Motown the Musical at Sacramento Community Center Theater

Motown the Musical and the Amgen Tour necessitated police on horseback.

Motown the Musical inspired me to now question when will we see Cowtown the Musical in Sacramento? That would be a great musical, don’t you think? Now, I know some people don’t like going to musicals. My husband is one of those guys. Just like I never particularly cared for singing in the movies when I was a kid. I didn’t like musicals at all. I used to wish they would just stop singing and get back to the dialogue.

But today, musicals have the ability to transform your brain and transport you elsewhere, even if it’s only for 2 hours before the 20-minute intermission. We don’t go to nearly enough musicals. The last musical we saw was the hilarious Book of Mormon in San Francisco about a year ago. Much of the time, it’s hard to get tickets. I know I tried to get tickets a while back for Motown the Musical, and there weren’t any good seats. Then a few days ago, bingo, Stubhub offered a great deal on front row seats, so I grabbed it.

Front row for Motown the Musical at Sacramento Community Center Theater

The show does not disappoint. I loved everything about it, from the beginning to the end, although I did not really feel compelled to sing along with any of the songs like I thought that I would. At one part, Berry Gordy was in Paris with Diana Ross. Now, I never knew he had an affair with Diana Ross, or perhaps I did know and I just didn’t care at the time, and still don’t care today. But during that part, the stage set had a moving river, the Eiffel Tower and clouds floating by overhead. I don’t know how they made the river flow and the clouds move, but kept the Eiffel Tower stationary. Perhaps if you go, you can tell me.

My husband said he was surprised that I would relate to the songs from that time period because much of the time I was incarcerated in a juvenile detention center for running away from home. There was a lot of separation of music back then, between the soul music and the psychedelic music, and let’s just say that we were often fighting over the radio dial. It’s all a part of my younger years. I know the words to every song. They are still inspirational today, and I love Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and would go see them if they played at The Crest.

And that’s why, I hate to say, there were a ton of geezers at this show, you know, people my age and older. They had a hard time hobbling down the aisle and settling into their seats. There were also not very many people of color in the audience. Still, I would not let that stop you from going to see Motown the Musical. Just be prepared to raise your hand and crawl over people to get a chance to sing with Diana Ross.