In 1983 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium recording stars are gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Motown Records. In a flashback, in Detroit, Michigan the young Berry Gordy watches the neighbors dancing. In 1957, the adult Berry forms his own record label, and begins to make lifelong friends with recording artists/singers such as Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson. Berry discovers the Supremes and Diana Ross, among many others.
The recording stars sing their popular numbers, including Ross performing " 'I Hear a Symphony,' 'You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You' and 'You're All I Need to Get By,'.... Stevie Wonder, The Supremes ('Buttered Popcorn' 'Where Did Our Love Go'), The Miracles ('Shop Around') The Marvelettes ('Please Mr. Postman'), Mary Wells and The Temptations ('Bye Bye Baby'/'Two Lovers Medley'), Martha and the Vandellas ('Dancing in the Street'), The Contours ('Do You Love Me'),... and The Jackson 5.
Motown: The Musical premiered on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 14, 2013, after previews starting on March 11. Direction is by Charles Randolph-Wright, with choreography by Patricia Wilcox, scenic design by David Korins, costumes by ESosa, lighting by Natasha Katz, sound design by Peter Hylenski, and projection design by Daniel Brodie. The current cast includes Brandon Victor Dixon, Krystal Joy Brown (Diana Ross), Raymond Luke Jr. and Prince George Maynard as the young Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Berry Gordy, Bryan Terrell Clark (Marvin Gaye) and Charl Brown (Smokey Robinson).
A national tour began in April 2014.
The musical finished its original Broadway run on January 18, 2015, closing after 37 previews and 738 regular performances.
A return to Broadway is planned for July 2016, according to the producer Kevin McCollum.
After speculation that a London production would be staged in the Dominion Theatre after the refurbishment of the theatre after the closing of We Will Rock You, an eventual West End production was announced for the Shaftesbury Theatre to begin on 11 February 2016 and ending on 22 October 2016.
The musical contains a total of 66 songs. This song list is not the order of the songs in the production:
"ABC" (music by Alphonso J. Mizell, Freddie Perren, Berry Gordy Jr. and Deke Richards; lyrics by Mizell, Perren, Gordy and Richards)
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (music by Valerie Simpson, lyrics by Nickolas Ashford)
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (music by Norman J. Whitfield; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"All Night Long (All Night)" (music by Lionel Richie; lyrics by Richie)
"Baby I Need Your Loving" (music by Brian Holland and Herbert Lamont Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" (music by Whitfield; lyrics by Barrett Strong)
"A Breathtaking Guy" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
"Brick House" (music by Richie, Ronald Lapread, Walter Orange, Milan Williams, Thomas McClary and William King; lyrics by Richie, Lapread, Orange, Williams, McClary and King)
"Buttered Popcorn" (music by Gordy and Barney Ales; lyrics by Gordy and Ales)
"Bye Bye Baby" (music by Mary Wells; lyrics by Wells)
"Can I Close the Door" (music by Gordy and Michael Lovesmith; lyrics by Gordy and Lovesmith)
"Come See About Me" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Cruisin'" (music by William Robinson and Marvin Tarplin; lyrics by W. Robinson)
"Dancing in the Street" (music by Marvin Gaye, Ivy Jo Hunter and William Stevenson; lyrics by Gaye, Hunter and Stevenson)
"Do You Love Me" (music by Gordy; lyrics by Gordy)
"Fingertips, Part 2" (music by Clarence O. Paul and Henry Cosby; lyrics by Paul and Cosby)
"For Once in My Life" (music by Orlando Murden and Ronald Miller; lyrics by Murden and Miller)
"Get Ready" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
"Give It to Me Baby" (music by Rick James; lyrics by James)
"Good Morning Heartache" (music by Ervin M. Drake, Dan Fisher and Irene Higginbotham; lyrics by Drake, Fisher and Higginbotham)
"Got a Job" (music by Smokey Robinson, Gordy and Tyran Carlo; lyrics by Robinson, Gordy and Carlo)
