Motown the Musicalis an encapsulated “juke-box” musical about the origins of Motown Records and Berry Gordy, the man who created it. It is told as a flashback from the planning for Motown’s 25th Anniversary Show to the first moment Berry Gordy started to get interested in music. The plot leads inexorably to the formation of Hitsville USA and the creation of Motown and shows the people who made it happen and the bumps along the way.
The story is by Berry Gordy, based on his autobiography, and the music is from “The Legendary Motown Catalog” as the billing loudly proclaims. Charles Randolph-Wright does a good job directing the musical ensemble even given the limitations of the book.
What the show is not is a well-structured musical with a story and score that work together to provide dramatic moments that move the show forward. Characters are mostly two-dimensional, which is not the fault of the superb performers who recreate some of the most famous Motown acts. Interactions are mostly in the service of setting up for the next stroll down memory lane with a performance of a blockbuster hit. It must be said that even with the shortcomings of the story, the music is great with beautifully done cover versions of the hits.
If you liked Motown Records and the performers that made that a great label, then this is definitely a show to see. If you are looking for a drama about the origins of Motown and the people who created it, then you will be disappointed. This is a no-holds barred homage to the music of what was known as and continues to be known as “The Motown Sound.”
Brandon Victor Dixon as Berry Gordy leads the core cast. He does an adequate job presenting the man who was the driving force behind Motown Records, but the script does not provide much in the way of an understanding of who that man really is. It is hard for an actor to inhabit a character that is only partially revealed.
Valisa LeKae as Diana Ross has the voice to do the job but doesn’t convince us who that woman was then and what she became over the years. To be sure, playing the part of a singer whose life has been very public since her first hit with the Supremes is an enormous challenge, one of which is physical appearance. Ms. LeKae, for all her acting and singing skills, which are considerable, does not have the physical stature to pull off an impersonation of Diana Ross.
Charl Brown, as Smokey Robinson, and Bryan Terrell Clark, as Marvin Gaye, have the look and feel of the men they are portraying. These two actors do a superlative job inhabiting the characters (so that we care about them) and bring nearly pitch-perfect executions of some of those singers’ greatest hits.
The rest of the ensemble cast do a terrific job with what they have to work with in terms of the story. Their musical performances range from good to outstanding – everything you would expect from a show about the greatest hits from Motown. One standout includes the actors playing the Jackson 5. The do some of the early, smash-hit numbers of that group, transporting the audience back to the time when it all started. The night I saw the show, Raymond Luke Jr. was playing Michael Jackson, and he was so good that you could close your eyes and imagine the real MJ on stage.
