Charles Randolph-Wright talks Motown: The MusicalBy Wilson Morales
April 17, 2013
Currently playing on Broadway is Motown: The Musical, which brings to life the true story of barrier-shattering Motown Records and its founder Berry Gordy, who fights against improbable odds to turn his dream into a reality.
Featuring the music of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Marvin Gaye; as well as over 40 songs from the Motown catalog, the show has garnered a boatload of advanced sales ($17 million to date) that makes it the toughest ticket in town to get.
Directing the musical and perhaps his biggest task to date is Charles Randolph-Wright, who beat out several other stage veterans and was chosen by Mr. Gordy himself.
For an actor-turned-director who starred in the original Dreamgirls musical, the South Carolina native has come a long way to becoming a well-known theater director, whose previous stage credits included Brian Stokes Mitchell‘s acclaimed solo show Love/Life, a revival of Guys and Dolls, a national tour of George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Daniel Beaty‘s Off-Broadway show Through The Night.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Randolph-Wright talks about getting involved with musical, working with Mr. Gordy, and what the show means to the black community.
From being a member of the original Dreamgirls production to directing Motown: The Motown, did you ever think you would come full circle?
Charles Randolph Wright: And it’s on the same street. Some days I walk past the Imperial Theatre, and I past that and go into to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where we are and it’s an amazing journey. Everything I have ever done in my career as a performer, as a director, as a choreographer, and as a writer, has prepared me to work with Mr. Gordy on this. I see all of these things as a contribution to be able to do this and I’m so proud to be a part of it. On the first night of previews, this woman came up to me crying, looked up to me, held my hand, and said “Thank you for telling our story.” That said everything to me because we don’t often get to do that. So many of our stories are not told by us, and it’s really exciting to have so many people of color working behind the scenes. That has been another thrilling aspect on working on this. To go from there to here is truly an extraordinary journey.
How did you come to be a part of this production?
CRW: One of the producers Kevin McCollum and Mr. Gordy came to New York about three years ago and met with different Broadway directors to talk about this piece and I was one of the people to have met them. That’s how it started. My initial meeting was on the phone, and then I met them in Los Angeles, and three years ago we started working on what would end up being Motown: The Musical.
The Motown catalog has so much music. What was the challenge in choosing to what to go in and having the songs connect to make a story?
CRW: First of all, the first script that we started with had 100 songs in it. We had to take 40 songs out of it, and each song is something you love. So it was difficult to cut some of them, but we really wanted to find songs that stayed on story and the story is told through Mr. Gordy’s eyes and how it happened. We had been trimming up until the last couple of days. Seeing how the audience has responded to some of the scenes tells us what is needed or not.
How was working with Mr. Gordy?
CRW: We had an instant connection and he will tell you that. That’s how I ended up being hired. I just understood every aspect of this. The vision that he had for the show I saw it. The second he described what he wanted to do, I knew what it was. What you see on stage now is the show I saw in my head for the past three years. It was very clear to me on how he wanted to tell his story and we ended up with that story on stage. Many things have changed along the way but the general story that he wanted has remained.
Can you talk about Brandon Victor Dixon and Valisia LeKae, who play Berry Gordy and Diana Ross respectively?
CRW: Both of them I have known prior to this show. Brandon was the first person in my head when I was hired for this show. He just had all of the qualities that I wanted for the character and it displays. The thing about Berry Gordy is that no one knows his voice as opposed to the other people from Motown who are iconic. It was about finding the right person to take us through this amazing journey and I just felt that it was Brandon and he delivers on every possible aspect. He’s an extraordinary actor and singer and he takes you on this great ride. With Valisia, I was responsible for her first job in New York. She had auditioned for me on a project ten years ago. She was not right for it, but I saw this thing in her and introduced her to another friend of mine who was doing a show and she was hired for that show. I recently saw her in another production so she came to mind. They compliment each other incredibly. They give us this wonderful love story on stage, which we don’t normally get to see with people of color. The audience is amazing because they respond to this as if they were real people. All throughout the show, they are screaming for them. That’s not what I expected and it actually shocked me. They went crazy when Marvin Gaye’s and Smokey Robinson’s characters comes out. It’s also an amazing aspect of this.
If there’s one song from the show that stands out, what do you think it is?
CRW: Probably ‘My Girl’ and ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’. They both sort of compete as the #1 Motown songs, or the most requested, or most played. I think ‘My Girl’ because it’s part of our storytelling of when our characters fall in love. It has several elements to it.
Do you think the Motown music and its rich history will be enough to keep the show on Broadway for a long time and bring out the black community?
CRW: That would be a dream come true. It has been amazing seeing the response from the audience once the show ends. The audience has been completely mixed. This music was the sound of young America. So many people have come to the show and are coming back for a second and third time and we just started. It’s stunning to me that they are already doing that. I said to Mr. Gordy a couple of weeks ago when the show started that “This is not just a show. It’s an experience.” I realized earlier that one of my jobs was to take the audience through a journey of Berry Gordy and follow that story but at the same time be able to take their own journey and remember these songs. People have their own memory in regards to the songs. I feel as if we accomplished that and that’s thrilling to me.
Highlights from Motown: The Musical
