Broadway in Milwaukee: Motown

Excelling in song, lacking in story

I'm a lucky girl. My mom bought us season tickets to Broadway in Milwaukee this past year, and we've had an absolute blast. Last night was our last show: Motown. I'd heard nothing but good things about it — people saying it's hard to sit still with one groovy hit after another coming at you. And they're right! The music is outstanding.

I'd consider myself a radio fan when it comes to Motown; I love songs like "My Girl" and "ABC" as much as the next person, but I'm not die-hard into this particular genre. Even so, I recognized most of the tunes — ones that I always knew I loved and ones like "Boogie Shoes" and "You're All I Need To Get By" that I forgot I loved. Being reintroduced to this glorious music was a total treat.

As for the cast that delivered the tunes, they really blew the roof off the Marcus Center. The voices were unique of course, but every one of them was soulful and buttery. True story: During some of the vocals, I was so caught up that I had to remind myself to breathe. Yep, this show's strength really lies with the music and the actors' delivery skills, and in this cast there wasn't a dud to be found.

There was crowd participation when Diana Ross came out into the audience to make two somewhat-willing spectators join her in singing "reach out and touch somebody's hand, make this world a better place if you can." Then came the Kumbaya moment where she had us all hold hands, raise our clasped hands over our heads, sway, and sing those same words. It felt a little goofy — also tricky, because there was no way you could not participate without being a schmuck — but also inspiring to have a whole theatre full of people chanting such a positive message. If you can get past the Danny Tanner-ness of it all.

So this is all well and good, but I can't deny coming away with a certain ambivalence. Of course the show was thoroughly enjoyable. There were times I wanted to jump up and dance. When the boy who played a young Michael Jackson absolutely nailed all his numbers, I was full-on grinning from ear to ear. But upon reflection, what this show lacks is emotional depth and strength of story. Not that the story isn't there — it must just be the way it's scripted that falls a little flat. The show includes key moments in history — the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King — and while these are plenty-affecting subjects, I just didn't feel that affected. 

The closest I can get to a fair comparison for Motown is Jersey Boys. Jersey Boys is also a sort of musical review, but I feel like the staging, story, and overall package worked better in Jersey Boys. I mean, remember crying in Jersey Boys. I wasn't really feeling it with Motown. It's like they should either have really gone there with the upheaval of the times, or found a way to artistically skate over it. Maybe showing newsreels without a song? I'm not entirely sure and I'm no expert, but that was my take-away. Lacking in story, excelling in song. So if you're a huge fan of this music, you'll flip out over this show. If you're a radio fan like me, you'll have a blast — but you probably won't obsess over it.