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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Superb showmanship
off-sets mediocrity in ‘Motown’<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Cleveland Jewish
News<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
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class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This review will
appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">CJN </I>on
10/17/14<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It pretty much sums up “Motown: The
Musical,” currently on national tour and on stage at
PlayhouseSquare.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>“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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>The </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">story
begins at the end, in 1983, with a TV special celebrating the 25 years of
the Motown legacy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We then flashback to the evolution of
Motown Records, which is historically sound but spins at 33⅓ rpm and is written
with such saccharine prose, cotton candy superficiality and sugar coating that
it would give Ken Burns diabetes.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
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class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For
more of this review, go to:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN></P>
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href="http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_a2cceec6-4fcd-11e4-9ac7-2b6b66be185e.html">http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_a2cceec6-4fcd-11e4-9ac7-2b6b66be185e.html</A></SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>