Stage Review: ‘Motown The Musical Plays Detroit Soul Hits

From the moment the orchestra fire until the introduction, "Motown the Musical" takes a journey into a high-octane crowd pleaser elegantly constructed that knows where it goes.

Based on Berry Gordy's autobiography "To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown", the musical at the Orpheum is authorized by Gordy and his family. Not avoid controversy, but certainly goes well at all. The production includes 60 songs, many of medleys and more trigger happy audience responses come into play when there is the unfortunate side effect of customers who cannot stop participating in singing -. Here you're hoping you do not have one of those neighbors.

It turns out that is expected to be a sampler, with a core of great artists in multiple roles (a pipe here, a Commodore there several Vandellas and Marvelettes). The story moves along chronologically, beginning with a young Gordy impressed by the victory of Detroit Joe Louis' about Max Schmeling in 1938 and the joy that results from this victory, especially in the African American community. Gordy wanted to make people as happy with the music.

"Motown the Musical" does what most historical musical do, which is briefly touched milestones discovery of talents, business decisions and world events. The exception is Diana Ross, who was the lover faced Gordy and Motown's most successful act.

A substantial amount of the musical work dedicated to their relationship, giving Josh Allison Semmes Tower and much stage time. Artists are, as expected, wonderfully gifted. Semmes takes her character Diana in the Orpheum audience to connect with a pair of theatergoers of luck, and also manages to get everyone to hold hands and swaying to "Reach Out and Touch."

 

"Motown the Musical" not about creating exact copies of the proceedings. The arrangements are quite faithful to the original, but have a distinct taste 21st century driven by a murderous band in the mouth. It aims to provide just enough of the old to keep Boomers content, but inject a more contemporary sensibility to broaden the appeal.

The scenery is noteworthy for its kinetic quality. Vertical and horizontal beams lit carefully move up, down, left and right to stake between scenes and divide elegantly stage. Projections fill some of the gaps with solid efficiency, if the images of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or wavy psychedelic art. In total, it complements and enhances the rest of the action on stage, which is often singers make their memorable plays and finding the slots.

It is worth mentioning that gets to play Gordy young young Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Two artists - Nathaniel Cullors and Leon Outlaw, Jr. - alternate roles. On opening night, Cullors had the honors and be fair to say that astonished everyone with his energetic and spot-on performances.

Motown The Musical To Hold Open Auditions

Motown next West End show, the musical is to hold auditions for singers to appear in production.

Producers have announced an open hearing on 7 July in London Mid Wales in Gray's Inn Road in London.

 

In an ad running in the edition of June 25 Stadium of them they said they were looking for "black and mixed-race artists with strong voices soul / pop artists to portray the iconic Motown".

Performers are required to sing a pop song and bring sheet music with them. A pianist will be provided. Those hearing will also have to carry a CV and a photograph with them.

Motown the Musical features music and lyrics by Motown founder Berry Gordy, and is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.

It will run on the Shaftesbury Theatre, with previews of February 11, 2016 and an evening news on March 8.

Motown, the musical is produced in the West End of Gordy, Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Adam Spiegel.

Motown: The Musical Gives You That Warm, Fuzzy, Nostalgic Feeling

The Broadway touring production of Motown: The Musical, which documents the history of the famous label started by Berry Gordy, serves as a wonderful journey into the past, despite some bumps in the road. The main obstacle is that the book series is written by none other than the real Berry Gordy, a man who made a career out of promotion.

It is no wonder then that Gordy's hero only slightly wrong of their own history, ignoring the opportunity for honest self-examination is done. In addition, the strength of Gordy is writing songs, not the dialogue and another luminary in the world of entertainment, George Lucas, Gordy creates an amazing overall experience, but some of its lines can be eyebrow-raising.

His story, however, is convincing, since it documents Gordy (Julius Thomas III) passion, unity, and the struggle to build and maintain an independent record label, while the fight against racial segregation industry music in the early part of his career and marketing in the latter. The show, now at the Pantages 7 June, also explores his professional and romantic relationship with Diana Ross (alternate Ashley Allison Semmes Tamar Davis), his lifelong friendship and collaboration with Smokey Robinson (Jesse Nager), and Marvin Gaye friction (Jarran Muse), one of the many Motown artists who populate the piece.

Visual and vocal pyrotechnics of the opening number, the show exudes a vitality and energy that is also reflected in the set design David Korins' projections striking and slick Daniel Brodie. Colorful lighting by Natasha Katz is as agile as Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams dynamic choreography, which runs I brittle by the effervescent cast. That cast the track costume changes worthy models is also removed, showing great designs Esosa actors who dress in a rainbow of colors in time.

 Director Charles Randolph-Wright skillfully shepherding the cast through rapid transitions between numbers lighting, maintenance of significant energy everywhere. Sometimes these transitions are a little too fast, however, as Motown 60 strokes are shoehorned into two acts and performed in truncated form, which can feel like the radio station to be changed before the end of the song. However, highlights, like "Dancing in the Street", "My Girl", "What is happening" and Jackson 5 numbers kept the audience grooving along.

Thomas III has a nice powerful voice and charisma struggles to humanize this music pioneers. Davis shows a fighter to film him while Nager optimistic oozes joy and muse embodies a poignant restless energy. The whole surrounding is equally strong, with highlights including Leon Outlaw, Jr. as the young Michael Jackson, Martina Sykes as a singer Mary Wells and Jamarice Daughtry as record producer Mickey Stevenson.

