NEW YORK — Motown’s memory lane wound its
way up the red carpet and into Broadway history Sunday night.
On an evening that testified to the
enduring magic of the Detroit-born legacy, an A-list crowd that included Diana
Ross, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Sting gathered for the opening
of “Motown: The Musical,” as the show vies to become the next Broadway smash.
“This is exciting, huh?” Ross said as she
greeted friends on her way into the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. By intermission, she
was dabbing away tears and exchanging hugs with Motown founder and former flame
Berry Gordy Jr. after watching their young lives together unfold onstage.
Sunday’s celebrity audience watched a
feel-good show that’s brisk and vivacious, with dozens of whirling, twirling
musical numbers to punctuate the tale of Motown Records at the hands of Gordy. Gordy, who wrote and produced the musical,
was a focal point out on the red carpet outside the Lunt-Fontanne, festooned in
Motown gold.
But on a night that drew figures from Jane Fonda to Red Foo to
Kathie Lee Gifford, it was Ross who by far drew the biggest screams from the hundreds
of fans gathered across 46th Street. Her former Supremes compatriot Mary Wilson
had made her way down the red carpet 20 minutes earlier, voicing her support
for Gordy’s Broadway debut — “one of those things where dreams do come true. There are a lot of different sides to a
story,” said Wilson. “I’m glad Berry finally got a chance to tell his.”
Straight and safe, “Motown” probably won’t
be transforming the dramatic arts. But the show’s three hours offer proud and
poignant moments for anyone with an emotional investment in Motown and Detroit
history. “Magnifico,” Spike Lee said at
intermission.“So much fun,” said Sting. “You can’t fail
with that music.”
For a Sunday audience that included many of
the figures being portrayed onstage, it was often a deeply moving experience. Motown producer-songwriter Eddie Holland
got teary eyed while “reliving the emotions of the greatest experience of my
life.It depicts the spirit of the company, the
struggles, the camaraderie,” he said. “It relived something that was almost
unimaginable to have happened in the first place.”
Pegged as a hit
Three years after the label notched its
50th anniversary, the show is a test of the Motown brand — and a chance to
refuel the label’s mythology in a grand new setting. While critics’ reviews this week will set
the show’s reputation in the theater world, consensus among Broadway watchers
is that “Motown” is on track to be a hit. Producers and investors are banking
millions that the show will become a long-running hit at the Lunt-Fontanne,
just around the corner from Times Square.
The story opens at rehearsals for 1983’s
“Motown 25” television special in L.A., as Gordy wrestles with the prospect of
selling the company and “turning back on a dream.” From there Detroit is the main setting as
the musical flashes back to trace Gordy’s rise amid doubters and civil rights
struggles, as Motown and its homegrown stars become the face of black crossover
pop.
Much of the story’s drama derives from
Gordy’s battles with the strong women in his life: his sister Esther Edwards,
business partner Suzanne de Passe and — most important — Ross. Gordy’s
mentorship and romance with the Supremes star becomes the show’s pivotal
undercurrent. Brandon Victor Dixon is solid as an
approachable, sympathetic Gordy, while
Valisia LeKae makes for a dynamic Ross,
who grows from coy schoolgirl to powerful diva over the story’s 25-year
timeline.
As you’d expect — and hope — the musical
numbers are the big highlight, a rat-a-tat-tat run through 55 Motown hits.
Sunday’s crowd had boisterous applause for ebullient ensemble numbers such as
“Dancing in the Street” and the entrance of a boyhood Michael Jackson, played
charmingly by young Raymond Luke Jr. The show taps many of the best-known
touchstones from Motown lore: The $800 Gordy family loan. The barrier-breaking
Motortown Revues. The freewheeling quality-control meetings where records got
green-lighted or nixed. For many Detroiters, details such as the
Flame Show Bar and disc jockey
Tom Clay will prompt knowing nods.
While not every Motown act gets lengthy
face time — the show whisks through folks such as the Marvelettes and Martha
Reeves — some behind-the-scenes figures become prominent, colorful characters,
including talent chief Mickey Stevenson, artist manager Shelley Berger and
sales head Barney Ales.The show might get picked over by Motown
zealots on one front and theater purists on another: For the former, there may
be too much Gordy; for the latter, too little story. But with its uplifting energy and barrage
of familiar tunes, “Motown” seems designed for a sweet spot that will appeal to
tourists and everyday theatergoers craving a shot of nostalgic entertainment. Show officials are already trumpeting big
stats: Every performance sold out during the four-week preview run leading into
Sunday night, tallying more than $1 million each week — a first for a show
starting cold on Broadway.
Before the stars moved to the Roseland
Ballroom for an after-party, a lengthy curtain call closed the show as one by
one, Motown stars headed onto the stage to join the cast. First was a grinning Gordy, followed by
Ross, who made a beeline for actress LeKae and enveloped her in an adoring hug
— perhaps the biggest endorsement a diva can dole out. It was their first
meeting. The crowd was soon joined by Smokey
Robinson, then Stevie Wonder, then Mary Wilson — who pasted a kiss with her
fingertips on Ross’s cheek.
Before the guests and cast sang out the
night with “Dancing in the Street,” Gordy offered a final thought about his
triumphant night: “All I want to do is thank you for sharing
my dream.”
UPDATE:
A 25 minute video (including Miss Ross) can be seen
here
