|
Motown
founder
Berry
Gordy
brings
award
winning
musical
back
home to
Detroit
By JEFF
KAROUB
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- Berry
Gordy
Jr. took
his
"Motown
the
Musical"
production
to
Broadway
and a
few
other
places
first.
Yet they
were
mere
proving
grounds
for its
date
with
Detroit.
The
Motown
Records
founder
says his
latest
creation
has
sharpened
its
storytelling
to match
the
songs,
many
originally
recorded
at
Hitsville,
U.S.A.
That's
the
former
studio
right
down the
street
from the
Fisher
Theatre,
the
musical's
home for
the next
few
weeks.
"Bringing
Motown
to
Motown
is like
the
greatest
gift in
the
world to
me and
I'm
grateful
for the
fact
that I'm
even
able to
bring
(the
musical)
to the
place
where I
grew
up,"
Gordy
told The
Associated
Press
from
inside
the
former
studio
building
that now
houses
the
Motown
Museum.
"This
place
was
where I
was that
crazy
little
kid
running
around
with all
these
crazy
dreams.
Now I
bring it
back in
all its
full
glory."
The
84-year-old
was back
in the
real
Motown
this
week for
opening
night.
It's
where
the
label
started
in 1959,
and
scores
of stars
and hits
were
created,
before
it
decamped
for
California
in 1972.
It was
hard not
to be
moved by
the
energy
in the
theater
Wednesday
night,
but that
came as
much
from the
talent
offstage
as on:
Smokey
Robinson
sat a
row in
front of
Gordy,
Stevie
Wonder
two
ahead of
Martha
Reeves.
They and
other
Motown
vets
came
onstage
at the
end to
offer
some
heartfelt
thanks
and for
Wonder
to trade
verses
on "I
Wish"
with his
actor-counterpart,
Elijah
Ahmad
Lewis.
Likewise,
Gordy is
energized
by the
play's
success
and
excited
to bring
it to
Detroit
stronger,
tighter
and more
focused
than
when it
opened
on
Broadway
early
last
year.
More
than 60
songs
provide
the
groove
and key
guideposts
for a
story
chronicling
how his
empire
rose,
fell and
rose
again.
Highlights
include
"War,"
"What's
Going
On?" "My
Girl"
and
"Dancing
in the
Street."
He's
flooded
by
memories
in the
museum,
which
once
housed
his
apartment,
office
and
studio.
Some are
prodded
by
pictures
and
artifacts
featuring
the
Supremes,
Wonder,
Robinson,
Michael
Jackson
and
Marvin
Gaye.
And
moments
that
played
out
inside
the
building
find
their
way into
the
play.
Gordy
recalls
mourning
in his
office
on the
day
President
John F.
Kennedy
died. In
storms
Gaye,
unaware
of the
news and
angry
that his
song
wasn't
getting
proper
promotion
while
the
latest
from the
lighter-skinned
Smokey
Robinson
was.
Things
escalate:
Gordy
calls
Gaye
"boy,"
the
artist
implies
the
Motown
chief is
a liar.
They
nearly
come to
blows,
but
Gordy
manages
to
impart
that
this
tragic
day
should
be a
reminder
to focus
on more
important
things.
The
story
Gordy
calls
"completely
true"
becomes
a
powerful
moment
in the
production.
So he
sought
more
passion
and even
a touch
of
violence
from
Clifton
Oliver,
the
actor
playing
him.
Gordy
said he
shared a
Motown
principle
with the
cast -
"You'll
always
be
successful
if you
tell the
truth
and make
it
entertaining."
Still,
the
truth
can be
dicey
when
dealing
with old
memories
and
fallen
icons
like
Gaye,
who
can't
offer
any
counterpoint.
But in
creativity
there's
conflict,
and he
wanted
all
sides to
come
through
onstage.
"I think
about
the
fights
and the
arguments
we had,"
he said
of the
man once
married
to
Gordy's
late
sister,
Anna
Gordy
Gaye.
"Yet
I've
always
said,
`Marvin
Gaye was
the
truest
singer -
the
truest
artist -
I've
ever
known.'"
Gordy's
jaunt
down
memory
lane
takes
literal
turns as
he walks
through
the
museum.
He
passes
the area
now
serving
as a
replica
of his
apartment
down a
narrow
set of
stairs
he joked
was once
his
getaway
from
bill
collectors
to the
former
Studio
A.
Behind
him is
the
studio's
original
Steinway
grand
piano,
recently
refurbished
with
money
from
former
Beatle
and
Motown
fan Paul
McCartney.
On the
wall are
classic
photos
of
Motown
stars in
the same
cramped
studio.
"I can't
believe
that
it's
this
small,"
Gordy
says,
echoing
the
words of
tourists
from
across
the
globe
when
they
enter
some of
pop
culture's
most
hallowed
ground.
He
pauses
and
takes it
all in.
"So much
stuff
coming
full
circle.
It's
amazing." |