Review: Lyrics & Lyricist's MOTOWN'S HEATWAVE Hits NYC at 92NY

Time travel truly existed Saturday, November 8 at The 92nd Street Y, New York during Motown’s Heatwave, The Songs of Holland-Dozier-Holland, part of their Lyrics & Lyricists series.  The walls of the filled-to-capacity venue were dancing along with the famed Motown Hits of the famous songwriting and production team composed of brothers, Lamont and Brian Holland and their friend Eddie Holland.  

In an unusual twist, five vocal performers gave us an immersive journey through this time, portraying the actual individuals of Holland-Dozier-Holland (H-D-H), as well as the talent who performed their works, such as The Supremes, The Marvelettes and The Temptations, to name a few.  Each of the vocalists, which includes Derrick Baskin, Najah Hetsberger, Melrose Johnson, Ephraim Sykes and Curtis Wiley, is a powerhouse in their own right.  These phenomenal musical performers each have those amazing musical theater chops themselves, with Najah Hetsberger, Derrick Baskin, Ephraim Sykes  and Curtis Wiley all Broadway veterans.   What a treat for the audience!  

Clad in a blue-green slinky dress with shiny accessories, Najah Hetsberger glided out as she belted the seductive strains of “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)”.  Melrose Johnso, also dressed to impress in a burgundy minidress, as well as the three gentlemen, each suavely attired in black tuxedos with open collars, joined her onstage. So the night of amazing music began!  Patrons were told how H-D-H from 1962-1967 produced and arranged the music that has come to define the “Motown sound” during the early 1960’s.

Each member of H-D-H was influenced by all the variety of musical types available to the public during the 1950’s.  From classic Hollywood musicals to white performers like Frank Sinatra as well as being immersed in the music of their hometown Detroit Baptist churches, H-D-H absorbed the musical world around them and used it in their works to create hit after hit for the famed Berry Gordy’s label.  But most importantly H-D-H wrote of love - not hate or protest.  Whether love was happy, unrequited, or heartbreaking, the themes always stayed universal.  Music was meant to bring joy for H-D-H not hate.  Strong sentiments from  these men who lived through some very turbulent times of the 1960s which included the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, the Civil Rights Movement  as well as a virulent backlash against an unpopular Vietnam War, which was killing thousands of young men daily.  But H-D-H kept those hits coming year after year until they broke up with Motown and went their own way with their own production company.  

Each and every talented vocalist last evening had theatergoers as well as this reviewer  singing along and applauding wildly with the standout hits that just kept coming. Powerful vocals gave meaning to songs which  included “Standing in the Shadows of Love” (Curtis, Derrick and Ephraim), “You Can’t Hurray Love” (Melrose, Najah and Company), “You Keep Me Hanging On” (Melrose and Company), “Where Did Our Love Go” (Najah and Company), “Stop In the Name of Love” (Ephraim and Najah), “Jimmy Mack”(Melrose and Company), “Nowhere to Run” (Company), “Reach Out I’ll Be There (Derrick and Company) and Heatwave (Melrose and Company). What a night!  What a performance!  Bravo!!

Motown’s Heatwave - The Songs of Holland-Dozier-Holland created a heatwave of intense emotion at The 92nd Street Y, New York. The phenomenal performance continues tonight with one final performance at 7:30 pm. It features the tremendous vocal talents of Derrick Baskin, Najah Hetsberger, Melrose Johnson, Ephraim Sykes and Curtis Wiley.  Musical Direction from Michael O. Mitchell and band included: Jeremiah Flack (trumpet), Taja Graves-Parker(tenor trombonist), Sherrod Barnes (guitarist and bass) and Chelton Grey (bass).

Find tickets to tonight's performance of Motown's Heatwave and more great shows to see at The 92nd Street Y, New York on their website here. L&L will be back in December with a show celebrating the music of Paul Williams.