As a quick recap… Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is developing a Broadway musical based on his life "to set the record straight on the inception of the iconic label."
The musical will feature music hits by the likes of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, among others, and will open on Broadway in spring 2013 at a Nederlander theater to be announced, produced by Kevin McCollum (producer of such shows as Rent, Avenue Q and In the Heights – all 3 Tony Award-winning musicals by the way, so we could say that Gordy's work is in good hands here), Sony Music Entertainment chairman and CEO Doug Morris, and of course Gordy himself, with Charles Randolph-Wright (an African American by the way, who has his own extensive background as a writer, director, producer for film, TV and theater) directing.
A website for the upcoming show has gone live, and on it are links to its various social media pages, including video sharing site YouTube, where I found the below video casting announcement with Gordy himself.
Interestingly, he's looking for just one actor to play 3 different roles – namely, a young Michael Jackson, a young Stevie Wonder, and a young Berry Gordy.
The casting breakdown states that the actor has to be between 8 and 11 yaers old, with a high tenor voice who can sing and move like a 10-year-old Michal Jackson, during his Jackson 5 days; as well as play an 11-year-old Stevie Wonder; and Gordy during his pre-teen years.
That's asking a lot of an actor between 8 and 11 isn't it? Actors, you tell me.
Watch the video announcement with Gordy below for all the details:
