Much has been made of how “Motown the Musical” crams more than 50 R&B, soul and rock classics into a single two-and-a-half-hour show. But that’s just the half of it. The show also encapsulates a half-century of musical history. The show’s supporting characters are a cavalcade of pop celebrities, most of whom could easily support a full-length musical of their own.
“Motown the Musical” visits The Bushnell March 22 through 27. The same troupe that’s in Hartford this week will bring “Motown” back to Broadway for an 18-week run that starts in July. The show’s initial Broadway run was from the spring of 2013 until January 2015.
When you take on a topic as grand as Berry Gordy and the Motown record label and the subsequent multi-media empire he founded, you have an endless amount of material to work with.
“There are so many great songs, if we did them all in their entirety, we would be there for days,” says Darryl Archibald, the music director for the national tour. “Because the catalog is so vast, it’s kind of hard to do complete performances of everything.”
Besides, “Motown” also has a story to tell, about the struggles and triumphs of Gordy as he formed his legendary record label. The show opens at a 1983 party marking the label’s 25th anniversary, leading to a series of flashbacks about how Gordy met and groomed some of the greatest popular music acts of the century, among them Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5, Lionel Richie and The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Martha and the Vandellas.
“This show is trying to give you a chronology, a synopsis of Motown and its history,” said Archibald, whose job is to keep the music fluid, briskly paced, emotionally in sync with the show’s dramatic content, and true to all those unforgettable pop hits that fueled the Motown legend.
In terms of energy and excitement, the band gets a lot of help from the audience.
“People are singing along, swaying, dancing and clapping throughout this show,” Archibald marvels. “They can’t help themselves.”
Archibald’s been with the show since the tour began two years ago. As with most touring musicals, “Motown” travels with a core crew of musicians, then adds “pick-up musicians” from the cities where the show plays. “As we go into each city,” Archibald says, “we pick up 10 to 15 orchestra members. We rehearse for four hours, have a couple of sound checks, and then do the show. It makes it easier that everybody knows pretty much every song.”
The music director regularly hears stories about the pick-up players having performed with some of the very artists that are portrayed in “Motown the Musical.”
“You have got to be able to play in so many different styles,” the music director says, a reminder that “Motown” begins with early ’60s hits such as “Reet Petite” (which Gordy co-wrote for Jackie Wilson in 1957) and “Shop Around” and stretches into the disco era and the unique funk sound of Rick James’ “Super Freak.” In between are such hallowed numbers as “My Girl,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “I Want You Back, “What’s Going On” and “War.”
“Motown” also includes some relative obscurities from the Motown catalog, such as Diana Ross’ rendition of Billie Holiday’s “Good Morning Heartache,” from the Gordy-produced biopic “Lady Sings the Blues.” Archibald deems that number one of his favorite musical arrangements in the whole show.
The idea of an actress (Allison Semmes, who’s been with the tour since 2014) playing Diana Ross playing Billie Holiday raises the topic of how “Motown” deals with the issue of portraying such iconic artists. According to Archibald, “You want to get the essence of the performer. In terms of how much they look alike, it’s close. But you don’t want to go to the ‘Legends in Concert’ Las Vegas-style impersonations level. That’s not what this show does. It’s the same with the vocals: You find the essence, so that the audience can go along for the ride.”
Besides the dozens of hit songs in the shows — many of which get rolled into medleys — there are also several original songs that were written expressly for the show by Gordy and Michael Lovesmith. These tunes help to “move along the plot,” Archibald says. In the music director’s estimation, those original tunes, the show’s strong plot (drawn from Gordy’s 1994 memoir “To Be Loved”), a sense of historical context, and the deep involvement of Gordy himself —”he was visiting the show up until a few cities ago, still tweaking things”— all elevate “Motown” into a deep, rich, full-bodied exploration of “what made Motown what it is.”
“Mr. Gordy wants people to get an idea of how it all began,” Archibald said. “People have called this a jukebox musical, but it doesn’t really fit into that mold.”
Motown never did fit any mold. Why start now?
“MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL” is at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford, from March 22 through 27. Performances are Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.50 to $121.50. Information: 860-987-5900, bushnell.org.
