MOTOWN THE MUSICAL Previews

[Pammylicious]

Tonight March 11 is the first preview. Post away........

[egghumor]

Probably more than any show in recent years, I'm in great anticipation of reading dispatches from posters who attend these early previews. I'm a huge fan of Motown and its groups and artists, but I'm also someone who's studied Motown quite a bit, and knowing uber-control-freak Berry Gordy is in charge of this production I assume things will probably not turn out well. If this work is to have any real historic and artistic integrity, he needs to separate himself from the enterprise. But of course, it's too late for that now. Curtain up!

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

I'll be there tonight and I'm pretty excited. It has the potential to be good because of the great catalog of songs, but even if it turns out to be the next Baby, It's Motown that should be pretty fun too.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Everybody get up! "Square Biz" was one of the first singles I bought. This should be an exciting show!!
Morgan James as Teena Marie!

[egghumor]

Whizzer, "Get Ready" for what I bet will be a lot more narration.

Rainbow, Teena Marie was one of the greatest artists ever to emerge from Motown. Too bad she had to sue Berry Gordy (and win) to be treated fairly. The ruling yielded what is now known as "Teena Marie Law."

[Rainbowhigh23]

1981 she was huge and in 1982 she had to sue - wonder if that will be covered in the show.

[CarlosAlberto]

Morgan James is the perfect choice to play Teena Marie. Count me in as a HUGE Motown aficionado. I doubt the suit involving Marie vs. Motown will even be touched upon.

I'm wondering how Florence Ballard's departure from The Supremes will be handled.

[egghumor]

Rainbow, don't hold your breath for that issue to be discussed. I have all of Teena's records up thru her recent posthumous release last year, BEAUTIFUL. Like many of her fans, I think her finest records were made during her tenure at Motown. Have you heard the tracks she recorded for her Motown debut LP that Berry Gordy cancelled? Some very interesting stuff!

Carlos, the same goes for Florence Ballard. her name will not come up in this show.

It's one thing for Berry Gordy to discuss artists in his autobiography, but it's another matter entirely (legally speaking) for these people to be depicted as stage characters, and for him to make various assertions about their lives.

[CarlosAlberto]

egghumor did you get the CD First Class Love: Rare Tee? There's some pretty amazing vault tracks on that release.

As far as Ballard is concerned I know deep down she won't even be mentioned by name, what went down was really, really ugly and it will cast a really negative cloud over the show and some people's images.

[BrodyFosse123]

Looking forward to how they handle the evolution of The Supremes, from their office jobs at Motown, to their Primettes days to their no-hits Supremes period to their intentional 'whiting-up' to help ease other Motown artiists into getting booked at top performance establishments (like NYC's Copacabana, Miami Beach's Fontainebleu Hotel, Eden Roc and Deauville, etc.). Those 3 girls from the Brewster Projects helped establish Motown on so many levels, not just making hit songs. Gordy used those 3 girls to help open SO many doors for his other artists.

[egghumor]

Yes, Carlos, The Rare Tee tracks are the ones to which I'm referring. Fascinating! Even some of the demos she made at Gordy's home are fantastic! I love that collection.

[CarlosAlberto]

@egghumor: Totally agree. It's a collection that any true Motown fan should be without. The woman was a vocal goddess. Truly underrated in every sense of the word.

[CarlosAlberto]

Looking forward to how they handle the evolution of The Supremes, from their office jobs at Motown, to their Primettes days to their no-hits Supremes period to their intentional 'whiting-up' to help ease other Motown artiists into getting booked at top performance establishments (like NYC's Copacabana, Miami Beach's Fontainebleu Hotel, Eden Roc and Deauville, etc.). Those 3 girls from the Brewster Projects helped establish Motown on so many levels, not just making hit songs. Gordy used those 3 girls to help open SO many doors for his other artists.

Not to mention how he used the group as a whole as the catalyst for Diana Ross' solo career.

Not many know this but after 1966/1967 pretty much all of The Supremes recorded output contained only 1 Supreme on vocals: DIANA ROSS. The background vocals were relegated to studio background vocalists: The Andantes. So technically Diana Ross solo records were out there during this period bearing the moniker "DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES".

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

egghumor, Yes I fear there may be some narration tonight...I went to Boston yesterday and saw The Glass Menagerie, which was outstanding, and after Breakfast at Tiffany's and Lucky Guy earlier in the week I thought THIS is how narration is done!

[egghumor]

Whizzer, besides certain productions that are happening on Broadway and OB, it seems the most exciting out-of-town show this year is indeed THE GLASS MENAGERIE.

I'm thrilled you're going tonight because while I appreciate reports from everyone, your post-first-preview posts are the gold standard. Always so astute, diagnostic, and fair. Greatly looking forward to what you have to report. Of course, I hope you have a terrific time, but with Berry Gordy taking libretto credit (Dick Scanlan trying to cobble something cohesive together) I can't help but be rather skeptical about the outcome.

