BERLIN, Germany (Top40 Charts/ Estrel Berlin PR) - On January 12th one of the most important record labels in the history of music celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding: Motown Records. On the occasion of the world-wide anniversary celebrations, the world premiere of the show Memories of Motown will be presented in January at the Estrel Berlin. The newest musical stage show of Berlin producer Bernhard Kurz ("Stars in Concert") brings back all the unmistakeable world hits with which the
Detroit record label celebrated its success in the 60's and 70's.
In Memories of Motown real Motown stars - like The Contours and The Miracles - take the audience away to the glamorous times of Motown with their songs. Another highlight is the performance of soul singer Martha Reeves who stormed the US charts in the 60's as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas with "Dancing In The Street" and "Heat Wave". Alongside the originals the world's best performers of Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson and Mary Wells will bring the unmistakeable sound of Motown to the stage with true passion.
The audience will also learn a lot about the Musical Empire of Motown; special guests on the show are Al Abrams, Motowns first contract employee who later became Motown's Public Relations Director, as well as William "Mickey" Stevenson, former head of the A&R Department (artists and repertoire) and songwriter. Both of them experienced up close how the label wrote history and how for the first time black musicians had more success than their white colleagues. Abrams and Stevenson will tell unknown stories about Motown and funny anecdotes from the first days of the record label that even the biggest fans may not yet have heard.
The soundtrack of Memories of Motown will be available on the day of the premiere exclusively at the Estrel on CD. The album, released in cooperation with Universal Music and available in stores on January 23, contains the original versions of 18 songs from Memories of Motown.
Furthermore Bernhard Kurz is going to produce a Motown Musical, which will be on stage in 2010.
A picture accompanying this release is available on AP Archive: https://photoarchive.ap.org (PRN3)
North American media contact: Al Abrams, Mail: [email protected]; German media contact: "Stars in Concert" c/o Estrel Berlin, Mihaela Djuranovic and Miranda Meier, Sonnenallee 225, 12057 Berlin, Germany, Tel: +49(0)30-6831-22124, Fax: +49(0)30-6831-2366, Mail: [email protected], https://www.stars-in-concert.de