Motown the Musical on GMA

[jobeterob]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/motown-musical-cast-preview-ready-dancing-streets-performance-18879821

[midnight johnny]

Rob....thanks so much for posting this!

[REDHOT]

LOVE IT,Thanks for sharing
Please stay positive

[Roberta75]

LOVE IT,Thanks for sharing
Please stay positive

I cant access it REDHOT what did they sing dear?

Roberta

[milven]

I cant access it REDHOT what did they sing dear?

Roberta

Roberta, you gotta watch it. It features your First Lady of Motown and her Vandellas singing outside in the streets of Times Square . Naturally, they were singing Dancing in the Street.

Maybe you'll have access to this link
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/gma-motown-musical-cast-bring-080000514.html

[Roberta75]

Roberta, you gotta watch it. It features your First Lady of Motown and her Vandellas singing outside in the streets of Times Square . Naturally, they were singing Dancing in the Street.

Maybe you'll have access to this link
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/gma-motown-musical-cast-bring-080000514.html

Wowee Milven they sound great and those gold dresses are fantastic. Thank you for the link dear. I truly apreciate it.

Fondly,

Roberta

[Methuselah2]

I'm hoping that the show will be well-received and prove to be a financial success. My concerns, from what I've seen up to and including this video, are with how the show is starting to seem conceived. Perhaps this number was just meant to be a fast-furious-knock-'em-dead promo. And for some, I would assume it did just that. But for me, it merely left me puzzled.

The performers here are all very talented. And they sure worked hard. And it shows--and, for me, that's the problem. What always grabbed me about Motown artists and their performances was how effortless they always made it seem--the singing always seemed to just flow from them, their dance routines always so smooth that it appeared on the same level as simply breathing. That's what got my attention about watching them perform. Those qualities made them very special, along with their remarkable music. Their performances were anything but typical but typical is what I saw in this video clip.

I'm voicing concerns simply on what I've seen so far which, admittedly, is miniscule. But I'm seeing the standard Broadway-Vegas treatment here, and I have to wonder if that's what the complete concept of the show is going to be. The excitement generated in this videoed number appears relentlessly added on. Excite to taste--the general public's, that is. For me, the excitement of Motown was the music itself, the craft and artistry that went into its production, and its remarkable and skilled artists/performers. That excitement all seemed to come from within what I heard and saw at the time. And it's what I was hoping to see now. It's what I hope will turn up in the actual show, too.

[LuvHangOva]

Meth, I had the same feeling when I watched the GMA performance. I tried to excuse the overly frenetic choreography this way: maybe it seemed that way because it's designed to be seen on a stage and not as "close up and in your face" as television or a movie would make it seem. I'm hoping it comes across differently when seen from a distance in the theatre.


I thought maybe the camera work might have made it even more pronounced ...all the zooming and quick cuts might have made it all seem more forced and artificial than it is in reality. The OTHER clips i've seen of the show ..made with a stationary camera in the theatre ..like in the clip from CBS This Morning didn't feel this way to me.


It could be that the issue was trying to capture something designed for one medium [[theatre) in a different medium [[television) doesn't work well unless adapted for the new medium. Even actors who are primarily theatrically trained have to learn how to
"tone down" their performance when they do the same role for the much more "intimate" movie or on television media. If they don't they come across as "too strong."

i've never been a fan of the exaggerated broadway-ish dancing style we see in this clip. If I remember correctly, the Motown 25 tv show had at least one dance number like this too.... I didn't like it on the real show either. Overall I liked the real Motown 25 because other aspects of the show made up for it.

[Methuselah2]

LHO - I think you've brought up several really good points that may have contributed to how the TV segment came off. I certainly hope you're right.

[Kamasu_Jr]

I think the main point is to sell tickets and get booties in the seats. Berry Gordy has done that with all the publicity the musical has generated before its official opening.