"Hail to the Beat" (music by Gordy and Lovesmith; lyrics by Gordy and Lovesmith)
"The Happening" (music by Dozier, Brian Holland and Frank De Vol; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Happy Birthday" (music by Stevie Wonder; lyrics by Wonder)
"Hey Joe (Black Like Me)" (music by Gordy and Lovesmith; lyrics by Gordy and Lovesmith)
"How High the Moon" (music by Morgan Lewis; lyrics by Nancy Hamilton)
"I Can't Get Next to You" (music by Whitfield; lyrics by Strong)
"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"I Got a Feeling" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"I Hear a Symphony" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (music by Whitfield; lyrics by Strong)
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" (music by Whitfield and Cornelius Grant; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"I Want You Back" (music by Perren, Mizell, Gordy and Richards; lyrics by Perren, Mizell, Gordy and Richards)
"I'll Be There" (music by Hal Davis, Gordy, Bob West and Willie Hutch; lyrics by Davis, Gordy, West and Hutch)
"It's What's in the Grooves That Counts" (music by Gordy and Lovesmith; lyrics by Gordy and Lovesmith)
"Lonely Teardrops" (music by Gordy, Gwendolyn Gordy Fuqua and Carlo; lyrics by Gordy, Fuqua and Carlo)
"Love Child" (music by R. Dean Taylor, Frank Wilson, Joan Pamela Sawyer and Richards; lyrics by Taylor, Wilson, Sawyer and Richards)
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"The Love You Save" (music by Perren, Mizell, Gordy and Richards; lyrics by Perren, Mizell, Gordy and Richards)
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (music by Gaye; lyrics by Gaye)
"My Girl" (music by Ronald White and Smokey Robinson; lyrics by White and Robinson)
"My Guy" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
"My Mama Done Told Me" (music by Smokey Robinson, Gordy and Carlo; lyrics by Robinson, Gordy and Carlo)
"Please Mr. Postman" (music by William Garrett, Georgia Dobbins, Brian Holland, Freddie Gorman and Robert Bateman; lyrics by Garrett, Dobbins, Brian Holland, Gorman and Bateman)
"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (music by Simpson; lyrics by Ashford)
"Reach Out I'll Be There" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Reet Petite" (music by Gordy and Carlo; lyrics by Gordy and Carlo)
"Remember Me" (music by Simpson; lyrics by Ashford)
"Shop Around" (music by Smokey Robinson and Gordy; lyrics by Robinson and Gordy)
"Shotgun" (music and lyrics by Junior Walker (Autry Dewalt))
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (music by Wonder, Syreeta Wright, Lee Garrett and Lula Mae Hardaway; lyrics by Wonder, Wright, Garrett and Hardaway)
"Square Biz" (music by Mary C. Brockert and Allen Henry McGrier; lyrics by Brockert and McGrier)
"Stop! In the Name of Love" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow" (music by Gaye, George Gordy and Stevenson; lyrics by Gaye, Gordy and Stevenson)
"Super Freak" (music by James and Alonzo Miller; lyrics by James and Miller)
"The Tears of a Clown" (music by Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Cosby; lyrics by Robinson)
"To Be Loved" (music by Gordy, Fuqua and Carlo; lyrics by Gordy, Fuqua and Carlo)
"Two Lovers" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
"War" (music by Whitfield; lyrics by Strong)
"What's Going On" (music by Renaldo Benson, Alfred W. Cleveland and Gaye; lyrics by Benson, Cleveland and Gaye)
"Where Did Our Love Go" (music by Brian Holland and Dozier; lyrics by Edward Holland, Jr.)
"Who's Lovin' You" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
"You Are You" (music by Gordy; lyrics by Gordy)
"You're All I Need to Get By" (music by Simpson; lyrics by Ashford)
"You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" (music by James Cavanaugh, Russ Morgan and Larry Stock; lyrics by Cavanaugh, Morgan and Stock)
"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (music by Smokey Robinson; lyrics by Robinson)
Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Motown: The Musical
Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Motown: The Musical
Motown: The Musical received four Tony Award nominations at the 67th edition.
