[NEohioPAL] Review of "Motown: The Musical" at PlayhouseSquare

Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL neohiopal at lists.neohiopal.org
Thu Oct 9 09:17:43 PDT 2014


Superb showmanship off-sets mediocrity in 'Motown'

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the CJN on 10/17/14

 

"Ain't no mountain high enough; ain't no valley low enough" is more than just a lyric from Diana Ross' hit single for the Motown Records label.  It pretty much sums up "Motown: The Musical," currently on national tour and on stage at PlayhouseSquare.

 

"Motown: The Musical" tells the tale of Berry Gordy's founding and governance of Motown Records in the late-1950s and his discovery and development of legendary black artists - including Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and The Jackson 5 - during the 1960s and 1970s.

 

It is a tale written by Gordy himself, who may have a superb eye and ear for the talent of others but is short-sighted and tone deaf when it comes to his own capabilities as a playwright.   

 

The story begins at the end, in 1983, with a TV special celebrating the 25 years of the Motown legacy.  Gordy is found brooding in his Los Angeles home, vowing not to attend a reunion with unfaithful artists who were lured away from Motown by more lucrative offers.  We then flashback to the evolution of Motown Records, which is historically sound but spins at 33? rpm and is written with such saccharine prose, cotton candy superficiality and sugar coating that it would give Ken Burns diabetes.  

 

For more of this review, go to:  



http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_a2cceec6-4fcd-11e4-9ac7-2b6b66be185e.html
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