With a successful run in the West End, Motown the Musical has now hit the road with a year-long tour with the latest stop being The Theatre Royal in Nottingham,
Based on the book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, The musical takes us from Gordy’s childhood where he dreams of making a difference, through the foundation of Motown with an $800 loan into the finding and nurturing of the stars such as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and The Temptations, and then onto the decline of the label as those same stars were snapped up by companies with bigger budgets, The Motown label produced more than 525 albums, and collectively its artists achieved more than 57 No 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts.
This is the next chapter in Motown’s incredible history and is an experience you’ll never forget. Featuring over 50 classic hits including My Girl, What’s Going On, Dancing in the Street, I Heard It Through The Grapevine and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
The production as a whole looked fantastic even reliving news and politics in which JFK and Martin Luther King was featured, this Detroit-based record label that emerged in the 1950s and made a succession of black solo artists and singing groups into global superstars.
A huge mention must be made to the crew and the cast of Motown the Musical which was superb, Edward Baruwa & Karis Anderson have so much on stage chemistry you could be forgiven for thinking they we’re the real Gordy and Diana, however Nathan Lewis (X Factor finalist in 2016) who plays Smokey Robinson was unforgettable, this cast had the audience singing and dancing throughout, actually they we’re still dancing on the way out of the theatre.
This is an absolute must see, there is no mountain high enough or river wide enough to keep you from seeing this wonderful production!!
The show runs at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal until Saturday 4th of May. Visit www.trch.co.uk for tickets.