MOTOWN THE MUSICAL does not disappoint Dallas fans

By Margaret Freelon

MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL currently on stage at the Winspear Opera House is overall a great production.  The  music and performers celebrating the legendary Motown sound were incredible and this stage production did not leave this reviewer longing to hear any of the Motown favorites.  They start from the moment the play opens, until the glories end.

The actors did an incredible job of bring the stories of Diane Ross and Marvin Gaye so richly to life, as was little Steve Wonder and a very young Michael Jackson. From the beginning to the end, the story of Motown is one that will have you wanting to go “Dancing in the Street.”

The Motown sound is the sound track to many of the Baby Boomer lives. And they will not greatly enjoy a chance to hear all of the great sounds they grew up grooving to.  But the success of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is not strictly the music, it is the peek behind the curtain to learn a little more about the man, Berry Gordy, who created it all, and the performers who became super stars along the way. But don’t get it twisted, young people who might only recognize a few of the songs from movies and commericals, still enjoyed the play as well.

The stand out performances include Allison Semmes playing the incomparable Ms. Diana Ross. The play focuses a considerable amount of attention on the budding romance between Gordy and Ross and how they must handle their professional relationship as well.

Jarran Muse brought Marvin Gaye so much to life, for a minute you might forget he is not Marvin. His body movements were very aligned with how we remember Gaye’s. From his early days of grace when he wanted to be the next Frank Sinatra, to his calls for change and question of the status quo with his more activist oriented album he created late in his Motown days. Those songs have stood the test of time and as our young children are still being killed in the streets by racists and cops, we lament and cry with Marvin wondering – what’s going on?  Aside from Gordy’s life story, we perhaps learn more about Marvin’s backstory than is commonly known.

Berry Gordy stayed so far in the background during those hey days of Motown, but for the play it becomes the touchstone for the telling of his family relationships, close friendship with Smokey Robinson and how they built the Motown sound. Now the name of this play could have easily been the Supreme Love: Berry and Diana. She was a young high school student when the two met but eventually Ms. Ross would grow up and Berry made his move. What is surprising is that the play does not touch on the fact the two eventually had a daughter together, Rhonda Suzanne, who did not learn he was her father until she was a teen. Perhaps this was to respect her privacy.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL does briefly touch on the story of how the music from Motown became the back drop to African American empowerment in the entertainment and business world. However, one of the key lessons they play does not go over the top explaining but which is very clear: the men such as Smokey and Marvin with their sexy swagger and the Motown women like Diana, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight and Mary Wells changed the world’s perception of Black America. Their elegance and grace – which Gordy invested greatly in training each of them – sat the stage for Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones to be become more accepted. These men and women of Motown also gave young Black Americans a great sense of pride and something more to aspire for — it is not too far of a stretch to say that without a Marvin and Diana there might not be a President and Mrs. Barack Obama.

Overall MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is more than worth going to see for the music, the glamour, the gossip and the history. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased online at www.attpac.org, by phone at 214-880-0202 or in person at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Information Center at 2353 Flora Street (Monday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Tuesday thru Saturday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.). Use NDG’s promo code: “SOUND” for $25 savings!