BWW Reviews: MOTOWN at the Denver Center's Buell Theatre

I'm a regular for Motown night at Beauty Bar...and that's basically the extent of my knowledge about the genre. Motown the Musical, currently playing at the Denver Center's Buell Theatre, provides a bit of a history lesson for the record label, but mostly it feels like a really impressive tribute concert.

The Broadway show opened in April 2013, nabbing four Tony Award nominations for its Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson as well as a couple technical nods, but it was snubbed for the coveted best musical acclaim. The tour launched a year later, and the musical closed on Broadway this past January.

The story begins at Motown's 25th anniversary concert in 1983, where it soon flashes back to founder Berry Gordy's childhood inspiration from a boxing match. Within moments he's an adult, building the home base for Motown, Hitsville U.S.A. You meet the younger versions of Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross with her eventual Supremes...to name a few.

Act 1 is packed with performances and peppered with a bit of plot, which doesn't seem to travel far until intermission hits. There are some essential history moments, like the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, Jr. as well as some heartbreaking and powerful moments of the civil right movement. By the second act, a plot seems to start taking place as the label parts with a few of its bigger names and tries to stay alive. Considering the grandeur of the rest of the show's performances, the finale fell a little flat to me.

Gordy is played soulfully by Clifton Oliver, who commands the stage for much of the show. Allison Semmes as Diana Ross gives poignant charisma to the legendary diva, which thankfully gets to be showcased several times. She led the audience in a sing-along of Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand), a moment that so easily could've been gag-worthy but actually managed to be kind of touching (literally). I wish I could've seen the audience from her vantage point.

Other notable performances were Jesse Nager's Smokey Robinson and Jarran Muse's Marvin Gaye, both fully developed, which seemed rare for many of the show's portrayals. Kudos to the kid in the show (Leon Outlaw, Jr), who portrayed a spectacularly spot-on Michael Jackson as well as the younger roles of Gordy and Stevie Wonder.

The show is crammed with Motown hits (66 to be exact), with most only quick snippets of the original tunes. With Gordy basically backing the entire production, it's safe to say he focused more on reminding audiences just how big an impact Motown had on the music scene. Unfortunately, it just feels like something's missing.

Despite the thin plot, the show's visually impressive. Vocally, the performers kill it. It's never really boring, and the variety of songs and set pieces throughout the decades give Motown the tribute it deserves.

Motown the Musical plays the Buell Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through April 19. For tickets, visit www.denvercenter.org or call the box office at 800-641-1222.

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