CCAE Theatricals is best known for its high-quality musical theater productions that have won multiple awards from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle in recent years.
But three-quarters of the 5-year-old Escondido theater company’s annual productions are themed concerts. Last weekend, CCAE presented two performances of its biggest annual concert production, “Motown: The Groove That Changed America.” It will be followed with two more themed concert productions in the coming weeks devoted to country music and to women composer-pianists.
If you haven’t seen CCAE Theatricals’ “Motown” show in years past, it’s a stunner. In past years, the impressive concert was presented in the smaller 400-seat theater at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. This year it moved to the center’s 1,500-seat concert hall.
To size up the sound for the much larger venue, the returning 10-piece D. Ben-Jamin’ Band and its six vocal soloists were supplemented this year with a 10-piece string section. When the curtains opened and the full orchestra kicked in on Saturday night, it was an impressively rich sound. Another addition this year was the multitalented pre-teen singer-dancers known singularly as “Gabriel,” who wowed on several songs as the young Michael Jackson.
The two-hour Motown concert featured 10 sections of songs dedicated to the Detroit record company’s most famous music artists, including Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops, the Temptations, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Diana Ross (with and without The Supremes), Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and more . The singers alternated singing in front of the onstage orchestra, with projected images of the featured Motown artists on a large screen behind them.
Directed by Jeffrey Polk with music direction and conducting by bandleader Duane Benjamin, the smooth and fast-paced show wasn’t presented in chronological order of the hits produced by Motown from 1961-1971. Instead the segments spotlighting individual stars and groups includes songs from throughout their recording years with Motown. Except for one medley, all of the songs were performed in full.
Among the show’s highlights were Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of Clown” sung by Durell Anthony; Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” sung by Mel Collins; Knight’s version of “Grape Vine” sung by Sylvia MacCalla; Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” by Derrick Harris; The Temptations’ “My Girl” by Dedrick Bonner; and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave” by Krystle Simmons.
The orchestra’s three saxophone players (Adam Schroeder, Jason Fabus and Phillip Whack) and keyboardist Adam Ledbetter got a great workout in the Stevie Wonder section, and the string section added luster to many of the songs.
The audience, 800 strong at each of the two performances, knew the show and the music and little promptin was needed to get them up to dance and sing along during multiple numbers.
Coming up next for CCAE Theatricals is “Nashville Nights,” a concert program of country music from its classic roots to modern day, on April 19-21. Then comes “Piano Women: The Music of Carole King, Sara Bareilles, Norah Jones and More,” featuring four women singer-pianists and two pianos on May 24-26. Both of these shows will be in the 400-seat theater at the arts center.
For tickets, visit theatricals.org.