Motown the Musical proves exhilarating

Valisia LeKae and Brandon Victor Dixon
in the Broadway production of Motown the Musical. Picture: Joan Marcus

Opened April 14 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run.

“You built a legacy of love,” Smokey Robinson tells Berry Gordy, as Motown the Musical, heads toward its big finish. The show recounts the life of Gordy, the celebrated founder and force behind the Motown record company, which broke through seemingly impenetrable racial barriers in the music industry and society to change the sound of American popular music. And judging by audience reaction at the performance reviewed, Robinson is right.

Of course, you have to take into consideration that Gordy himself, now in his eighties, wrote the book for this show, based on his 1994 autobiography, To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown. He’s also one of the show’s three producers. But if this is indeed one lavish self-congratulation, so what? It’s a terrifically exciting night at a Broadway theatre, a crafty mélange of pulsating songs from – as the playbill puts it – ‘The Legendary Motown Catalog’. The programme lists more than 50 numbers. Some of them are just snippets, and sometimes you can’t tell when one song ends and another begins, but the effect is exhilarating.

There are also a few songs Gordy co-wrote for Motown the Musical. And with the score, you get an interesting if somewhat surface airing of Gordy’s personal life, and a look into the challenges of running an independent record company against the upheavals of American life and culture, especially during the tumultuous 1960s. It was a company that developed its own sound and performers, taking raw talents from the streets of Detroit and transforming them into international stars, including Diana Ross and The Supremes, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Robinson. And they’re all depicted here with affection and verve.

The narrative begins in 1983, when Gordy is again considering selling Motown (as he eventually did). The company is foundering, as record companies owned by conglomerates have lured away his stars with big dollars. But now those stars have gathered in Los Angeles for a show celebrating Motown’s 25th anniversary. As Gordy debates whether he’ll make an appearance, he reflects on his life in flashback. The love affair between Ross and Gordy – with the clash of professional and personal interests – is one of the script‘s main threads.

Motown the Musical is formulaic, yes, but under Charles Randolph-Wright’s direction, it’s all enormously entertaining, as the various impersonated names take stage in spectacular costumes by Esosa, moving to the energised choreography by Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams, surrounded by David Korins’ smoothly shifting, eye candy sets under Natasha Katz’s lighting, outdoing Technicolor.

And then there’s the extraordinary cast. Brandon Victor Dixon makes a properly heroic Gordy, but gives him a human dimension as well, and Valisia LeKae exudes endless glamour and vivacity as Ross. Charl Brown is an extremely likeable Smokey Robinson, and Bryan Terrell Clark brings interesting depth to Marvin Gaye. Two youngsters alternate as the young Michael Jackson, and at the performance caught, Raymond Luke Jr was simply dynamic. But the whole ensemble of more than 30 performers, seamlessly taking on multiple roles, sing and dance their hearts out for this show. Gordy should be proud.

Ron Cohen