Charles Randolph-Wright News

NBC is bringing both the heartbreaking and uplifting stories during one of America's most tumultuous periods to television in adapting author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Betty DeRamus' acclaimed book “Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories From the Underground Railroad” as an epic eight-hour miniseries titled “Freedom Run.”

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy have announced that MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL original Broadway cast member Jesse Nager has joined the First National Tour in the leading role of Smokey Robinson.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, the smash hit musical featuring the music of the legendary Motown catalogue and a book by Berry Gordy, will play its final performance of its current Broadway engagement this Sunday, January 18, 2015 at The Lunt Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street) and will return to Broadway in a Nederlander theatre to be announced in Summer 2016.

Any long-time theatregoer will have horror stories of audiences that got too enthusiastic at a show with well-known music, especially jukebox musicals made up of mostly pre-existing pop tunes. I've known people to hum or outright sing along, whoop, cheer and scream like they're at a concert, or even get up and dance in the aisles. At most shows, this behavior is frowned upon by other audience members, or suppressed by ushers. However, at 'Motown,' the Berry Gordy bio-musical, this engaged behavior is encouraged- hell, it's part of the show. You see, audiences at 'Motown' fill a triplicate role: first, the traditional audience at a play, watching the events unfold through the fourth wall; second, the (in-world) audience watching a Motown retrospective show; finally, the various real, historical audiences at performances by Motown artists, from Parisians getting to hear the first international performances by The Supremes, to a spontaneously integrated audience in the Deep South, at a Motown show interrupted by gunshots.

A slew of plays and musicals will open on Broadway in Spring 2015, but where there is good news, there is also sad. To make room for highly-anticipated new productions such as Finding Neverland, On the Twentieth Century and Doctor Zhivago, some of our most beloved shows must close for good. Below, BroadwayWorld salutes the shows that will soon be taking their final Broadway bows. Get your tickets now to catch them while you still can!

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and The Orpheum Theatre, are proud to announce that single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale today, December 19th at 10:00 AM.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Hennepin Theatre Trust are proud to welcome Motown The Musical, tonight, December 16, through the 28th at Hennepin Theatre Trust's Orpheum Theatre (910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis) as part of the 2014-2015 Thrivent Financial Broadway on Hennepin Season.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy have announced that MOTOWN THE MUSICAL original Broadway cast member Julius Thomas III will join the First National Tour for a limited engagement in the leading role of Berry Gordy on Friday, December 12.

At the ripe old age of 12, theatre 'vet' Outlaw plays Young Berry Gordy, Young Stevie Wonder and Young Michael Jackson in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, playing Dec. 16 - 28 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Broadway Across America in partnership with Broward Center for the Performing Arts, are proud to announce single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale today, December 12 at 10:00a.m.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and The Orpheum Theatre, are proud to announce that single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale Friday, December 19th at 10:00 AM. Tickets will be available for purchase online at the official Orpheum Theatre website, www.orpheum-memphis.com, The Orpheum Box Office (901.525.3000), the ticket counter at The Booksellers at Laurelwood, and all Ticketmaster centers (901.743.ARTS). MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will play at The Orpheum Theatre, July 14 - 19, 2015. Group orders of 15 or more may be placed by calling 901.529.4226.

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with Florida Theatrical Association and FAIRWINDS Broadway in Orlando, announces that tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL go on sale Friday, December 12 at 10 a.m. MOTOWN THE MUSICAL takes the stage at the Dr. Phillips Center March 10 - 15, 2015.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Broadway Across America in partnership with Broward Center for the Performing Arts, are proud to announce single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale Friday, December 12 at 10:00a.m.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL's N'Kenge returns to Broadway Tuesday, Dec. 2 in the role of Mary Wells which she originated.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Broadway Philadelphia, are proud to announce that single tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, presented collaboratively by The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and The Shubert Organization, are now on sale forMOTOWN THE MUSICAL at the Academy of Music for a two-week engagement January 6 - 18.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of WAR by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, running tonight, November 21, through December 13 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street).

I have no doubt that MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will be popular with audiences. It does, after all, contain the music that generations have grown up on, and it's still being played today. And, it's interesting that I was flipping channels on TV and saw an infomercial dedicated to the Motown 25th Anniversary special made in 1983 recently. That's the scene that opens the show, and where we first encounter the man who made it all happen, Berry Gordy. He's angry and doesn't want to attend because all his stars have left him for the greener pastures of other labels. This despite it being his own competitive spirit, and the fact that he instilled that in his roster of talent (songwriters, singers, and musicians), that created their desire to further pursue their careers in the first place. That makes for an interesting dichotomy that would seem ripe for the stage. So, why am I so disappointed? Because I wanted a real narrative (Gordy wrote the book himself) that doesn't gloss over important historical events while, at the same time, giving 60 fabulous tunes short shrift.

In collaboration with Broadway Across America and the award-winning morning show 'The Balancing Act, the final episode of the 'Broadway Balances America' mini-series will shine the spotlight on MOTOWN THE MUSICAL. This new episode will premiere today, November 18h at 7:30 a.m. (ET/PT) and will re-air on Tuesday, November 25th at 7:30 a.m.(ET/PT) on Lifetime.

The Fabulous Fox Theatre is excited to announce that the national tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will play at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis tonight, November 18 - 30, 2014.

Broadway Across America and the Kansas City Broadway Series present Motown The Musical December 9 through 14 at the Kansas City Music Hall. Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, the story of Motown is a true American dream.