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Motown Icons Join Berry Gordy Jr. at Broadway Premiere

By | Published on April 16, 2013
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Some of classic R&B’s biggest acts were on the Broadway red carpet Sunday for the opening night premiere of “Motown: The Musical.”

The new show captures the heyday of the legendary Detroit recorded label and was written Berry Gordy Jr., the music mogul who founded Motown back in 1959.

Diana Ross — one of Motown’s most famous stars as a co-founder and lead singer of The Supremes — was spotted at the premiere, greeted by a large crowd of screaming fans.

It’s no secret that Ross wasn’t a fan of the “Dreamgirls” musical and film — which were loosely based on her and the rest of The Supremes — and she sees this new musical as a chance to tell a different tune.

“This is not a fictional story. This is a real story,” Ross told CBSNews.com on the red carpet.

Ross’ Supremes groupmate Mary Wilson was also at the opening night premiere.

“I didn’t even know about Broadway when I was a Supreme back in the early days,” Wilson said. “This was at a time when Afro-Americans or whatever you want to call us did not dream that far ahead. But Broadway … who knew? So here we are today, thank God.”

Also at the premiere was Jesse Jackson, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Red Foo from LMFAO (who is also Gordy’s son), and the musical’s producers Kevin McCollum and Doug Morris.

“Motown: The Musical” is now playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway.

Source:cbsnews.com

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