Review: MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL at The Playhouse

I've always considered that the Beatles' songs of peace and love had as much to do with the fall of communism as much as Pres. Reagan's 1987 Berlin proclamation, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall".

Soviet censorship could not block the airwaves. East German teenagers heard the transcendent tunes of 'Give Peace a Chance', 'All You Need is Love' and 'Let it Be'. Rumblings for societal and political change became eruptions. Glasnost did not crumble the Iron Curtain. Music did.

So, it was with an equally essential and earthshaking catalogue from Motown, that integrated American black culture with white, shaping our lives and subconsciously provoking us to move to the same beat. Music is primordial. It has no political, economic or social boundaries.

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL relates an intriguing backstory of the singular vision of founder Berry Gordy. Taken from his autobiography, To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown, the production unlocks years of cerebral twitch memory.

Berry was a driven soul - hard driver, unrepentant and - as the binder forever in his hand states - a compulsive notetaker. This is what it took to build a dynasty. He pissed off a lot of people during his travels. This unvarnished version of his journey is one which compels us to engage.

The opening number is electric; staging a Jets/Sharks 'battle' between The Four Tops and The Temptations. What a hoot! The guy with the bass voice...his tremolo reaching down and titillating my intestines. The audience in The Playhouse buckled their seats for a frenetic ride down memory lane. At the finale, one was amazed at the relative small size of the cast. The eight guys as The Tops and Temptations were dancers in all the other featured groups. That is quite an achievement.

Gordy (Kenneth Mosley) was thrilling. While the majority of the tunes were ones we grew up with, Gordy and Michael Lovesmith himself wrote a new one that Mosley killed.

Reincarnated in manner, nuance and voice in this tour was Diana Ross (Trenyce), who had two iterations with The Supremes "Baby Love", "I Hear A Symphony" and then moving to her solo career, "Reach Out and Touch Someone". Trenyce was on Year 2 of American Idol. Added to this illustrious musical troupe are Smokey Robinson (Justin Reynolds) "Shop Around", Marvin Gaye (Matt Manuel) "Mercy, Mercy Me", "What's Going On" and two adolescents playing the young Michael Jackson. Those outfits that adorned the brothers when we first saw them on TV were authentic, including Micheal's red fedora. None ever missed a phrase or a dance move that is firmly imprinted in our minds from the '80's and '90's.

Those mentioned above were the stars of the show, but we were also treated to Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson, "Reet Petite", Martha and The Vandellas, "Dancing In The Street" The Commodores and - special guest star, the Super Freak himself, Rick James.

Trenyce channeled all of Diana's songs. Her gowns by Emilio Sosa were simply stunning. While all the choreography is original to the groups, it is lovingly restaged here. The entire show is dazzling.

May 1-6 The Playhouse 302.888.0200

2018 - 2019 Season - call now for season tickets

SPAMALOT - Oct 25-28

CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE - Nov 23-25

LEGALLY BLOND: THE MUSICAL - Feb 23-24

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS - Mar 7-10

FINDING NEVERLAND - Apr 11-14

THE SOUND OF MUSIC - May 9-12

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