Motown grooving is as easy as 1, 2, 3
Those exposed to the popular music of the past half century have been awash in the sounds of Motown, whether they knew the origins of the hits or not.
And they have the legendary hitmaker Berry Gordy to thank for all those tunes that form the soundtrack of their lives. The tunes are featured in the touring show Motown the Musical — from “ABC” to “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” and more than 60 other songs in between, including such memorable tunes as “Baby, I Need Your Lovin’,” “Do You Love Me,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “I Want You Back,” “My Girl,” “My Guy” and “Where Did Our Love Go.”
Motown the Musical is a celebration of the songs and Gordy, who founded Motown Records, a label that was instrumental in helping launch the careers of Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and many more. The show is based on Gordy’s 1994 autobiography, To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown.
The show is set in 1983 at a celebration of Motown Records’ 25th anniversary. Flashbacks provide the opportunity for the performers to showcase the songs — 66 of which are featured, fully or in medley form.
The show opened on Broadway in 2013 where it ran until 2015. The Broadway show’s director, Charles Randolph Wright, also directs the touring version, which runs Wednesday through Saturday at Robinson Center Performance Hall in Little Rock and June 27- July 2 at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
“I had read Berry Gordy’s book, and he was my idol,” Wright says. “I aspired to do things like he had done. Few men of color get to do that, what he had done, to bring us together. So, I set about to create the show, and it was five hours long to begin with!
“Every night I see a new generation hear the music and ‘ feel it’ and it speaks to people, still. When they hear a song like Marvin Gaye’s ‘ What’s Going On,’ they realize it’s still relevant in our lives. I’m thrilled that the show is playing all over America. People of all ages, colors and sizes love it.”
The cast features one member with an Arkansas connection: Tavia Rivee, who credits the start of her career to her early years when her family lived in Jacksonville, where her father was stationed at the Little Rock Air Force Base.
“I was about 7 when I did a thing, Fun With Tavia, on Comcast Cable there in Arkansas,” says Rivee ( her stage name; her full name is Tavia Rivee Jefferson). “After that, I auditioned with Melissa Moody and got a scholarship to a modeling school. When I was 10, we moved to New York, but we still have a lot of friends and family in the
Little Rock area and I’m looking forward to getting several days there in which to visit with them.
“It will be so awesome for them all to see how much fun this show is, with all of its singing and dancing, of course.”
Rivee has had roles in Hairspray and Seussical, and
her roles in Motown the Musical are Mary Wilson of The Supremes and Mother Gordy ( Berry Gordy’s mother) plus she is the understudy for the part of Diana Ross and a member of the ensemble.
In preparing for her roles in the touring show, she says she met with Berry Gordy and Mary Wilson: “Getting to meet Mr. Gordy was a very special experience, and it certainly helped me understand my role as Mary Wilson when she told me about her life and times,” Rivee says. “Everybody knows the music of Motown, even if they may not know it was a Motown record. The sound is so embedded in our culture now.”