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  1. #201
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    I said it before and I'll say it again; they should have created a musical using the Motown catalog but with an original, unique story completely unrelated to Motown's history or its artists. It would have given them, essentially, free reign to develop characters and a story without having to worry about getting sued for portrayals of certain people and telling a false history.

    It appears from photos we've seen that the show will cover a 25-30 year timeline. A hell of a lot happened in that time and to squeeze things into a two hour show is not going to work. Many things will be completely left out or glossed over and some of those things may be significant to the story. As JillFoster posted above, it's a puff piece which doesn't make good theatre. If Berry wanted this to be about his relationship with Diana then the focus should be completely on that story. No need to create roles for Mary Wells, the Temptations, Stevie, Marvin, etc in that particular story. I haven't seen the rehearsals nor do I know what's going on in its development. These are merely suggestions. Personally, I feel if they want this to work then the timeline should be shorten to only the Detroit years [[1959-1972) and focus in on how the company broke down racial barriers with an incredibly unique sound. Completely cut out the Berry/Diana relationship story. Narrow on what Berry did to make his company a success in the golden years. Motown was already a success by the time of the move out to LA, so that whole part of the story doesn't need to be told in the musical.

    We'll see how it turns out. I hope for its success, but if it fails then we'll know where the problem was hiding.
    Last edited by bradsupremes; 02-07-2013 at 02:28 AM.

  2. #202
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    Quote Originally Posted by bradsupremes View Post
    I said it before and I'll say it again; they should have created a musical using the Motown catalog but with an original, unique story completely unrelated to Motown's history or its artists. It would have given them, essentially, free reign to develop characters and a story without having to worry about getting sued for portrayals of certain people and telling a false history.

    It appears from photos we've seen that the show will cover a 25-30 year timeline. A hell of a lot happened in that time and to squeeze things into a two hour show is not going to work. Many things will be completely left out or glossed over and some of those things may be significant to the story. As JillFoster posted above, it's a puff piece which doesn't make good theatre. If Berry wanted this to be about his relationship with Diana then the focus should be completely on that story. No need to create roles for Mary Wells, the Temptations, Stevie, Marvin, etc in that particular story. I haven't seen the rehearsals nor do I know what's going on in its development. These are merely suggestions. Personally, I feel if they want this to work then the timeline should be shorten to only the Detroit years [[1959-1972) and focus in on how the company broke down racial barriers with an incredibly unique sound. Completely cut out the Berry/Diana relationship story. Narrow on what Berry did to make his company a success in the golden years. Motown was already a success by the time of the move out to LA, so that whole part of the story doesn't need to be told in the musical.

    We'll see how it turns out. I hope for its success, but if it fails then we'll know where the problem was hiding.
    And what you suggest makes sense as well, because Berry's and Diana's relationship ended right before the move to LA....... of course, Many Ross fans would be angry as hell if they end the play before Diana has her biggest success in a solo career.

  3. #203
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    A lot of speculation going on. The musical hasn't even been previewed yet. I suspect many want this to fail. It is par for the course for there to be script revisions for a new play. Usually the play has a short run out of town to work out the kinks.

  4. #204
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    What a shame if insiders and fans would like to see something like this fail. If it does, it's a loss to us all; it will mean no bump in royalties, bookings, publicity. I can't see how a real fan would want such a thing.

  5. #205
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    Got my tix for a show in May and I can't wait!

  6. #206
    smark21 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by skooldem1 View Post
    A lot of speculation going on. The musical hasn't even been previewed yet. I suspect many want this to fail. It is par for the course for there to be script revisions for a new play. Usually the play has a short run out of town to work out the kinks.
    Actually in recent years, Broadway shows don’t go out of town to preview and work out kinks. Previews take place right on Broadway. In 2011 the show Spiderman got flack for constantly extending its preview run as the show had a huge host of problems with script and staging of action scenes where performers were getting injured. Critics got so frustrated that they violated an unwritten rule and wrote reviews as they were getting fed up that the show was not officially opening. I doubt the same shenanigans will happen with Motown as I’m sure the producers want to officially open the show before Tony Award deadline time in hopes of getting some nominations. It will be interesting to see if Motown will become another Jersey Boys or another Baby It’s You.
    Last edited by smark21; 02-07-2013 at 09:15 PM.

  7. #207
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    It has huge financial possibilties...they will have to make significantly different from Dream Girls..I just feel uncomfortable with Gordy being lauded as some kind of hero..on the some points I admire him but on alot of things I think he did alot of people wrong..while its good to acknowledge all the positive things Motown did for the world..I think you have to be balanced and accept the sorrow that many artists dealt with..in a large part due to Berrys boardroom decisions where peoples futures were gambled on a dice throw- literally..it was Berrys way or the highway and thats his perogative to run his empire anyway he sees fit..but I dont respect his methods..as a dj myself I know what its like to be ripped off by the Boss ..not on any monetary level similar to Motown artists but enough that Ive been ripped off of my pension..sure the world of buisness isnt fair,even more so in the music industry but theres still right and wrong..and Gordy did many people wrong over petty things he really didnt care about..he took an individual trying to assert their buisness acumen as a direct affront to him..and Like I say it was mainly over things he couldnt care less about - an artists preference to future time with a certain producer..a musician having the same spray finish colour as his car..petty petty petty..and peoples lives were ruined and he knows what he did though I doubt he would ever admit it..why do you think hes locked himself away in a fortress for thirty plus years ? because he owes many many people money they never got thru legal manouvres that go against the constitution,human rights and every legal ethic and he knew he had the cash in Jobete and could legally bully anyone for decades..and he did..time and time again...

