Review: Motown the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre
Ad – press tickets, all opinions are 100% honest and my own *Photo credit Zoey Allen
Last night Zoey and I were asked to go along to review Motown the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre. We both love music, so we were excited to not only attend the press night of Motown, but also to hang out at Radio Platfform, a youth led radio station for 16-25 year olds.
Review: Motown the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre
Motown the Musical is based on Berry Gordy’s autobiography about his life and experiences of running the Motown musical label. Charting his personal and professional highs and lows, music fuels the performance and celebration of Gordy’s life.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this performance, I love music and I knew the songs wouldn’t disappoint, but what else would this show have to offer?
Well, Motown the Musical has pipes to die for. From Edward Baruwa as Gordy to Karis Anderson as Diana Ross, the talent upon the stage was pretty outstanding. I particularly loved seeing Baruwa’s vocal performances, he gave a lot of passion and emotion with each song he sang. As for Anderson, she encapsulated Diana Ross, from her stage presence to her personality to her beautiful vocals.
The stage, set and music to accompany the show were also outstanding. I absolutely loved the ingenious use of moving screens to create the many scenes set throughout the musical production. It really blew my mind, and I have no idea how the set designers come up with such mesmerising and clever ideas!
The scenes were also seamless thanks to clever lighting and smooth exchanges between the cast and crew. I think I spotted one moment when a piece of scenery resisted its location, but it was over before I could really dwell on and it didn’t distract me from the show.
As for costumes, well this show definitely excels at creating glorious visuals thanks to the layers, glitter and textures used for each character.
When it comes to story, I have to say, it didn’t dig deep enough for me. When I look back and think about the story being told, I should have cried at the end of the show, but I didn’t. The only part of the performance that made me feel emotional involved the screens projecting historical moments in time and Gordy’s real-life celebratory scenes…
This production didn’t hit me in the heart, and I think this was caused by the abundance of songs within the show compared to dialogue and story. Even though a story ran through the performance, it didn’t dig deep enough. I didn’t feel the emotion I believe I should have felt from the story, despite the gusto and professionalism of the cast and crew.
For me personally, it felt like a performance intent of chugging out song after song after song, and in the end that becomes more of a tribute performance compared to a celebration of Gordy’s life.
Overall, it’s a fun show, with really great performances from the entire cast. They certainly give it their all, and I can’t find any fault in that (I certainly couldn’t do it!), I just wish they were given more depth to work with.
If Motown is your thing (and why wouldn’t it be?!) then this show is worth your time for sure. It’s fun, it dips in and out of history (probably some of my favourite and more touching moments) and the vocals are outstanding.
Motown the Musical runs until 6th April and you can get your tickets from Wales Millennium Centre (prices start from £15).
I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of Motown the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre, please let me know what you thought of the show in the comments below!
