Motown the Musical is a rip-roaring race through 25 years of music history that may leave you with a slight cast of whiplash, but will also leave you with a whole lot of great tunes in your head and a smile on your face. Anytime you try to shove that much history into that short of a time, it's going to feel more like a surface overview than an in-depth look, and this does. But it's a thrill to hear these iconic songs and watch the iconic dance moves live before our eyes (I wouldn't consider myself a particular fan of Motown, but yet I knew nearly every one of the more than 50 songs in the show, that's how pervasive this music is in pop culture). The Motown era was important not just to music history but also to sociopolitical history, and the musical pays homage to that, albeit in a quick and high-level fashion. The audience at the Orpheum Theatre last night was decidedly more diverse than I typically see there, and this is a rare musical with a largely African American cast, both of which are worth celebrating. And
Motown the Musical (
at the Orpheum through Sunday only) definitely feels like a celebration - of the music and the people who love it.
