On Theater: ‘Motown’ delivers a soulful mix of music and drama
America’s popular music from a half-century ago has been big business on the local theater scene. Over the past year, audiences have been treated to “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” the Four Seasons show “Jersey Boys” and now “Motown, the Musical,” currently rocking out at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“Motown” — which focuses on the Detroit music label’s founder and creative genius Berry Gordy (who attended Tuesday’s opening and was seated directly in front of me) — is, as expected, a musical potpourri of the hit songs of the 1960s and ‘70s and the artists who gained fame singing them. But the show also makes ample room for the back story of the hard-driving Gordy and the empire he built, then watched crumble as performers followed the big bucks elsewhere.
Gordy, now 85, is both the writer and co-producer of “Motown,” as well as the show’s leading character — interpreted on stage in a dynamic performance by Julius Thomas III. Thomas injects the show with depth and drive as he fights furiously to achieve his seemingly impossible dream.
A major portion of the show is devoted to Gordy’s romantic relationship with the singer he made a superstar — Diana Ross. Here played by the lustrous Allison Semmes, Ross is presented as a superb vocalist whose musicality was matched only by her ambition.
“Motown” focuses not only on the music of the era, but also on the challenges Gordy faced in spreading his virtually all-black Detroit sound across the United States — especially in the segregated South of the 1950s. Burly cops with billy clubs keep the “white” and “colored” sections of the audience separate.
Audiences will particularly enjoy the appearance of several stars in the making, including the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson, the Four Tops, the Temptations and the Jackson 5 — with a terrific Reed Lorenzo Shannon as the incendiary young Michael Jackson. There’s also an outrageously robotic impersonation of Ed Sullivan by Doug Storm.
Jesse Nager’s Smokey Robinson and Jarran Muse’s Marvin Gaye add heart and enthusiasm to a show that revels in both. Martina Sykes rattles the rafters in her solo as Mary Wells, while Patrice Covington shines as an energetic Martha Reeves.
The show’s staging — by director Charles Randolph-Wright and choreographers Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams — is superb, pressing the performance pedal to the metal and pausing only for significant dramatic moments. The flashy ‘60s and ‘70s are fully realized, punctuated by the political assassinations of the period.
“Motown” has plenty of heart to match the soul, a fitting climax for the legendary career of Berry Gordy in this dynamic re-creation of a seminal period in American pop music at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the daily Pilot, Coastline Pilot and Huntington Beach Independent.
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IF YOU GO:
WHAT: “Motown, the Musical”
WHERE: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
WHEN: Tuesdays through Fridays at 7;30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30, Sundays at 1 and 6:30 until June 28
COST: Start at $29
INFORMATION: (714) 556-2787