The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Motown the Musical’ to rock the Palace Theater
WATERBURY — Berry Gordy tried his hand at boxing, owning a record store, working on an auto assembly line and being a soldier in the Korean War, but he wasn’t happy with those careers.
He went on to become an American record executive, a songwriter, film producer, television producer and the founder of Motown Records, and, in the process, becoming one of the highest earning black business owners for decades.
In 1959, in Detroit, he took a family loan of $800 and bought a house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard and converted the garage into Studio A or Hitsville U.S.A. With vision and innovation, he married black gospel songs with be bop and jazz and created a new sound that changed musical history. Think of Gordy as the conductor of a train, one who introduced such legends as Diana Ross,
Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Commodores and many more to welcoming pop music tracks and fans.
Jump on the music train for four performances at Waterbury’s Palace Theater on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m and Sunday at 1 p.m. for a ride with all the music of the 1960s and beyond that made Berry Gordy such a legend.
You will hear tunes like “My Girl,” “I’ll Be There,” “You’re Nobody ’Til Somebody Loves You,” “Stop in the Name of Love” and “Sign, Sealed, Delivered.”
Berry Gordy had the unique ability to take a nobody walking in the front door and transform them, by teaching them how to talk, stand, dress, act with class and become a star. He could recognize talent, new and raw, and polish it to perfection.
For tickets at $59.50 and up, call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main St., Waterbury, at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheater.org.