[shrekster224]

If nothing other than the music, the ensemble is probably going to put on a heck of a show. Jamal Story is a ridiculously good dancer, so smart of them to make him dance captain. Interesting to see that Dionne Figgins (frmr Memphis DC) is covering Diana Ross! Anyone else think it's a little weird that every ensemble member is "playing a part" but for Lauren Lim Jackson, she is only listed as ensemble on playbillvault?

[egghumor]

Carlos, do you remember when Diana Ross left the Supremes to go solo, she was replaced by Jean Terrell? Terrell was an extraordinary vocalist, but from the moment the new lineup appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, Berry Gordy felt he had made a terrible mistake and insisted that she be replaced by Syreeta. Mary Wilson refused to oust Terrell and so in retaliation, Berry Gordy vowed to sabotage The Supremes from that day forward. The rest is history.

One of the most fascinating things I learned from reading Berry Gordy's book was that as a young man he adored Doris Day, because she was great vocalist, a beauty, and a good actress. He claimed he was always in search of the "black Doris Day," and chose Diana Ross to fulfill that mission. That's why he launched a film career for her and let the Supremes slowly die on the vine.

[CarlosAlberto]

I don't remember as I was a wee li'l baby when all this transpired, but I have read many, many books on Motown, Ross, Gordy and The Supremes.

I do recall reading that after Diana Ross & The Supremes' Farewell performance which ended with the formal introduction of Miss Jean Terrell he phoned Mary in the middle of the night to tell her that he changed his mind and wanted Syreeta Wright as Diana's replacement. Mary put her foot down and he said, "Okay then, I wash my hands of the group."

I thought Jean Terrell was an incredible addition to the group. She was a lovely singer...and as leader of The Supremes she did manage to score a Top 10 hit with the group before Diana scored her first hit as a solo act, but Berry's main focus by then was Diana Ross and Motown Productions' Television, Film divisions and newly formed Los Angeles operations.

[egghumor]

Obviously, Carlos, I was not a wee li'l baby at the time, haha!

In short, don't expect to see any of these episodes in MOTOWN. It will a fully upbeat, celebratory show, and that's fine. Just a lot of interesting history will be omitted.

Are seeing the show anytime soon?

[CarlosAlberto]

Yes, I am trying to score some tix for next week.

I'm not expecting to see ANY of these situations played out. Like you said it will purely a celebratory show. I will be watching...filling in the blanks...lol

[Rainbowhigh23]

Thank you for the background history on Motown, EggHumor and CarlosAlberto. I'd love to hear Teena Marie's Rare Tee CD soon and am so looking forward to how she is portrayed on the stage.

[egghumor]

Rainbow, I like much of Teena Marie's recordings for Epic (post-Motown) but they are as much rock as they are R&B. As you said with SQUARE BIZ, I think her finest record of all time is her final Motown LP, IT MUST BE MAGIC. One amazing song, arrangement, and vocal performance after another. Flawless! She never looked or sounded better!

Although it sold quite poorly, out of all her recent CDs, my particular favorite is SAPPHIRE (2006), perhaps because it is the most R&B of the recent works. She has a duet with Smokey Robinson on that one as well.

[egghumor]

One final post regarding Miss Teena Marie. Many fans feel one of best post-Motown CDs was the one she released on her own label Sarai in 1994 titled PASSION PLAY. Again, much more R&B compared to her Epic LPs, but since that time it has become very obscure and therefore, very hard to obtain and very expensive. It you can grab it for a decent price, do so!


Lastly, at the height of her popularity, circa 1983-84, there was small item in Variety announcing that Teena Marie had written a stage musical entitled ALICE IN GHETTOLAND. Naturally, I was beyond excited, but sadly, that was the last I ever heard about ALICE. Rather ironic that Morgan James is playing Teena Marie and she appeared in the updated treatment of Alice, WONDERLAND.

[ArtMan]

Egghumor and/or Carlos, Can you elaborate on her suing Motown in 1982. I didn't know anything about it. Wasn't Lovergirl the first song of hers to break into "top 40"? My favorite Teena is " I'm Just a Sucker For Your Love". Such a huge talent in a small package.

[egghumor]

from Wikipedia:

"In 1982, Teena Marie got into a heated legal battle with Motown Records over her contract and disagreements about releasing her new material.[14] The lawsuit resulted in "The Brockert Initiative" [she was born Teena Marie Brockert -- also known as Teena Marie Law], which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release with another label instead of being held back by an unsupportive one. Teena Marie commented on the law in an LA Times article, saying, "It wasn't something I set out to do. I just wanted to get away from Motown and have a good life. But it helped a lot of people, like Luther Vandross and the Mary Jane Girls, and a lot of different artists, to be able to get out of their contracts."[15] She left Motown as the label's most successful white solo act."

This counter-lawsuit resulted when after requesting Motown to release new material, and the refused, she signed with Epic Records. They sued her first, and she counter-sued, and prevailed.

[egghumor]

Teena Marie (1990)