MOTOWN THE MUSICAL Previews- Page 3

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:23am

So Whizzer, sounds like you enjoyed this more than KINKY BOOTS ?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:23am

What was the set and curtain? :)

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:28am

Members of the audience are brought on stage? Perfect. Based on all this info, it might as well be called Motown: Things I Hate the Most.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:29am

Besides Berry Gordy's ego being unleashed, I have to think the larger problem with the libretto is legal. I think they're highly limited as to how much they can develop and depict these artists. I remember when LEADER OF THE PACK opened in the mid-80s I was very excited to see a show about Ellie's Greenwich's life and career, but the book was atrocious because they were not allowed to portray key figure Phil Spector -- many, many years prior to his murder case -- and other important people in her path. The only one who could be "reasonably" represented was Darlene Love, because she was actually IN the show, as was the real Ellie Greenwich at the conclusion.

I believe a very similar dilemma played out with BABY, IT'S YOU. Dionne Warwick and The Shirelles (and others) had to be very vaguely depicted in order to avoid a lawsuit, because the producers had only purchased the rights to Florence Greenberg's story, not the other characters. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

In the end, it sounds like a Las Vegas Motown Revue with Berry Gordy as ringmaster.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:34am

The set had a bunch of moving pieces to it and there were a million light cues. The show bounces from location to location and musical act to musical act so quickly it can make you dizzy!

The curtain was black with a big Motown "M" on it.

Ha, Trish, I don't know if I would say I liked it more than Kinky Boots. I liked and disliked each one for different reasons. I know this is a jukebox/biomusical, but the songs were better. I could listen to Sign, Sealed, Delivered and For Once in My Life all day. Of course they're not theatrical, but they weren't written in an attempt to be. Kinky Boots is a more cohesive product though and I suppose has more emotional depth.

Motown will make a fun cast album, and the orchestrations are top notch. They just don't need to include any dialogue on the recording...

[loliveve]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 12:34am

The first person pulled out of the audience wasn't a plant. I saw him after the show.

All the singing along kind of drove me nuts and made it more difficult to concentrate on the stage. But there were a few funny parts that came from the audience, such as when Diana said "go on girls, I'm going to stay and rest my voice" and an audience member said "yeah, right."

I was impressed that the show touched on the intentional "whitening" of the Supremes. And after reading this board, I wasn't surprised by the reference to Doris Day. I liked that it used historical events to frame the time periods but there was just sooo much material, and a couple songs seemed long.

Sorry this is kinda choppy... on my phone!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 7:06am

In the end, it sounds like a Las Vegas Motown Revue with Berry Gordy as ringmaster.

My thoughts exactly. This show is most definitely geared toward the tourists. It's not "true" musical theater. I am not at all surprised about the book...sounds like Berry Gordy makes himself out to be a martyr.

I'm going to give it a look/see since I love the music. It sounds like it 'could' be fun if you don't take it too seriously.

[mikem]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 7:08am

Great reports! I guess I was expecting that the book was just going to be an excuse to put on the songs (a la Million Dollar Quartet), so my expectations for the book were pretty low. But it sounds like Gordy's ego got in the way, and the book is distractingly bad.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 7:18am

Everything about this show sounds unbelievably ghastly. Welcome to 21st century Broadway.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 7:39am

Despite the numerous negative observations here, I think this show stands a chance of being the critic-proof hit of the season.

The critics will save their hosannas for MATILDA and PIPPIN.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 9:11am

To those who were there last night: did the singing-along feel like a first-preview show of enthusiasm, or like an identifiable trait of a regularly touristy audience?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 9:22am

The sing along was not first preview enthusiasm. The grosses will tell the truth, but from an audience makeup standpoint it felt very un-first preview like. Usually these things are comped to the gills with friends and family. This felt full of tourists and actual ticket buyers!

mikem, The book is semi-Million Dollar Quartet, but that show only had to develop four artists, and didn't try to tell Elvis' whole life story either. It was just four guys and their manager for a moment in time. This has so many stories to tell that it doesn't know what to do with all the characters.

The only story that is dramatized is the love affair between Ross and Gordy. She is a character and not just a recording artist on parade.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 9:41am

OK, this is the part that is truly bothering. Why the hell would people purchase tickets to this so that they could sing along throughout the show instead of watching and enjoying the performances on stage?! I have a ticket for April, and I can already tell I'm going to be annoyed.

[julesboogie]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 10:45am

^ congrats on spending your money wisely...

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 10:47am

A least I used a discount code!

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 10:49am

Well, between these reports and the word that they're putting out a nationwide ad buy (w/Chrysler) I'm expecting a big fat hit. Will it be artistically valid? It would be nice if they feel obliged to try and refine the story, but I wouldn't be surprised if their sales aren't impacted in the slightest whether they do or don't (which means they likely wouldn't, if they don't feel they have to.)

[Playbilly]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 1:34pm

I'm sure that the audience were Berry associates who were there to have a good time. It will be interesting to see if regular theatergoers will sing along unless that's the unspoken (or even encouraged at curtain time) expectation. I could see A LOT of people enjoying that aspect of the show, and being a major selling point. A great marketing idea. A faux concert in theater drag.

Ever been to any of those reunion tours...?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 3:48pm

Everything about this show sounds unbelievably ghastly. Welcome to 21st century Broadway.

No, it's just Broadway.

[julesboogie]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 3:51pm

What Brian Stokes Mitchell had to say.


@bstokesmitchell: Saw Motown last night @ first preview - great direction, design, voices, songs (!)- the crowd went wild- smells like a hit!!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 4:43pm

If I counted correctly the show lists SIXTY-FIVE numbers in the song list. Many of the songs are only performed for about 90 seconds, but still it's a lot of material to get through. I realize they have such a crazy catalog to pick from, but it's too much.

Sounds like a cruise ship show.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 4:46pm

Or the Carole King revue, Tapestry. Most vocally taxing show I've ever performed.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 4:57pm

It's a cruise ship show on a Broadway stage. It don't float.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 4:58pm

Whizzer, you sold a pair of tickets.

I will HATE this; my mother will LOVE it.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 5:12pm

growl,

Make sure you pack a proper picnic basket for your mother before she heads over to the Lunt-Fontanne.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 5:15pm

Why?