Crowds gathered outside the Motown Museum in Detroit Tuesday morning. Music could be heard around the block as would-be stars belted out classic tunes just steps away from Studio A where greats such as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and others hatched their careers.
Those who gathered have dreams of stardom. Open auditions were being held inside for “Motown the Musical.”
The show is currently playing at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre, but a new national tour is prepping to start the next run.
It may have been just one day, but the excitement the auditions brought to the historic home on West Grand Boulevard brought a special feel. Hundreds showed up, and if you closed your eyes and listened to the music you could almost imagine the look, sound and feel that emanated from the home in it’s heyday.
Berry Gordy, the founder of the music label, showed up to listen to some of the top auditions. In a one-on-one interview with 7 Action News, he explained that the musical that tells his, and his company’s, history takes him back and gives him a chance to see the story in a very different way.
“When you’re doing it all and things are happening every single day you don’t get a chance to reminisce,” said Berry Gordy.
Gordy, flanked by the man who plays him in the current showing of his musical, said that he was hit by waves of memories walking back into his part-time home, and full-time studio from Motown’s original run.
“I will never forget this day,” said Chester Gregory, the actor who will portray Gordy.
As for Gordy, he noted that watching auditions of young artists trying to portray a young Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson or even Diana Ross gave him a chance to see everything in a new light.
“You know, when I saw them naturally I didn’t appreciate them as much as I do now,” said Gordy. “I realize I happened to be, my life happened to be, a fairy tale that just happened to come true.”
Now young men and women from all over Detroit are hoping their own dreams come true.
As it turns out, one of the lucky ones isn’t from Detroit.
A handful of family friends from Metro Detroit urged 10-year-old Chase Phillips to audition. Phillips and his mother got in a car and made the long road trip from Louisville. He slept a mere four hours before his audition, but he wowed the casting directors who decided to bring him back for Gordy to see.
“My heart was racing like boom, boom, boom,” said Phillips. “I was really nervous, I wanted to scream but I had to hold it in.”
He not only held it in, he impressed. After belting out the classic Jackson 5 hit “I Want You Back,” he walked into the hallway. His only clue of how he did: Gordy’s head that bobbed up and down throughout the performance.
“I just really loved the way they smiled at me,” said Phillips. “It made me feel good. I felt very in place while I was there.”
They must have agreed. Someone rushed back into the hallway within a minute of Phillips walking out asking him to come back inside. Gordy wanted to hear him sing more, but after a little discussion it was decided they didn’t need to hear him sing more right now. Instead, they wanted to get him some training ahead of a second audition in Los Angeles.
Phillip’s mother could not have looked more proud.
“He told me a long time ago what he wanted to do,” said Stephanie Nelson. “He said that he didn’t care if anyone came to see him perform. It’s what he loves to do, so I guess his dream is coming true at a young age.”
There is no guarantee he’ll make it to the cast — but the dream is one step closer to reality.
For those who know the story of how Motown grew to become a dominating force on radio dials across the country, the dream seems like anything but a long-shot.
Website to buy tickets for the show: http://www.broadwayindetroit.com/
