MOTOWN Reviews- Page 2

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 10:45pm

Didn't say it wasn't expected...the degree to which it's getting crapped on is notable though. Every single critic has shat on it, so I thought it was worth mentioning as a common thread in the notices.

NY Post is mixed with two and a half stars out of four:
"Here’s what a $150 orchestra seat gets you at “Motown: The Musical”: bargain-basement sets, basic choreography performed merely adequately, and laughable dialogue.
But then there are the songs: thrilling, unimpeachable, familiar yet still completely fresh. They fill the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in a huge, giddy rush — and number a whopping 59, though most are shortened.
...
The show fares best with the music, which is usually spot-on. The engaging actors work hard to overcome the constraints of imitation. Despite being onstage for just a few minutes, the electrifying N’Kenge (Mary Wells) and Eric LaJuan Summers (as Jackie Wilson, Contours singer Billy Gordon and Rick James) make lasting impressions.
All are bolstered by Peter Hylenski’s excellent sound design, a rarity on Broadway. Loud but crisp, it’s a perfect match for the large orchestra’s explosive brass and driving rhythms."
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/lots_of_soul_tells_slim_story_iCCfxdQccWBsqkgzvABK0I?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Theater

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NY Daily News is mixed with three out of five stars:
"There’s no shortage of great tunes from which to choose. And if a batch of catchy classics with tasty harmonies and cool grooves like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Stop in the Name of Love,” “My Girl” and “ABC” were enough to make a jukebox musical click, the show would be an automatic hit. But it takes more. While the music catalog runs deep, the story is shallow. The book, penned by Gordy, who also produced the show, suffers from being sketchy, earnest and sometimes corny."
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/motown-musical-theater-review-article-1.1315324#ixzz2QUvRrzVJ

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USA Today is mixed with two and a half out of four stars:
"All of these assets are confirmed in the show — which was written, incidentally, by Gordy himself, based on his book To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown. The result, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, is a lengthy, (two hours and 40 minutes, with intermission), often clumsy valentine to the man and the many great artists and songs that are his legacy.
...
As with most jukebox musicals, none of the performances rival the original recordings. Still, if you can get through the spoken part, Motown offers the best musical nostalgia trip in town."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2013/04/14/motown-gives-you-that-sweet-soul-music/2082175/

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Newsday is mixed:
"And his book, though clunky and schematic and much too long, is not entirely a cornball tribute to his noble self. Despite the fine Brandon Victor Dixon as Gordy, we don't feel much of anything for the impresario and sometimes songwriter who, inspired as a kid by black boxing champ Joe Louis, borrows $800 from his loving family in Detroit and builds a music empire.
...
Also to his credit, Gordy and director Charles Randolph-Wright haven't just cast sound-alikes or look-alikes to play the dozens of stars, which keeps this from being another wax museum of depressing clones. Valisia LeKae doesn't look a bit like Diana Ross, Gordy's teen protégé and later lover, but her style feels right. Charl Brown has the lyric sweetness of Smokey Robinson. Bryan Terrell Clark is powerfully insinuating as Marvin Gaye. N'Kenge has such big lungs and attitude as Mary Wells that we regret she disappears early in the show."
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/motown-the-musical-review-bitter-berry-1.5063227 Updated On: 4/15/13 at 10:45 PM

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 11:07pm

"A batch of catchy classics with tasty harmonies and cool grooves" --NY Daily News

[loliveve]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 11:17pm

ucjrdud902, here's another:

"quite stunning performances, led by a go-for-it Brandon Victor Dixon as Gordy and Valisia LeKae as Diana Ross" -AP

Posted: 4/14/13 at 11:37pm

"A huge, giddy rush!"
NY Post

"Dozens of classic Motown roof-raisers!"
Variety

"Superb musical direction!"
Backstage

[AndrewAndrew]

Posted: 4/14/13 at 11:44pm

Back when we still had juke boxes, 45's released by Motown would have most likely dominated the selection in any given juke-joint. Barry Gordy's stable of artists collectively produced more number-one hits than any single artist could dream of, giving the label it's own jukebox musical treatment sounds like a no brainer. Does Mr. Gordy have the brains to pen the book himself? Can a mega-mix of short pop songs ranging from Reet Petite to Super Freak create a cohesive musical theatre experience?

AndrewAndrew Video Review of Motown

[mikem]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 12:20am

The reviews are actually better than I thought they would be. Most are truly mixed rather than 1-star type reviews. And even the Times review implies that, although it may not be a great musical, many will enjoy it and there are aspects that are very good.

With the reviews in and the box office popularity, I think Motown is now a pretty safe bet for the Best Musical Tony nomination. The fourth slot will either go to Hardbody or A Christmas Story. Hard to say which one will get it, but I have a feeling it will be Christmas in April this year.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 12:41am

"Diana Ross could sue for defamation for Valisia Lekae's grisly rendering of her"
That's my favorite quote.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 1:16am

Wow, the book is seriously getting ripped to shreds.

Probably because as I said, it's non-existent. Sometimes one can debate the book of a musical and question its merits but there's literally no way to do that here when the book was written in the weeks before previews started.

