Matthews (E-Cleff), Eddie King, Jr. (Shawn Johnson), J. T. Matthews (Mz. Pooh), Terrance "Dresser" Williams (Taz Majik Lee), and Anthony "Choirboy" Stone (Shadez Lee) take you on a roller coaster ride of comedy and sentimentality.
From the beginning, the music and personalities of Motown come alive. The ensemble piece pits the womanizer, against the drug addict, against the straight-arrow son of a preacher, the cocky bass singer/choreographer and the dejected songwriter/organizer. With their rising fame and power, the singers must deal with racism, greed, and addiction and try to come out on top.
The cast managed to draw people in with the interactive stage style, as the theatergoers were lured back and forth between concert scenes and scenes laden with spectacle and dialogue. The play earns credibility through the realistic Shi-Queeta-Lee designed costumes and the hand-clapping musical renditions such as, The Heart is a House for Love, We Haven't Finished Yet, and the Heartbeats' signature song, Nothing But Love.
All-in-all, this ambitious effort depicted the hard lessons about the reality of the music industry with it's casual racism and greed, while at the same time underscoring how the personal weaknesses of the members threaten to destroy the integrity of the band. In the end the group is not beaten by their rise to stardom, but by stardom itself.
The narrative also showcased Tony Nelson as the jack-of-all-trades emcee, comically flamboyant entertainer and affable parishioner. He brought a whimsical sense to the play with his sidesplitting wardrobe faux pauxs, and his pleas for audience participation. Nelson single handedly bridged the gap between the stage and the audience. His larger than life character brought hilarity time after time.
This fabulous parody of the well-known film leaves you yearning to see what Shi-Queeta-Lee does next. As the curtain falls on this production, we look anxiously to the wings for The Color Purple, her next undertaking.
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