For Xmas I had bought my sister tickets to see Motown The Musical at The Shaftesbury Avenue in London (a rather selfish gift actually as she was bound to take me with her!). It opened this month (March 2016) and as both of us are big fans of Motown music we were really looking forward to it. On the day we travelled to London and had a pre theatre dinner and whilst in the restaurant we looked at a copy of The Evening Standard that we had picked up at the railway station. There was a review of the show and we were really disappointed to see that it was only awarded two stars and the review was not at all complimentary. So our enthusiasm had waned a little by the time we found our seats in the theatre (Grand Circle tickets that gave a clear view of the stage but may not be suitable for anyone suffering from vertigo!). As the lights went down we weren’t quite sure now what to expect but from the very beginning it was clear that the view the Evening Standard expressed was in no way shared by the packed audience. The show was amazing! All of the cast who were portraying the great Motown singers of the past had great voices but the actors who played Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson were so good that it was difficult to believe that they weren’t just miming to those classic songs. The boy who played a young Michael Jackson was also incredible and watching him was like watching an old video of the Jackson 5. There is one point in the show when the very diva-like Diana Ross goes leaves the stage and sings with some of the audience (at that point I was glad I was up in the Grand Circle!) and you almost forgot that you were watching a show, it felt more like a concert. The audience clapped along and sang along and some danced along (not us up in the Grand Circle unfortunately as even our seating position was a little precarious, I don’t think any of us fancied trying to dance at that angle!) For every silver traveller reading this I would strongly suggest going to see this show when in London. I felt young again and the familiar songs brought back great memories. It was a great night out!
