Rialto Square Theatre hosts a Motown Christmas
The Rialto Square Theatre will be filled with sounds of Christmas carols, done Motown-style.
A Motown Christmas, presented by the Motortown All-Stars, will appear Dec. 9 at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet. The Motortown All-Stars is a lineup comprised of past and present members of legendary groups like The Temptations, The Miracles and The Contours.
Glen Raby serves as keyboardists and musical director for A Motown Christmas. For 15 years, he served as the musical director for The Contours, known for the hit, “Do You Love Me?”. When his tenure with The Contours ended, he didn’t want the music to stop, so he reached out to other Motown artists he had worked with in the past and a super group was formed.
“Initially, it was going to be a holiday show but it has turned into a year-round endeavor,” he said. They do a Motown Greatest Hits shows during the year and a holiday edition, he said.
Speaking of greatest hits, audiences will hear many of those Motown classics — many of them drawn from the group the members were or are a part of — plus their contemporaries in Motown, he said.
“The show is evenly divided between classic Christmas songs and Christmas songs that have been given a Motown twist,” he said. “And there are a couple of surprises along the way as well.
“The show is a classic Motown show with the flashy suits and choreography; there’s a lot of movement onstage. There are pretty slick dance moves throughout. It’s kind of reminiscent of the old Motown revues they used to do around the country.”
The show will appeal to all age groups, he said, from those who
grew up in the 1960s to teens today — and to those who just want to hear Christmas music.
“Motown music has such longevity,” he said. “It’s pretty timeless music.”
Audiences will hear holiday
tunes like “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway, “Please Come Home for Christmas,” “Merry Christmas, Baby,” “Silent Night” and other singalongs.
They will also be treated to Motown hits like “My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Can’t Get Next to You,” “Tears of a Clown,” “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.”
As musical director, Raby wrote all the arrangements for the songs and directs the band. He has been a music lover as
long as he can remember, he said. He got a record player when he was four years old and had an uncle who would take him to the local Five and Dime to buy records.
“I always gravitated to the old-school R&B. My first record I ever got was Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti,’ ” he said.
“I played it until it was worn out,” he said.
He started piano lessons as a child and it stuck. All the musicians in the group are seasoned professionals as well, he said.
They’ve played for “virtually every major artist of the ’60s and ’70s and many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees,” he said.
People will enjoy the show because it’s festive and fun, he said.
“It’s a great way to start the holiday season and put people in the holiday mood,” he said. “It’s a feel-good, fun time that can be had by multiple generations. It’s a good release for people.”