• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Early Retirement Rocks

Seeing life from a new perspective. The best job I ever had!

  • Home
  • Contact
  • About Me/Work With Me

March 26, 2019

Review Motown the Musical – Manchester Opera House

Caption Review Motown the Musical

Motown the Musical is much more than a showcase for its music it’s also a lesson in American musical history.

I saw this production at Manchester Opera house during the recent UK tour. It has enjoyed a successful spell in London.

I was fortunate to win these tickets and wasn’t sure whether I really fancied the show. Don’t get me wrong I love a trip to the theatre and Motown music formed the backdrop to my teenage and school years. I usually research shows I go to see but in this case I hadn’t.

logo for theatre show Motown the Musical

Motown the Musical

With just $800 borrowed from his family, Berry Gordy founded Motown records and launched the careers of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and many more. Motown the Musical brings this story to life and follows the record label through the decades up to the point of the 25th Anniversary celebration.

The show starts at the end e.g. the day of the 25th Anniversary party where Berry Gordy feels disillusioned and rejected by many of his artists. The initial dialogue is with him and his life long friend and brother in law Smokey Robinson. From this scene the show follows the story back in time from the start of Gordy’s story.

The initial music depicts The Temptations and The Four Tops tip toeing around each other in competition singing their collective songs. The vocals and choreographed moves that were the ‘norm’ of the time are on display. So slick and suave with sharp shiny suits. The original boybands! I love watching these old acts on Youtube and I felt really nostalgic seeing them portrayed on the stage.

Image The Temptations

I was hooked from this first scene – singing along, proud that I remembered all the words! The show continues at a fast pace with so many memorable songs 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 show continues to flow through the years, Smokey Robinson an ever present. It portrays the relationship between the iconic songwriting team of Holland Dozier and Holland responsible for so many hits.

There is a portrayal of so many stars we have known and love from The Supremes featuring Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson Five.

I’ve read many stories of Diana Ross being a Diva and this is how she is portrayed throughout the show. She had a long standing relationship with Gordy but ultimately leaves him and his label after being offered more money by RCA records. In this production Miss Ross was played by Karis Anderson of the band Stooshe. She plays her well although I thought her voice mimicked Ross’s best at the lowest softest notes. The wardrobe worn by her and the Supremes was amazing – oh to be 20 years younger and 6 sizes smaller!

Image of actress playing Diana Ross

Karis Anderson as Diana Ross

But to me Edward Baruwa playing Berry Gordy who has the stand out voice – my favourite black singer of all time is Teddy Pendergrass and Baruwa has the closest voice to his I have heard.

 

image Edward Baruwa as Berry Gordy Motown the Musical

 Edward Baruwa as Berry Gordy

I have to give a special mention to the young actor who played Michael Jackson in his early days. Yami is a local Manchester lad who got the role after attending open auditions – he was so like the real thing! His vocals and movements were great to see.

What I really liked about the show was that the History of black people and civil rights ran as a backdrop throughout the story. Events portrayed included the assassinations of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King through to the Black Power movement, strongly supported by Marvin Gaye.

I attended a Monday night show and I don’t think it was the liveliest of audience. The cast encourages the audience to join in with songs and the final seat has the audience on its feet. I suspect on a livelier night the audience could be dancing in the aisles.

The music of Motown has now been around for 60 years and is definitely here to stay!

Evaluation

Motown the Musical tells the thrilling tale of the man who broke barriers, fought against the odds to create something more than a record label. Discover the story behind Motown, the personal relationships, the professional struggles, and – of course – the music that made history, defined the sound of a generation and got the whole world moving to the same beat.

Motown the Musical continues to tour around the UK after leaving Manchester and I highly recommend it if you are a music fan.

Any trip to the theatre is turned into a special occasion with a pre show dinner. The Ivy Manchester is virtually next door to The Opera House, a fabulous venue that I reviewed in February.

Thanks for reading

Signature

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
I'd love for you to share my post if you liked it!
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kmf says

    April 3, 2019 at 7:36 pm

    One of my favorite musicals! Saw it on Broadway

    Reply
    • earlyretirementrocks says

      April 11, 2019 at 2:36 pm

      Wow! I love a Broadway show. I saw Tipsy on Broadway & was in tears as my mum would have loved to have seen a show there!

      Reply
    • earlyretirementrocks says

      April 11, 2019 at 2:37 pm

      I meant Gipsy- predictive text problems…..sorry

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

 

 

I’m Elaine a Neonatal Nurse who retired from the NHS at age 55. I’m loving the 3rd age of my life – Retirement is the best job I ever had. Being married for 35 years I am lucky to have someone to share life with.

I’m a foodie who enjoys travel, football and my home.

I love to share over 50’s lifestyle tips including age appropriate beauty reviews, coping with the trials and tribulations of the Menopause, weight gain around the middle, fashion, travel and food including recipes and restaurant reviews.

I want to challenge the myth that life ends at retirement.

Feel free to get in touch earlyretirementrocks@gmail.com

Seeing life from a new perspective and loving it

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Moving House – My 14 Tips for survival and sanity
  • UK Staycation inspiration
  • Product Review – Serious Readers Alex Light is it worth it?
  • Growing Tomatos – tips to ripen green tomato’s
  • Hotel Gotham Manchester a stylish venue

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Footer

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

My Favorites

Tips for moving house
UK Staycation wishlist blog post
Title caption product review
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright© 2021 · Brunch Pro Theme by Feast Design Co.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.