The Story of Motown that You Never Knew
Updated: 1 day ago
Long before the History Channel specialized in alien conspiracy theories and reality shows about pawn shops, they started off showing World War II and Gulf War documentaries. As interesting as these were, you can only watch the same grainy color recording of German Messerschmidtts so many times. One advantage to a bachelor's degree in history, as opposed to a dad with some time to kill on a Saturday afternoon, is a broad understanding of many different historical time periods and concepts. Of course, we all have our favorites. I tend toward more modern histories, especially American history, as European and even Asian ancient and middle histories can be so dense with names and dates...blah! How many Kings of England or Popes can you name? I have spent a lot of time, in school and out, reading about the Civil War, the Cold War, westward expansion, and, most appropriate to this conversation, the American Civil Rights Movement. On the other hand, it can be argued that there are better people than me, a white man born in 1982, to describe the black experience in the music industry in the 50s and 60s. So with the combination of my knowledge of the time period and the great insight I've received from the cast and staff, I'll sure do my best to inform you about KVTA's Dreamgirls!
Now we could talk about the history of the black experience in the United States for hours, days even. In the interest of time, it's important to know that during the Great Migration of the early and mid-1900s, millions of black Americans moved from the south to northern cities, including Detroit. Over this time, black soul, jazz, and gospel music evolved into the Motown pop sound. While highly fictionalized, this show is a mirror of historical events and people including the growth of Motown, Berry Gordy's influence, The Supremes, Diana Ross, and Florence Ballard and the struggles of all black performers in a prejudiced world.
Black American music, which is ubiquitous across genres today, grew from the spiritual roots of songs sung by slaves in bondage. The former slaves took their freedom and experienced a freedom of music, exploding over the next 75 years into many different music genres including jazz, blues, gospel, and swing. And each of those maintaining their own identity and weaving together into R&B with heavy reliance on the rhythm section and simple, repetitive vocals. In the era of Dreamgirls, the artists began to combine the rhythm of R&B and the powerful voices and lyrics of gospel music in a way that only they could. Up to this point in white communities, for the most part, black music was viewed at the fringe. In the 1950s and 60s, black music became more mainstream. Unfortunately, this usually came in the form of sterilized covers of black written, produced, and performed songs by white musicians. Remember Hound Dog by Elvis? It was originally recorded in 1952 by Mama Thornton, a black artist. How about Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys? A rewritten cover of Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen. Do you remember Pat Boone's famous Tutti Frutti? Of course you don't, but his version climbed to number 12 on the charts while Little Richard only reached number 21. And there are dozens, probably hundreds more examples.
And this is the crux of Dreamgirls. Struggling black musicians are working to achieve their dreams but are directly opposed by the music industry, the prejudices of society, and, in many cases, each other. Teenage Effie, Deena, and Lorrell, the Dreamettes, enter the amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York and there are given their break by manager Curtis Taylor Jr. and singer Jimmy Early. With spirits high, they hit the road for performance after performance, even recording a single. With some less than scrupulous efforts, the single hits the charts! High on this success, Curtis, Jimmy, and the Dreamettes make a series of decisions that lead them deeper and deeper into the grip of the music scene with the highs and lows of success and failure and the complications that come from a life of fame. Strife hits every member of the Dreamettes and it takes every effort they have to keep themselves from spiraling. Leaving little time and energy left for their music careers. How will they reconcile life and career? And keep in mind while watching, that this is heavily based on real events. Life often produces the most interesting stories!
KVTA's Dreamgirls, directed by Tyler McMahon, are appearing this weekend only, September 18, 19, and 20 at Lincoln Cultural Center. The way I see it, there are two types of people: those who love soul music and those who love modern music. If you don't love music, then why are you reading this blog about a musical? Oh, and maybe those who love both... Either way, this production is for you! Catch this show for some fantastic music and performances that will give you a better history lesson than you could ever hope to get from me!
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