Motown the Musical, which tells the story of the legendary US record label, has been proclaimed a hit by most critics.<\/p>\n
Motown founder Berry Gordy, Supremes star Mary Wilson and singer Smokey Robinson all attended Tuesday\u2019s opening night in London.<\/p>\n
The show, written by Gordy, arrived in the West End after a two-year run on Broadway and a US tour.<\/p>\n
It features some 50 songs including \u2018Dancing In The Street\u2019 and \u2018My Girl\u2019.<\/p>\n
But while one critic suggested this could be \u201cthe ultimate jukebox musical\u201d, others found the script wanting.<\/p>\n
Here is a round-up of reviews:<\/p>\n
The Telegraph – Dominic Cavendish ****<\/p>\n
\u201cIn its triumphant new West End incarnation, it gives a valuable leg-up to a mass of young, gifted and black British talent and puts such a spring in its audience\u2019s step, you may well see people dancing in the street along Shaftesbury Avenue…<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show moves beyond being a welcome nostalgia fest and becomes an urgent rallying cry for us all to rediscover our Motown mojo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Stage – Mark Shenton ****<\/p>\n
\u201cMotown the Musical may just be the ultimate jukebox musical. Short of putting a physical jukebox on the stage and playing a succession of the records once minted by the famous Detroit-based record label that emerged in the 1950s and made a succession of black solo artists and singing groups into global superstars, musicals don\u2019t get more like a parade of wall-to-wall hits than this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe music is so thrillingly and beautifully rendered, this jukebox trip down memory lane just can\u2019t fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
British Theatre.com Douglas Mayo *****<\/p>\n
\u201cMotown breaks free of the normal constraints of a jukebox musical. It is a joyous, exuberant celebration of life, of challenge and ultimately of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t recall a time in recent memory when an audience sang and danced their way out of the theatre but they did for Motown.\u201d<\/p>\n
TheatreCat – Libby Purves *****<\/p>\n
\u201cCedric Neal is a wonderful Berry Gordy, always at the centre of things, showing the conflict of a creative spirit who turned midwife and mentor, and suffered the inevitable blowback when his big stars outgrew the label and left it in trouble. But there is no self-pity: just wry satisfaction in having \u2018led them along a path I didn\u2019t know was there\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeal himself sings like a dream, as do all the vast ensemble who become successive groups in dizzying sequence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Guardian – Michael Billington **<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that Berry Gordy has written, co-produced and is the lead character in this imported American musical, it is clear that the ego has landed. But, eager as I am as the next person to learn more about the Motown mogul, I was disappointed at how little I discovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe appeal of this all-too-typical modern musical lies in the capacity of the 50 numbers, many of them severely truncated, to unlock the memories of the baby-boomer generation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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