Version 1
Motown: The Musical (2016-02-Shaftesbury Theatre-London)
Type de série: Original LondonThéâtre: Shaftesbury Theatre (Londres - Angleterre) Durée : 3 ans 1 mois 1 semaine Nombre : Première Preview : 11 February 2016
Première: 08 March 2016
Dernière: 20 April 2019Mise en scène : Charles Randolph-Wright • Chorégraphie : Patricia Wilcox • Warren Adams • Producteur : Star(s) : Avec: Cedric Neal (Berry Gordy), Lucy St. Louis (Diana Ross), Charl Brown (Smokey Robinson), Sifiso Mazibuko (Marvin Gaye), Keisha Amponsa Banson (Mary Wells), Cindy Belliot (Anna Gordy), Samuel Edwards (Jackie Wilson), Tanya Nicole Edwards (Florence Ballard), Portia Harry (Teena Marie), Aisha Jawando (Martha Reeves), Joshua Liburd (Eddie Kendricks), Simeon Montague (Jermaine Jackson), Cleopatra Rey (Gladys Knight), Brandon Lee Sears (Tito Jackson), Jordan Shaw (Stevie Wonder), Cherelle Williams (Mary Wilson), Jay Bryce, Daniel Bailey, Edward Baruwa, Eddie Elliott, Christopher Fry, Alex Hammond, Edward Handoll, Simon Ray Harvey, Elias Hendricks, Brian James Leys, Jayde Nelson, Kieran McGinn, Simone Mistry Palmer, Carl Spencer and Marcel J WhytePresse : Les critiques sont bonnes:
"It is clear that the ego has landed. But, eager as I am as the next person to learn more about the Motown mogul, I was disappointed at how little I discovered." Michael Billington for The Guardian
"The show moves beyond being a welcome nostalgia fest and becomes an urgent rallying cry for us all to rediscover our Motown mojo." Dominic Cavendish The Telegraph
"This show is always enjoyable, if not always the transcendent hit you long for it to be." Dominic Maxwell for The Times
"The first half is a mess - too many songs, several little more than abbreviated verses, and a comically bad script." Quentin Letts for The Daily Mail
Version 2
Motown: The Musical (2016-07-Nederlander Theatre-Broadway)
Type de série: Return EngagementThéâtre: Nederlander Theatre (Broadway - Etats-Unis) Durée : 2 semaines Nombre : 24 représentationsPremière Preview : 12 July 2016
Première: 12 July 2016
Dernière: 31 July 2016Mise en scène : Charles Randolph-Wright • Chorégraphie : Patricia Wilcox • Warren Adams • Producteur : Star(s) : Avec: Chester Gregory (Berry Gordy), Allison Semmes (Diana Ross), Jesse Nager (Smokey Robinson), Jarran Muse (Marvin Gaye), and J.J. Batteast / Leon Outlaw, Jr. (Young Berry Gordy/Stevie Wonder/Michael Jackson)Commentaires : DID YOU KNOW?
Berry Gordy nearly turned down the Jackson Five, because he didn't want to work with kids. It was Gladys Knight who eventually pursuaded him to sign them, a year later!Presse : "Under Charles Randolph-Wright’s direction, it remains what it was: a sparkling and enjoyable, if lumpy, journey through 25 years of Motown history. It’s just that the climax of the first act, and the opening minutes of the second, give the show a jolt of emotional currency that contrasts strikingly with its nostalgic spirit." Charles Isherwood for New York Times
"Like the legendary music catalog from Motown, the revival that re-opened Thursday night at the Nederlander Theatre is alternately catchy and soulful, and overstuffed with memorable melodies." Jennifer Farrar for The Associated Press
"The hits just keep on coming in this formulaic but audience-pleasing show." Frank Scheck for The Hollywood Reporter
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