NEW YORK, (Reuters Life!) – The producers of a new Broadway musical about the 1960s girl group The Shirelles have been hit with a lawsuit charging them of pilfering the names and likenesses of the original members.
Singer Dionne Warwick, who is also portrayed in the show “Baby It’s You”, joined the legal action which was filed in New York Supreme Court a day before Wednesday’s opening night.
Three of the four women — surviving member Beverly Lee, who owns the trademark to “The Shirelles” name and the estates of Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris McFadden — filed their lawsuit on Tuesday.
“Baby It’s You!” is the story of Florence Greenberg, a suburban housewife from New Jersey who discovered the all-girl group and created Scepter Records. It has been running in preview at New York’s Broadhurst Theatre for several weeks.
The Shirelles had hits in the 1960s with records like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” “Dedicated to the One I Love” and “Soldier Boy.” They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
