Allison Semmes News

Motown the Musical rocked into Overture Center in Madison on Tuesday night with an abundance of talent and energy delivering the memorable Hitsville, USA classics. This Berry Gordy biopic covers his life as a young boy striving for more, to a man borrowing money from his family to build a recording empire that changed history. The production culminates with the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of Motown.

'Brilliant', 'riveting' and 'astonishing' are only a few words our contributing writers have used to describe the local theatre scene.  This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature the top 10 stories in Central PA, Minneapolis, Seattle, and more. Check out our featured list, which includes a 'brilliant' OTHER DESERT CITIES in Central PA, The Ordway's A CHORUS LINE, and a 'riveting' immersive ROMEO + JULIET in Seattle, just to name a few. 

Columbus got their groove on at the Ohio Theatre on opening night when an iconic era of social change and racial integration was celebrated through soul, pop, and classic hits such as 'My Girl', 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', 'ABC', Cruisin', 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine', and so many more.

For Chester Gregory, the opportunity to portray the founder of the Motown record label, Berry Gordy, was the logical next step in his personal musical journey. "A lot of work has led me to this role. So, it is like a full circle moment for me," said Gregory, who plays Gordy in "Motown the Musical," set to be performed in Columbus Tuesday through Sunday at the Ohio Theatre.

It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that on Tuesday night, February 16, Music City officially fell in love with Motown. Berry Gordy's musical is the stuff of legend and, as it takes us from 1983 all the way back to 1938 and back again, you can't help but be impressed by the ambitious young man's rise to preeminence; his story is the American dream come true and Gordy's impact on pop culture and the very fiber of our nation's history cannot be overstated - it's a story that resonates in Nashville to be certain.

Performances for the Miami premiere of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL begin Tuesday, February 2 for a limited one-week run through Sunday, February 7, 2016 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.

There are more than 40 songs packed into the jukebox hit machine of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, the latest show to hit the Saenger Theatre stage. That's a lot of quarters.

Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross. All are Motown artists that we will get to meet when the national tour of MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL hits New Orleans tonight!

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Broadway at the National present the Washington premiere of Motown the Musical, playing the National Theatre now through January 3, 2016. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities, featuring Berry Gordy himself, below!

The ultimate question with Motown the Musical is not whether you'll like it, but how many songs it takes before you're moving and grooving in your seat at the National Theatre. With an abundance of classic hits, the answer is not too long.

Any music fan trying to own a copy of every record ever put out by a Motown artists would end up with a very large collection. Or, in this day and age, a very full iPod. Even trying to have copies of the just biggest hits of Motown would lead one to amass a lengthy playlist. There's no denying that Motown Records changed the world of music forever, leaving an impact on not only fans of the music, but also our culture and society at large. And like filling that aforementioned iPod, trying to fill a musical with all of those huge hits is also a tall order, one that Motown: The Musical, now playing at Providence Performing Arts Center, accomplishes with a high level of success.

Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy, and Broadway at the National are proud to announce casting for the Washington premiere of Motown The Musical, playing the National Theatre December 1, 2015 thru January 3, 2016.   

Motown the Musical, the Broadway show which dramatizes the rise and fall of the record label of the same name, opened yesterday in Toronto at The Princess of Wales Theatre. Though full of hit songs you will recognize, overall the show was underwhelming and lacked enough exposition to hold the audience's attention for almost three hours.

I grew up on vinyl records, 'hit parades' and transistor radios tuned to the AM dial. I love Motown Music. But I felt skeptical about a breezy staged extravaganza about Berry Gordy's mercurial career. Five minutes into the opening medley, this stunning production won me over. This is NOT your assembly line jukebox musical!

Broadway Pops International (BPI) presents I HEAR A SYMPHONY, Motown's Greatest Hits with the Sun Valley Opera & Resort in Idaho.

Broadway Pops International (BPI) presents I HEAR A SYMPHONY, Motown's Greatest Hits with the Sun Valley Opera & Resort in Idaho.

For nearly three vigorous hours, MOTOWN - THE MUSICAL provides one helluva show. More like a CONCERT rather than your typical book musical, this dazzling, high-octane extravaganza of music and dance is a visual and aural feast that gamely crams in more than 60 hits from the groundbreaking record company's discography. The story---penned by Motown founder Berry Gordy himself---may be its lone weak spot, but there's no denying how fun it is to see and hear this impressive cast of quintuple-threats recreate these greatest hits live on stage. The rousingly entertaining, exuberantly-performed stage spectacular continues at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through June 28.

Broadway Pops International (BPI) presents I HEAR A SYMPHONY, Motown's Greatest Hits with the Sun Valley Opera and Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley Idaho.

Turning a profit in the theatre business is challenging at best but it isn't surprising that MOTOWN THE MUSICAL easily recouped its initial investment during its run on Broadway, or its outlay for the First National Tour, now playing at the Hollywood Pantages. The popularity of the Motown sound is undeniable. Even if you wanted to, it's impossible to keep from being carried away by the irresistible groove of the music. And why would you even want to try?

Motown the Musical, currently playing at the Buell Theatre, provides a bit of a history lesson for the record label, but mostly it feels like a really impressive tribute concert.