  8. #208
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    I have my tickets for May as well...might go twice while I'm there, but hard to convince the other half....maybe a matinee by myself. Anyway, very excited!
    Lorne

  9. #209
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    http://www.broadway.com/buzz/167312/...atched-videos/

    Scroll down to #5.........there are interviews with most of the principal characters ~ diana, berry, stevie, marvin, smokey, michael and some parts of songs.

  10. #210
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    Berry Gordy Talks 1st Time With Diana Ross
    The music mogul talks about a flop and the new Broadway musical that he hopes will be a hit.
    By: Hillary Crosley | Posted: February 13, 2013 at 12:27 AM

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    Berry Gordy, Valisia LeKae and Brandon Victor Dixon [[Getty Images)[[The Root) -- When Berry Gordy began Motown Records in Detroit in 1959, few people thought he would be successful, he now says. But decades after ruling the Billboard charts and cementing his place in popular culture with films like Lady Sings the Blues, Gordy is on the cusp of conquering a new stage, Broadway.

    At a recent preview for Motown: The Musical on a spare Times Square soundstage, the two actors playing Gordy and Diana Ross, Brandon Victor Dixon and Valisia LeKae, act out the beginning of the couple's storied romance in a fictitious Parisian cafe. Though all the audience really sees are two people sitting at a table without so much as a salt shaker between them, it's easy to be whisked away by a tale of untimely affection between a beautiful singer and a businessman when they begin singing Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "You're All I Need to Get By."

    On April 14, Motown: The Musical will open at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, depicting their love story wrapped in nostalgic tracks from the archives of Gordy's vast label. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, the Jackson Five and, of course, Diana Ross and the Supremes are all featured in the show, which Gordy says has been in the works since 2009, his label's 50th anniversary.

    The Motor City icon spoke to The Root about why he finally took Motown's music to Broadway, why he mended fences with artists like Holland-Dozier-Holland and his inspiration for sharing embarrassing moments like his first -- and unsuccessful -- night in bed with Ross.


    The Root: Why do Motown: The Musical now? Investors must have been pitching you this idea for ages.

    Berry Gordy: Yes, but I was only interested in doing the real show on Broadway. It's like what I told the Supremes years ago when I advised them to go from their R&B songs to standards because they were so big on The Ed Sullivan Show: "Music is for all people, black and white, Jews and gentiles, cops and the robbers."

    TR: Did their fans find the transition difficult?

    BG: At one point I was too white for black people and too black for white people. The white people didn't want me on their side, and the black people wondered why I was doing their kind of songs, so it was a balance. I'm doing the show now because I don't have to do it. Even though I've had problems with artists in the past, the record has been set straight so many times. All of that has been cleared, and they've all come to me and said, "Hey, no one believed a black kid from Detroit could [create Motown] without being in the Mafia, so we were convinced that [the rumors] were right, and maybe we were being cheated." When they found out that they weren't, they came back, and now we're the best of friends.

    Anybody that was at Motown at that time can't not love each other because we went through so much. Now, everybody is thrilled. I always had Broadway in the back of my mind years ago, but never thinking I'd do it. I just told them, "One day, ya'll will do Broadway, we've done television," so now Broadway.

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  11. #211
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    Berry Gordy Talks 1st Time With Diana Ross
    The music mogul talks about a flop and the new Broadway musical that he hopes will be a hit.
    By: Hillary Crosley | Posted: February 13, 2013 at 12:27 AM

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    Berry Gordy, Valisia LeKae and Brandon Victor Dixon [[Getty Images)

    TR: Why did you decide to make the love story between you and Diana Ross the focus of Motown: The Musical after keeping your relationship a secret for so long?

    BG: Because it's true. Motown covers heavy stuff, like the first time Diana and I had sex. I was so engrossed in her. It was something I'd wanted, and I was in love with her long before she was in love with me, so when she fell in love with me in Paris, I couldn't believe it. Of course, nothing happened on my part, and it was so embarrassing. I wanted to smother myself. Then Diana said, "It's not that bad. Look at it this way, at least you have power over everything else." I'm not ashamed of putting anything about my life anywhere, because I'm a normal person.

    TR: Is it odd watching someone else play you?

    BG: The cast is so smart, and Brandon Victor Dixon has studied me. We've been rehearsing for nearly two years. Brandon has his own mannerisms, but they fit mine. He just studied me so much, but he's a natural Berry Gordy-type. We cast a natural Marvin Gaye type and a natural Smokey Robinson type -- we tried to get the naturals as much as we could.


    TR: You and Smokey are quite fond of embracing. Is your Broadway Smokey a cuddly guy, too?

    BG: The real Smokey is, especially with me. In the show, Smokey and Berry always liked the same girls, and they make a pact to always stay friends and never let a woman come between them.

    TR: There's the rumor that Diana Ross dated Smokey before she dated you.

    BG: Ah -- possibly, yes. [Laughs].

    TR: After all of these years and other Broadway shows that are loosely based on Motown, like Dreamgirls, what do you hope your audience takes away from Motown: The Musical?

    BG: Every time people see it, they'll probably pick something else up. Motown came along at a time in the 1960s, and we were very lucky, especially being close to leaders like the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I had him under contract. We did three albums [of his speeches] because he realized that our music was helping his cause. The right music unites everybody. We tried to do that, and we were successful. Often there are more similarities than differences between people, and the good folks have to band together because the bad ones are disrupting things. Like my character says in the show, "The bad guys are killing off our dreams, one by one." We can't let that happen.

    Hillary Crosley is the New York bureau chief at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.

  12. #212
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