The national tour stop of MOTOWN at the Capitol Theatre is another in a series of historic events for Broadway in Utah (recently dubbed Broadway at the Eccles, after its new home). Immediately following its final Salt Lake City performance, the entire production will pack up and move to the Nederlander Theatre in New York City for a limited 18-week Broadway engagement, starting July 12. This means that the performers you see here will also be starring in the show on Broadway, on the same set and wearing the same costumes. It is quite literally Broadway in Utah.
Broadway San Jose's Motown the Musical is a solid gold hit and played to an enraptured audience last night at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Motown the record company was dreamed up by Berry Gordy in 1959 and the music world has never been the same. Gordy and his cavalcade of artists defined the sound of the sixties and seventies, breaking down racial barriers with a signature soul/pop sound that cut across the black/white divide at a time when segregation was still the law of the land. Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations were just a few of the artists that made up Motown. The staggering amount of talent, creativity and love that was the Motown Sound and the story behind its founder Berry Gordy -- all brought to the Broadway stage in Motown -- will touch your heart and put the beat back in your feet. Playing now through June 26 it is a must see song celebration and surely a show for your theatre bucket list.
Motown the Musical returns to Broadway this summer, beginning performances Tuesday, July 12 at The Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41Street) for a strictly limited 18-week-only engagement through Sunday, November 13, 2016.
That old idiom, "History is written by the victors" kept ringing in my head last night as I watched the National Touring Company of "Motown: The Musical" at the Paramount Theatre. Or rather one could say, "History is written by the one telling it." This retelling of the life of Berry Gordy and his creation of Motown Records with a book written by Berry Gordy based on the autobiography by Berry Gordy comes across like a jock in the locker room bragging about all his conquests. But with such bad writing and storytelling coupled with an overabundance of half songs the show feels like a bunch of skewed half-truths and amounts to a tepid and forced evening.
MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is a jukebox musical that premiered on Broadway in April 2013, receiving four Tony Award nominations. Based on Berry Gordy's 1994 autobiography To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown, it tells the story of how he founded and ran the Motown record label. It also touches on his relationships with Diana Ross (Allison Semmes), Marvin Gaye (Jarran Muse), and Smokey Robinson (Jesse Nager). Digging deep into the Motown catalog, the show contains over 60 songs. With that many songs one would expect a pretty thin book; however, by wisely placing most of the focus on Gordy (Chester Gregory) and Ross' relationship and the rise and fall of Motown, we are given a compelling portrait of both Gordy and the music industry. MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is a celebration of the Motown sound… that sound that joined black and white America in ways nothing else has equaled before or since...that magical period in our past when we were invited to go dancing in the street to a brand new beat.
This week, a high-energy combination of the Motor City and the Great White Way burst into Louisville with the current Broadway Series production, Motown: the Musical, at the Kentucky Center.
Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: CSC's NATHAN THE WISE, starring F. Murray Abraham and Stark Sands, opens off-Broadway!
Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy just announced complete casting for the Broadway return of Motown The Musical, beginning performances Tuesday, July 12 at The Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41Street) for a strictly limited 18-week-only engagement through Sunday, November 13, 2016.
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.
The Drama League of New York just celebrated a major milestone few organizations have achieved -- its 100th birthday! The 100th Birthday Party was held on January 11, 2016, at Feinstein's/54 Below, featuring cocktails, dinner, and a one-night-only concert celebrating The Drama League and 100 years of service to the American Theatre. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!
The Drama League will celebrate a major milestone tonight that few organizations have achieved…its 100th year of service to the American theatre community. The 100th Birthday Party will be held tonight,January 11, 2016 at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 West 54th Street, Cellar). The sold-out celebration will include cocktails, dinner, speeches and musical performances recognizing the history, achievements, and future of the award-winning arts education organization.
Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Berry Gordy are thrilled to announce that Broadway veteran Chester Gregory will join the First National Tour of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL in the leading role of Berry Gordy. Mr. Gregory's first performance will be tonight in Richmond, VA.
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.
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!
