After a slightly awkward start where the narrator slipped in and out of his ‘poor but lucky southern janitor at the Motown Studio’, this show warms up and hit after hit of Motown music starts rolling off. 

When Berry Gordy started his little record company in Detroit in 1959, determined to give white folks a treat by bringing them black folks music he couldn’t have know that his first number one hit 'Please Mr. Postman’ by the Marvelettes would change the face of music. Dancing in the streets is homage to the studio and also a roll call of all the great black singers from that time.

The set’s styled in a an intimate way which works for the Theatre Royal and gives the feel of a classy club, the band are stacked up behind the singers and  lead by the director and ‘musical supervisor’ Keith Strachan. They are note perfect and pump as much energy through their instruments as they can, it’s upbeat, entertaining and fun.

The cast, all tweaked and trained to within an inch of their lives by the director perform very well, with the choroegraphy and moves all performed with a sassy grace that’s a joy to watch. 

This is a very professional company.

Now I’ve got a confession to make, I don't know Motown from country & western so I’d taken along a ‘expert’ with me, who enjoyed it a lot, even being moved to tears by their rendition of  ‘What becomes of the broken hearted’ which, upon investigation, proved to be the song that Gwenda Griffiths had dumped him too when he was 14 back in 1969.

The shows like that; if you love the songs, you’ll love the show. If you don’t know them, you can relax, and enjoy a fun evening. I did.  The cast don’t try and imitate the singers, more emulate them and they let the music tell it’s own rich story.

The costumes are superb, recalling all the sequined, silken glamour of the age and the lighting worked very well to keep the atmosphere moody. It’s a very slick show and feels far more authentic than it actually is.

The second half, with less narration is much stronger and there are some excellent performances. It’s difficult to pick only one or two out of a very strong cast but Nathaniel Morrison as Marvin Gaye is superb and his voice picks up and runs with ‘How sweet it is to be loved by you’. 

Sharn Adela stands out from among the strong women singers for her Supremes ‘Stop in the name of love’ it was pure spangled, sensual, gesticulating joy. The lads singing the Temptations were wonderful, all snake hips, swift moved and note perfect singing.

There’s a lot of these retrospective tribute shows doing to rounds at the moment, most of them dire, this one can just about get away with being a show in it’s own right. No fake and forced plot, no contrived set pieces, just pure and simple, good music performed with verve and energy.  The audience certainly thought so, they were dancing in the aisles and clapping along like a house full of seals eager for another hot Smokey Robinson fish.

Plays until Sat Jan, 16, 2010

At the Theatre Royal Brighton
Book here