[revvy]

I totally get what everyone is saying. The main difference is that we were there during the Motown days and understand and embrace the "spirit" or the "feel", but most importantly the "soul" the emanated from our beloved Motown acts. The majority of the ticket buying public only cares about the music they're familiar with and the showstopping numbers and that's what they are promoting here.

[captainjames]

WOW !!!!!
That was not Martha and The Vandellas but it sure made we sit back and remember how the Vandellas were something else in their day. In fact it made me think of how good I felt with Motown back then. Yep, I think I will go see this.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

I am very excited about all the buzz Motown The Musical has generated and will fly out from the west coast to see it as some point. I have heard that already two songs have been dropped from the performance, "Fingertips," and a Smokey Robinson song [[not sure which one.) The show runs at 3 hours. For us true Motown fans, even that is not long enough, but this could be a concern to management not having audiences getting restless because of a long show.

If I wait for a "road production" to come to Vancouver, I could well be dead by that time. "DreamGirls" which I saw in Seattle in the late 80's is just now coming to Vancouver!

[jobeterob]

These are very good posts and points made by us the fans - Revvy, Meth, Mark, LuvHang.

I'm also not really keen on the dance numbers and that was the most boring part of Motown 25. But I do agree as well ~ they need to appeal to the public, young people and not us so much.

It will be very interesting to see what Motown people show up and when.

Does anybody remember the date for "Motowners" to show up ~ I know Ralph was invited and Dennis Coffey.

[skooldem1]

People have to keep in mind that this is not the Motortown Review. It is a marriage between Motown and Broadway. Berry is bringing Motown TO Broadway. It is a "broadway" show therefore it must have the elements of a broadway production. That clip on GMA was exciting. It was meant to get people dancing in the streets and in line to purchase tickets.

[jobeterob]

You are right.

I kind of wish they'd run one night of the Motortown Revue just once for us fans...........somewhere, maybe the Apollo, before everyone is gone.

[theboyfromxtown]

These are very good posts and points made by us the fans - Revvy, Meth, Mark, LuvHang.

I'm also not really keen on the dance numbers and that was the most boring part of Motown 25. But I do agree as well ~ they need to appeal to the public, young people and not us so much.

It will be very interesting to see what Motown people show up and when.

Does anybody remember the date for "Motowners" to show up ~ I know Ralph was invited and Dennis Coffey.

Tonight...5th April

[LuvHangOva]

Skol... I agree with you...a broadway musical has to have some standard broadway elements. I remember when I had the lead role in a non musical theatre production that was later being filmed for television we, the cast were told to remember that our huge gestures, body language and facial expressions would have to be toned down so as not to be overwhelming to the tv audience. Kinda the same concept as when Maxine Powell and others told Diana Ross to stop rolling and popping her eyes in early Supremes performances....could work when seen from the balcony of the Fox Theatre but not so much in a tight close up on the Ed Sullivan TV show when her face was taking up the whole screen.That's what I noticed on GMA... What we saw on TV will I'm sure be 1000% awesome when seen from a real theatre seat. I'm equally
sure the show will be a hit... I have nothing but love and admiration for Motown and what it has inspired in me. There is no way I will miss this show on Broadway.

Here's a link to a different performance of what we saw on GMA.
Even though the choreography is not finished and the cast is not in costume, this earlier clip of the same medley worked better for me... I think it's because it's shot from the audience rather than having the camera " onstage" with the cast. This clip gave me goosebumps when I first saw it months ago.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSnlKgPSu4

[jobeterob]

I wonder if there will be any reports on this special night for the Motowners that will be there.

John, will the Velvelettes give you the scoop?

I wonder if there will be news reports or maybe Mrs. Coffey will give us a report.

This would be special for us fans to attend.

In his young years, Randy would have gone; I wonder if he'll try and attend anyway.

[ralpht]

I know Harry Balk is going to attend. He told me out of respect for Berry.

[jobeterob]

I know Harry Balk is going to attend. He told me out of respect for Berry.

Have you heard anything from anyone who attended Ralph?