These are about the reviews I was expecting: the book is atrocious, the acting good, and the songs obviously fun. There seems to be a general consensus this show will do well no matter what and people who buy tickets will have fun because it's exactly what they wanted - an opportunity to sing along to songs they know and clap in an uplifting, squeaky clean recounting of history. Fine for ticket sales, etc. but I hope that doesn't equate with award success since it's an atrocious indicator of artistic merit. Something shouldn't be awarded by the Tonys for being harmless, boring, and essentially meeting low expectations.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 1:24am

They may get one or two noms, but winning. naw.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 2:07am

This show doesn't need a Tony to be a hit - it's selling point is the music, and it has the best advance (15 million) of any new show this season - including soon to be Best Musical, Matilda. Motown doesn't need the critics to love it, the people are coming to hear the songs they grew up with, not necessarily see the best show in town.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 6:56am

And now we have another Mamma Mia on our hands -- not very good, but very popular.

Congrats to all those employed.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 10:09am

A hit, no matter what people on this board thinks of the quality of the show, is good for Braodway in general. That's worth celebrating.

Different strokes for different folks. And so on and so on, and doobie doobie doob-bay!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 10:21am

And now we have another Mamma Mia on our hands -- not very good, but very popular.

Mamma Mia got better reviews.

[suestorm]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 10:27am

id like to get the return on my investment that Mamma Mia investors got.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 10:41am

Did it really, Matt? Interesting.


And yes, I wouldn't mind having $ in Motown right now, either.

[bobs3]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 11:30am

And I thought LUCKY GUY and KINKY BOOTS had star-studded red carpets on opening night. MOTOWN's red carpet put those shows to shame -- they even had Miss Ross, Sting, Bono, Jane Fonda, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight along with Kathie Lee & Hoda (just to mention a few)!

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 12:01pm

Mamma Mia opened about a month after September 11th, 2001 and was the exact kind of feel-good, upbeat, escapist form of entertainment the city and theatergoers needed. It got a rave in the New York Times and from many others for that reason.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 4/15/13 at 12:26pm

Why does the New York Post, when it wants to say something is unquestionable good, it uses 'unimpeachable' all the time?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 12:09am

I saw this tonight and quite honestly, the less that is said about it, the better.

I really did not like it. The book is beyond atrocious. I'm sorry, but HOW did this self-serving and pompous book by Gordy get this far?! He basically paints himself like the second-coming! I could not get over how laughably bad some of the lines were...they should have just thrown the book out altogether and done a SMOKEY JOE'S style revue. Because the music is just fantastic, but we already knew that. We knew that before the show was even announced. So, does that make MOTOWN worth your $140? Hell. No.
Did I mention they don't even play 90% of the songs in their entirety?!

It's not even pretty to look at. The show is so haphazardly directed and designed. How was the price-tag on this production so high?! There were virtually no sets! The cast is energetic, but most seem to be giving second (or even third) hand imitations of greats like Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson. Brandon Victor Dixon does an admirable job of carrying the show, though. He's certainly not worth the price of admission, but he does a good job as usual.

The one thing about the show I really loved were the orchestrations. Even if there was no one singing the songs, they still manage to burst with life thanks to some really exceptional work from Ethan Popps and Bryan Crook.

At least BABY IT'S YOU had Beth Leavel camping it up like no other. MOTOWN is just a mess. And it'll probably run forever.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 11:36am

It's clear that this show is review-proof, this season's SPIDERMAN. Out-of-towners and middle-aged bridge-and-tunnelers can't buy tickets fast enough. May not be for our crowd, but hey, we can't keep a show running without full price ticker buyers (and that's not us).

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 11:42am

I have tickets for next weekend. Despite the negative reviews (which I expected), I'm looking forward to it for one reason: the sound. Motown's songs were engineered to sound good on a car radio. They were tinny. Even though the Broadway show's tunes will be reproductions, I can't wait to see how they sound.

Updated On: 4/20/13 at 11:42 AM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 1:22pm

I can't imagine you'll be disappointed! I thought they sounded wonderful.

Also the audience behavior is ridiculous. I can deal with the singing along (which wasn't really obnoxious belting, more like a quiet echo from the audience. It's inappropriate but not distracting...). And the dancing and clapping along, which was fun, and its always nice to see an audience enjoy themselves like that. But the cellphones out for the entirety of the show, the constant getting up and walking in and out six, seven, eight times throughout.... That stuff is just unacceptable. Where were the ushers last night?!? I counted five to seven cellphone lights in my line of sight for at least 30 minutes at a time during each act. Not okay.

A crapload of people came in late a few rows in front of me and the ushers didn't even wait until the song was over to seat them! They sat mid-song and clearly didn't even look at their tickets until they were standing in front of everyone else trying to watch the show. So it took forever. It was really irritating. Updated On: 4/20/13 at 01:22 PM

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/19/13 at 1:38pm

^^^^ You should complain to the house manager, even now, after the fact. That's disgraceful.

[Corine2]

Posted: 4/20/13 at 6:59am

If you love the music of MOTOWN you will have an amazing time but I do think they need to tell the audience before the show this:
PLEASE DON'T SING OUTLOUD. IT WILL DISTURB AUDIENCE MEMBERS. The audience sings along and it is not Karaoke and it is plain rude to sing out. It is ok during the Diana Ross part but that is all.

The book is flawed but the music is so fantastic it took everything I had not to sing along. (BUT I WANTED TO and I wanted to dance in the aisles as well!)

I LIVE for this music so I ignored the book and appreciated the talented cast, the incredible music and the wonderful direction.

I had a blast!

[Howard Shore]

Posted: 8/23/15 at 1:25am

broadwaydevil said: "Mamma Mia opened about a month after September 11th, 2001 and was the exact kind of feel-good, upbeat, escapist form of entertainment the city and theatergoers needed. It got a rave in the New York Times and from many others for that reason."

Did really got a rave from NYT really what?