Motown the Musical

We saw Motown the Musical yesterday at Playhouse Square.  Huge autobiographical musical about the creation of Motown Records in Detroit by Berry Gordy and the stars he helped create.   It features 66 songs used in part or whole throughout the piece.  It shows the roots of Smokey Robinson, the Jackson 5, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops and many more.   I grew up listening to these tunes as oldies thanks to my mom.

The opening to the musical is great.  It starts at the 25th anniversary of Motown Records with all the stars coming back to celebrate.  However, it is soon pointed out that they left the company and the protagonist, Berry Gordy feels quite betrayed.  The show then goes back to the beginning and the founding of the company and the rise of the stars.

The music was extremely enjoyable.   I particularly liked how they used "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" to underscore changes happening in the company.

The celebrities are portrayed extremely accurately.   Especially Diana Ross and little Michael Jackson.  The love story in the show is the tumultuous relationship between Ross and Gordy.

The pacing of the show was a tad uneven.   The opening was great, but the endings of both acts were pretty weak.   Usually at the end of a jukebox musical, there is some kind of rapid fire review of all the best loved hits.   Motown didn't have such a thing at the end the way that Mama Mia and Jersey Boys did.   You will probably love this show if you have fond memories of Motown music.   I enjoyed it despite its flaws.