‘Motown’ National Tour Launches in Chicago in April 2014

“Motown: The Musical” will launch a national tour next year in Chicago.

The jukebox musical celebrating the life of Motown Records Berry Gordy opened on Broadway this past April, and will open in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre on April 22, 2014. The Chicago stint is scheduled to last until July 13, 2014, and additional cities will be added to the tour later.

Producer Kevin McCollum spoke about why Chicago is a great city to start the tour.

“It’s an honor to launch the tour of ‘Motown The Musical’ in Chicago– I attended Deerfield High School, and it’s where I developed my love for Broadway,” McCollum said in a statement. “Chicagoans have always had a deep appreciation for great music, great theatre, and great history, which makes it the perfect place to be the first city outside of NY to host Berry Gordy’s incredible story and the legendary Motown catalog. It is a credit to the State Legislature’s support of theater for the Illinois Live Theater Production Tax Credit, which made ‘Motown’ launching in Chicago possible.”

The musical was written by Berry Gordy and based on his 1994 autobiography “To Be Loved: the Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown.” Of course, it is filled with numerous Motown hits, including songs by Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Jackson Five and Diana Ross and the Supremes, among others.

The official website for the show says it “is the real story of the one-of-a-kind sound that hit the airwaves in 1959 and changed our culture forever. This exhilarating show charts Motown founder Berry Gordy’s incredible journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and so many more.”