Dancing in the Streets at the Grand Opera House, York Review
Dancing in the Streets
Grand Opera House, York
18 October 2014
Reviewed by Emma Wasson
As I arrived at the Grand Opera House in York it was already very busy and there was already a good atmosphere even before the performance had started, it was clear that everyone was there to have a good time.
The show kicked off with a rendition of “I Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops, being sung by all 7 performers, 4 male and 3 female who make up the Dancing in the Streets company. The first guy came onto stage and one by one the rest of the guys joined him and sung together, clad in yellow satin shirts and black trousers, they looked the part. The girls followed them onto stage, again one by one wearing knee length dresses, looking very much like The Marvelettes of their day.
It was clear right from the start that the evening was going to be enjoyable, all of the performers were at ease with the crowd, and built up a rapport with the audience right from the start, and the crowd were more than willing to join in, and it wasn’t long before some audience members were up in the aisles dancing and eventually most of the audience just stood up in their seats and danced, it was brilliant. It definitely makes the evening more enjoyable and last night’s crowd at the Grand Opera House were definitely keen to have a good time.
It was a joy to listen to all of the performers as they all have such amazing voices and during the night they must have performed around 50 renditions of Motown classics, including numbers from The Supremes and The Temptations, including “You Can’t Hurry Love”, “My Girl”, “Mr Postman”, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, “This Old Heart of Mine” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. Throughout the evening we got to really appreciate the musical talents of each of the artists and they not only performed group numbers, but performed solo numbers and took centre stage, whilst the remaining company performed as backup singers, with the lighting complimenting them putting them in the spotlight whilst they took centre stage, with the backing members then cast in the shadows. The show also included an amazing tribute to Stevie Wonder with “You Can Feel It All Over”; it was a brilliant rendition with every detail of the singer’s mannerisms being recreated on stage.
There were numerous costume changes throughout for both the men and women and all the outfits not only fitted to the era with the looks of the famous Motown bands being recreated, they also looked amazing on stage. I particularly liked the girls in The Supremes famous floor length white dresses with fur trim and shrugs. However it was not just the outfits that had been replicated, every attention to detail had been made, including makeup, jewellery and shoes. Each song would not only see the girls wearing a different outfit but sporting a different hairstyle as well. From long and bouffant, to short and stylish to the full on long voluptuous curls of Diana Ross, they not only complimented the outfits but allowed the girls to change their whole look and recreate the desirable Motown look of the bands, such as The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas. The men were no exception, and certainly looked very dapper all evening, sporting either coloured satin shirts with black trousers, or suits two favourites were a red jacket with sparkly trimmed collars and cuffs, and the full black tie with cummerbund and dicky bow.
The show had been brilliantly choreographed, with all the Motown bands famous moves being performed on stage, and my friend and I weren’t the only ones attempting to copy many of the dance moves as we stood up joining in, it was a lot of fun.
The company was also made up of 5 amazingly talented musicians, who remained on stage throughout the entire performance, and during the night we also were introduced to them individually, allowing each band member to shine and perform a solo piece to the audience, which was also appreciated by the crowd.
At several points during the show the artists interacted with the crowd. Whilst one band member was performing “Three Times a Lady”, by Lionel Ritchie he got more than he bargained for, as he decided to come down the steps into the stalls,2 ladies practically accosted the singer trying to pull him off stage whilst trying to fight off their friend to have full control of the singer. The audience loved it and couldn’t stop laughing, and the singer managed to handle the over excitable ladies extremely well!!
When the singers interacted with the crowd there were certainly many rowdy members in the stalls only too willing to join in the banter with the occasional sexual comments shouted at the stage, the artists acknowledged it all in good humour, joking that they needed security on stage to control the rowdy women from the Lionel Ritchie incident!!
During the second half as part of an Edwin Starr tribute 2 of the guys performed a rendition of War, which involved active audience participation as they split the audience in two to sing different parts of the song. The crowd loved it and everyone joined in, the sound was amazing.
It was clear throughout that the audience were avid Motown lovers and got excited as certain songs were introduced, actively participating throughout by clapping and singing along to dancing in the aisle and especially during the second half most people stood up at some point in their seat dancing and singing along to the tunes.
All of the performers that make up Dancing in the Streets are not only amazingly talented singers but talented dancers and performers. They had all obviously rehearsed extremely long hours together and their professionalism came across on stage and all of them gave an extremely polished performance all evening as they recreated the sounds and moves of the famous Motown label singers.
Overall, what an amazing performance, with 7 outstanding talented performers, who not only had amazing voices but had the dance moves as well. It was a great feel good evening, singing and dancing along to the well-known Motown classics. Loved the costumes, loved the songs, loved the audience participation and would recommend this to anyone, and would definitely go back again.
Rating: 5/5 
Dancing in the Streets is currently touring the UK. For more information, tour dates and venues click here.
Grand Opera House York, Clifford and Cumberland Street, York, YO1 9SW | 0844 8713024
