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Motown The Musical on stage at Boston Opera House

Colette Greenstein
Colette Greenstein has been a contributing arts & entertainment writer for the Banner since 2009. VIEW BIO
Motown The Musical on stage at Boston Opera House
Patrice Covington as Martha Reeves (center) and the cast of Motown The Musical’s first national tour.

If You Go

What: Motown The Musical

Where: Boston Opera House

When: Through Sunday, Feb. 15

tickets: Available through an authorized ticket seller found only at Ticketmaster 800-982-2787, and by visiting

www.BroadwayInBoston.com.

Broadway actors Julius Thomas III and Jesse Nager are very much aware of the responsibility that rests on their shoulders in playing living legends Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, respectively, in the touring production of Motown The Musical. The show is based on the life of Berry Gordy, and was also written and co-produced by the Motown founder.

Thomas, having portrayed Lamont Dozier and Jermaine Jackson in the Broadway production, grew up in Gary, Indiana and was very much a fan of the Jackson 5.

“I sang growing up and sang in church and had some of the same teachers that the Jackson 5 had,” said Thomas in a telephone interview with the Banner.

“They were very much a part of my life. I can remember combing through tape bins with my allowance trying to get every tape that I could find of the Jackson 5 and not really knowing what that meant as far as what Motown was concerned but knowing that I was in love with this music, in love with this group.”

Jesse Nager, who opened the Broadway production of Motown as Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations, broke into the theater scene in 2003. His role as Kendricks in the Broadway production was his first principal contract on a production of this magnitude.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest things I’ve ever done,” said Nager.

High school opportunity

Nager was born in Boston and raised in Somerville, Mass., until the age of ten before moving to New York City. The budding performer, who attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, was a very active child and recalls that he was always dancing around the house to the music of the Jackson 5. He recounts his years at LaGuardia High School as crucial in developing his talent and passion for performing, and in building long-lasting friendships.

“Some of the best friends I’ve ever made in my life are from that school, just because you’re all sort of discovering — music in my case — dance, art for the first time together and really nurturing and fostering who you are as artists together and I think that just really propels the growth in a way that you wouldn’t get in a normal school.”

Nager described some of the amazing opportunities he was fortunate to have including performing with Mariah Carey.

“When I was there Mariah Carey came to Madison Square Garden and she wanted some kids to sing with her in her concert, so she came to my school. Shania Twain did the same thing. You have these incredible opportunities. We were right across the street from Lincoln Center, so you get to go to the opera all the time. You go to all these concerts and symphonies and you’re surrounded by culture and talent.”

Nager remembers how real Carey was as a person.

“We saw her in rehearsals and I saw her on stage singing her face off. She’s such a normal person. It was really cool to see. I think it was our first time that all of us realized that these superstars are people.”

Hands-on direction

As part of preparation for their roles, not only did the actors do their research, Thomas and Nager were afforded the opportunity to meet with their real-life counterparts. From all accounts, Gordy was very hands-on with the musical and the auditioning process. Both actors commented that he was in the room the entire time during the Broadway rehearsal process. As a result, the actors had access to him at any time they wanted to ask questions.

In Thomas’ case, “I know specifically I’d ask questions about what he felt during the Jackson 5 moment where all these companies were leaving him, and then Jermaine walks in and said ‘the Jackson 5 are leaving as well.’ What was going through his head at the moment? He was so open with that information. I was surprised. He was very free flowing with the information and very willing to really let us in on what was going on with him in the moment; to put some perspective on the piece.”

Nager shares a similar story about Gordy. “It’s funny because he was actually in my audition. He’s an icon. He’s a huge, huge man. It was definitely overwhelming but he also was in every single day of rehearsal with us. You develop a rapport with him and you develop a relationship with him. And now seeing him it’s like seeing any other director or writer that you would work with although I will say every time he speaks definitely a hush comes over everyone and I think they listen probably more carefully than they listened to other people because of who he is. He’s such an amazing man and he loves the show so much you can’t help but be overcome with the same sort of feeling that he has.”

Thomas and Nager realize how significant performing in the musical is and how it has helped them grow as artists. Thomas, who recently finished three Broadway shows, including Motown, summed it up by saying how being in each of those shows has allowed him to “step into leading man roles” and to make that transition. Having performed in the musical, Nager realizes the difference between being an overnight success versus being an artist and having to work hard for it.

“We live in such a gifted start-up time with American Idol and YouTube and people finding success overnight. But there was something that was so important about how hard these artists used to work to get to where they were, especially African American artists in the ’60s and ’70s. I would hope that it would inspire me to continue to put everything I had into my career and my music and not just try to be that overnight success. It’s really important to remember that. I think these artists that did work really hard ended up with much longer careers then the people that sort of get famous overnight. I hope that it would inspire me to work as hard as I can.”