Mormon) as Diana Ross.
Morgan James, Saycon Sengbloh, John Jellison and N’Kenge round out the starring cast, with child actors Raymond Luke Jr. and Jibreel Mawry playing a young Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Berry Gordy.
For the week ending 3/17 – it’s first week (previews began 3/11) – it sold the 6th highest number of seats (out of 23 shows currently on Broadway). 10,554 to be exact. The 5 ahead of it were Broadway stalwarts in Wicked, The Lion King, Cinderella, The Phantom of The Opera, and Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.
So, by all accounts, an impressive week of preview sales for the musical.
As a quick recap… Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is producing a Broadway musical based on his life “to set the record straight on the inception of the iconic label.”
The musical features music hits from the likes of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, among others.
Read more: IndieWire/ShadowandAct
