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Motown Streets Pave West End Way to Cambridge

As previously tipped (See The Goss, 10 Mar 2005), Dancing in the Streets, a celebration of the greatest Motown hits, will transfer to the West End at the conclusion of its 35-venue UK tour (See News, 3 Mar 2005). It will open on 19 July 2005 (previews from 7 July) at the Cambridge Theatre, where it's initially booking to 24 September.

In 1959, songwriter Berry Gordy formed his own record company, Tamla Motown Records, in a timber frame bungalow in Detroit. During the years that followed, black soul music started to reach a white audience through a roll call of groups and singers including: the Four Tops, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson Five, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Commodores, Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Isley Brothers and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

Dancing in the Streets celebrates the best of the Motown repertoire, which included hits like “I Heard It Through the Grape Vine“, “Baby Love“, “My Girl“, “I'll Be There“, “Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours“, “Where Did Our Love Go?“, “What's Going On?“, “The Way You Do the Things You Do“, “Please Mr Postman“, “ABC“, “Heat Wave“, “You Can't Hurry Love“, “Tears of a Clown”, “Tracks of My Tears“ and the show’s title song, “Dancing in the Streets”.

The Motown musical is directed by Keith Strachan, who also provides musical supervision. Choreography is by Carole Todd and set design by Sean Cavanagh. The show is produced by Flying Music, the same outfit behind The Rat Pack - Live from Live Vegas, which moves from the West End’s Strand to Savoy Theatre next month (See News, 31 Mar 2005).

The Cambridge Theatre has been dark since the closure, on 19 February 2005, of the controversial but award-winning musical Jerry Springer - The Opera (See News, 12 Jan 2005). Prior to Dancing in the Streets, TV illusionist and mind-reader Derren Brown will have a limited season, from 31 May to 18 June 2005, with his latest live show, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

- by Terri Paddock

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