Motown: The Musical - The Ultimate Jukebox Musical
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Jukebox musicals come in all shapes and sizes. Conceived in the 1980s they usually celebrate the music of a particular artist or genre. As someone not born until 1999, to me they are a great way of getting to experience some amazing pop music from the 50s to the 90s and beyond.
They range from the amazing [**Mamma Mia!**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1017/Mamma-Mia--tickets.aspx) which uses the music of Abba as background to a good narrative story, through **We Will Rock You**, which creates characters from the lyrics of Freddie Mercury and Queen and weaves them into a wacky, sci-fi type fable about saving the planet and on to **Rock Of Ages** which shoehorns soft rock classics into an irreverent romp.
And then there are the biography musicals which tell the story of the artists themselves, with a bit of artistic licence of course. **Buddy** was probably the original jukebox musical and introduced a whole new generation to Buddy Holly’s music and his tragic death. More recently, [**Jersey Boys**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1287/Jersey-Boys-tickets.aspx) has been a massive hit with Frankie Valli’s falsetto echoing through theatres around the world. In London at the moment is [**Beautiful: The Carole King Musical**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1625/Beautiful--The-Carole-King-Musical-tickets.aspx) which is a huge success, telling her story while entertaining the audience with well-loved classics.
You can see the attraction for impresarios, theatre owners, record companies and film-makers:
* ready-made music which has already sold in huge volumes
* big fan bases who will come to hear their favourite artist’s songs regardless of the quality of the story
* a whole new generation of fans downloading tracks from back catalogues
* the chance to cash in a second time by making the film of the musical
A cynic could say it’s a cheap way of bring dead horses back to life and flogging them all over again. Sniffy critics often say they aren’t “real” musicals and dismiss them as worthless.
But I take a different view. Musical theatre, in fact all theatre, is about entertainment and it’s impossible to argue that jukebox musicals don’t provide a great night out. Ok, they aren’t Shakespeare, but I’ve never left the theatre having had a bad night at a jukebox musical. The talent involved is far beyond that of a mere tribute band, this is the West End we are talking about! **Katie Brayben**, star of [**Beautiful: The Carole King Musical**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1625/Beautiful--The-Carole-King-Musical-tickets.aspx), won an Olivier for her performance. You know that you are in for a night of high quality theatre no matter if the songs are original or not.
Which brings me to [**Motown: The Musical**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1490/Motown--The-Musical-tickets.aspx) arriving in London next year fresh from Broadway. I’ve not seen it yet, but I can’t wait. The story of how **Berry Gordy** built a music factory in Detroit is legendary. The fabulous catalogue of songs from writers like **Smokey Robinson**, **Marvin Gaye** and **Holland**, **Dozier**, **Holland** may be over 40 years old but they still get played all the time on the radio and on my dad’s iPod! I know if I had a jukebox, filling it with [**Motown**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1490/Motown--The-Musical-tickets.aspx) records would guarantee a great party!