Broadway Series To Feature 'Motown,' 'Cabaret'

Cirque-du-Soleil and Orlando-Ballet collaborationPNC Broadway in Louisville has "Motown: The Musical," "Cabaret" and "Dirty Dancing", among the seven shows that will make his season 2015-16.

Season tickets go on sale Thursday at the PNC Broadway in Louisville Box Office, 620 W. Main St., Suite 100, and online at www.onlineticketspot.com. Subscriptions may also be purchased by 9 a.m.-6 pm, Monday through Friday.



September 15 to 20: Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella".

Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Douglas Carter Beane in 1957 based in part Hammerstein's book for the 1957 musical debut as a television production.

October 13 to 18: "Dirty Dancing".

Based on the 1987 movie of the same title. Eleanor Bergstein, writer of the film, wrote the book for the musical. Music includes the songs "Hungry Eyes", "Hey Baby", "Do you love me?" and "(I've Had) The experience of my life."

18 November to 6 December: "Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz". *

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. The musical is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire 1995 "Wicked. Memoirs of a Wicked Witch"

19-24 in: Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". *

Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. The musical is based on the movie of the same name in 1991.

March 8 to 13: ". Cabaret"

Music by John Kander, Fred Ebb letter. Based on the book "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood. The 1966 musical was revived in 2014 by Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway director Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall and co-director / choreographer.

12-17 April: "Motown: The Musical".

Motown music (of course) and a book of Berry Gordy, based on his 1994 autobiography "To Be Loved: The Music, Magic, the Memories of Motown," The musical tells the story of the founding and management Gordy Motown record label, as well as their relationships with artists of Motown Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson.

June 1 to 12: "The Phantom of the Opera".

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart with additions of Richard Stilgoe. Book Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe is based on the French novel by Gaston Leroux "Le Fantôme de l'Opera."

"Wicked" and "Beauty and the Beast" are not part of the subscription package season. However, subscribers are allowed to purchase tickets for these shows before tickets go on sale to the general public.

'Motown' Musical Captures Real Thing — In Surreal Twist

It was a foregone conclusion that the premiere of "Motown: The Musical" at the Fisher Theatre, just a half mile from West Grand Boulevard where it all happened, would juJst a bit surreal.

After all, sometimes you would be looking at the real Stevie Wonder at the hearing and then you look on stage to see his imitator stage, Ahmad Elias Lewis. On one side of the audience, the real Mickey Stevenson watched intently as a reasonable facsimile of his young self-jive-talking tried to rush a young Berry Gordy in hiring (Gordy did and Stevenson went on to co-write and produce hits like "Dancing in the Street ").



And there he sat down to Smokey Robinson, calmly watching the scene as Nicholas Christopher, the young actor who plays him, acted as Gordy comic role, becoming hysterical at the thought of moving to California with Motown (earthquakes, you see). And touching, three daughters Florence Ballard afternoon saw as the story relates the problems of his mother as she became increasingly unreliable on stage at the Supremes.

This is the story of the origin of Gordy, from their point of view, and has a lot of history to cover and a lot of vocal groups are stuck in three hours. Some of the principles of narrative seems to have been compressed a bit of the original Broadway production, but it's good to at least listen to some of the greats like James Jamerson Funk Brothers and Benny Benjamin name-checked.

A segment that featured disc jockeys from around the country playing songs from Motown included WJBK Tom Clay, initially brushes Gordy out, saying "We are a pop station, did not play race records."

The Detroit Public explodes at the mention of several of the names of the athletes, "including Martha Jean Queen and" Frantic "Ernie Durham.

One of the biggest ovations, and rightly, came when young Shannon L. Reed came to dance like Michael Jackson with the Jackson 5, purple hat cocked just so, his purple stripe vest an exact copy of one of the 70 teams of MJ . Shannon's voice perfectly evoked the beauty of young attractive Jackson's voice on songs like "Who's Lovin 'You" and "I Want You Back".

Before the show, Leon Outlaw Jr., who plays Jackson, said the biggest challenge of playing pop icon was to capture her shyness when not performing. "I'm not shy," he shrugged. And yes, like those over-the-top (but absolutely authentic) funky outfits he gets out. "I wish I could use in my daily life," he said.

Jarran Muse as Marvin Gaye was also impressive as he sang "I Heard It through the Grapevine" and later, some of "What's going on," a cappella, several voices in Motown-heavy audience shouted in approval. Muse has the necessary height and seems to be convincing too.

At one point in the musical, Allison Semmes as Diana Ross barre in a fabulous white silver dress singing "Reach Out and Touch."

Semmes threaded members of the audience to sing with her, and this being a premiere audience Detroit, almost everyone was a ringer. He invited a woman with blond hair auburn to sing with her, and she sang the lyrics with special verve to the delight of the audience. Semmes When asked her name, she said quietly, "Dorinda Clark Cole" - one of the Clark Sisters.

For the final curtain call, producers Kevin McCollum and Doug Morris joined Gordy and Motown alumni many as could fit on stage, including Robinson, Wonder, Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Claudette Robinson Miracles and Velvelettes.

Gordy had the microphone and was comically unwilling to give it up, even the real Stevie Wonder, despite the stimulus McCollum producer. Finally, the microphone went to Stevie, who sang "I Wish" to its dramatic counterpart Lewis bravely took the microphone and finished the song.

The music that incredible body of songs, was the main attraction for this musical, and several musicians from Motown, including Clay McMurray producer and guitarist Dennis Coffey, as approved music was presented.

"They captured the sound of Motown, this fund," Coffey said. "Most of Broadway music does not sound like that. Berry must have worked with them to make sure that happened."