This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the musical production of "Mowtown: The Musical". The book was written by Berry Gordy, based on his 1994 autobiography To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown. The musical focuses on the story of Gordy's founding and running of the Motown record label. I had the great opportunity to view this musical at 7:30 p.m. on December 28, 2014 at the Winspear Opera House.
“Motown: The Musical” is the real story of the one-of-a-kind Motown founder Berry Gordy. “Motown: The Musical” tells the story behind the hits of the Motown family he helped to create. Together, Berry Gordy and his Motown artists fight against the odds to create music that defined a great era of music and talent in America. The story begins with Berry Gordy’s childhood. It showcases him as lightweight boxer,
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with no interest in the music business. Berry Gordy’s only focus was to become a successful boxer in the ring. The climax occurs when Berry Gordy has to tell his family that he does not want to train to become a boxer anymore. The action is resolved when Berry works harder than he ever has before in order to prove his family that he has what it takes to become number one in the music business. Berry Gordy transitions from a boxer into becoming a to becoming a legendary music mogul responsible for launching the careers of many music icons, such as Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and so many more. The play acted like a memoir of Berry Gordy’s life, so it did not have any suspenseful or unexpected twists. The plot was very believable and did a great job making the story about a public figure’s life very interesting and entertaining. The language of “Motown: The Musical” is in what is known as African-American dialect, since a great majority of the musical artists that Berry Gordy represented were of African-American descent such as the Four Tops, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson. The language also features slang from the 1960s and the 1970s. The language that the characters used to speak to each other was not difficult to understand. The language used by each character defines where they come from and what their social status and education is. I felt a connection to Berry Gordy’s character because he had to constantly demonstrate hard work in order to succeed in the music industry.
He had to fight to get his musical artist airtime on the radio and television spot to spread their music to national audiences. There were times that some of my co-workers thought I was undeserving of a job offering I had received, so through my constant hard work, I had to constantly prove to them why I was deserving and a great pick for the job.
The background sets were awesome and depicted the era quite well. “Motown: The Musical” has sets that took you down a trip down memory lane to times of the 1960s and the 1970s. The lights were flashy and sets were colorful to represent the glamour and ostentatiousness of the celebrities such as Diana and The Jackson 5.
“Motown: The Musical” features close to fifty songs such by classic musical icons. The musical features classic songs sung by legends such as “My Girl” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and “ABC”. The musical had songs that fused the soul music and rhythm and blues with catchy pop to create a genre that made the Motown label
popular. The quality of all the performers was excellent. The actress that portrayed Diana Ross was outstanding as was the child actor that portrayed a young Michael Jackson. The cast was true to life for their characters. The performances were crisp and very audible from scene to scene. I believe that Motown’s music had a big influence and played a major role in America’s changing attitudes toward race in the 1960s. In the scene of the musical, it shows Berry Gordy in 1983 and the performers he help to create in the 1960s and 1970s are now grown up and don’t need him anymore and departed from the Motown recording label. Though it was not stated directly, I feel that Berry Gordy misses the glory days of Motown, when he found new talent and was on top of the world.
He started off in life rather poor and had to go long ways to help his family by finding a job to help his family financially as I said because they weren’t rich. He went from paying $20 annually for rent for the place he was living at to renovating a mansion for $10,000,000. Instead of staying in the situation he was in as a young kid he decided to give himself a great life by working for it.
The musical was performed in the Cumberland Hall Auditorium at Fayetteville Technical Community College. It
Though many whites saw Motown as another form of pop music of the time African American saw it as a way to make decent money and to let their voice and opinions become heard, it offered them some way of freedom. Motown helped break down some racial barriers during this era. Motown forced America to confront its own feelings about race, community, intolerance, justice and reality. It was another way for African American voices to be heard on a much greater scale both national and international. Motown artist could appeal to whites their image was positive and tasteful. It paved the way peaceful integration by forcing a common ground for races though music in a time of social injustice. His artist crossed over the charts in a heavily whites dominated the
"Motown Music - The Sound that Changed America - Motown Museum Home of Hitsville U.S.A.." Motown
Due to a leg injury, baseball was no longer possible. He then turned to his real passion music, and decided to pursue a musical career (Brenchley, 2003, DVD). Throughout his musical career, he earned many titles “Mr. Dynamite” and “The Godfather of Soul” are known as the hardest working men in show business. His demeanor at times was often that of a tyrant, generous nature, tolerant, or at times demanding. He was the greatest entertainer during his time.
He had exposure to several different genres growing up in his St. Louis, MO hometown. He heard country from the whites, rhythm & blues (R&B) from mostly blacks, even Latin music. His family environment set him up well for future success while growing up in a middle class home in the middle of the Great Depression of the 1930s. His parents sun...
Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010.
The birth of Motown music came to be in a small recording studio aptly named Hitsville, U.S.A. Barry Gordy, who came from a large middle class family had borrowed money in order. The main stage of Motown music came from a small house that had been remodeled into a recording studio, the name of the company was Hitsville, U.S.A. Mr. Gordy had gathered the best jazz and blues players in and Motown was born through his genius. This small but dynamic record company has produced and help make many stars that we all know today such as Diana Ross and the Supreme, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and more recently the Jackson 5, Boyz II Men , and Queen Latifah. It is very surprising that both the genre of Motown and Hitsville remind unharmed by racism for the most since Detroit has been historically known for severe racism and segregation. Hitsville U.S.A. was one of the first African American owned record companies, this was just one step in popularizing and taking a step for African’s Americans many talents to become well known and chart topping.
Musical theatre has been around for quite a while. But where exactly did it come from? The book Anything Goes, written by Ethan Mordden looks to explore just that. From operas to musical comedies, Mordden covers the basic history of musical theatre and why it’s important for the world to know.
Some people are born to become legends, Bruce Springsteen is one of them. From the second he was born and through his younger years everyone knew he was destined for something bigger than a regular nine to five life, they just didn’t realize the magnitude of what was to come. Born into a all around food middle-class family, no on in that house hold even Bruce, didn’t realize that within fifty years he would reach living legend status. Also have a title of one of the best musicians to every live. After working hard at what he loves, Bruce has become known as a musical hero and inspiration to his fans and fellow musicians. With his deep lyrics, amazing stage presence, incredible guitar skills, and his passion, he is an untouchable force in the music industry. Using his lyrics to vent his emotions and past, but to also add awareness to social issues around the world. Bruce and his love for music affected him his whole life, and has shaped into what he is today. His music now affects the world. His music has truly changed the world (musically and socially) forever.
thesis of how the musical brought our inner child out to realize our true struggles in life.
Ostlere, Hilary. “Taming The Musical.” Dance Magazine 73.12 (1999): 84. Expanded Academic ASAP. Westfield State College Library, MA. 15 April 2005.
won millions to his cause. Even though he said that at his death he was "...the
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
The musical, Matilda, by Roald Dahl was performed on a thrust stage, at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Matilda is a story of an astonishing little girl who despite has a bad beginning controlled by evil parents and a scary headmistress, she decides to make her story the greatest of them all.