The Best of Motown and More Comes to the Luez Theater
AJSR, William Gill, Ditannual (Doc) Hutchison, Gerald Lyles, also known as the singing group The Best of Motown and More, transported the Luez Theatre to the heyday of Motown music and the audience happily traveled along for the ride. The show, A Motown Christmas Concert, was the kickoff celebration of the City of Bolivar’s Christmas holiday season.
The Temptations, Four Tops, The Stylistics, and {Detroit} Spinners were just some of the artists whose songs were sung. The Best of Motown and More brought the energy, choreography, and the talent for a night of music and entertainment by artists normally seen in bigger cities. They came to Bolivar to show “what talent we got in Branson, Missouri,” where the group is based.
Doc (Detroit) and Gill (Flint) were born in Michigan, Lyles was raised in Detroit, and AJSR is from St. Louis, Missouri. Each has notable performance resumes that were evident by their talent on the stage. They have been performing together for about three years and have perfected the rhythm and harmony of what so many remember of the Motown sound. Singing Motown music just came naturally for these men who have a common thread on being “raised on the music” [of Motown].
“Get Ready”, “It’s A Shame”, “Just My Imagination”, “Ain’t No Woman”, “The Girl’s Alright With Me”, “I’ll Be There”, “You Are Everything”, “You Make Me Feel Brand New”, and so many more favorites were sung.
They got the audience on their feet for the “Love Train” and did the same when they sang “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” while also teaching them The Best of Motown and More choreographed dance steps.
Although it was a night of Motown music, it was also an evening of Christmas favorites that set the tone for the season. “The Christmas Song”, “Give Love on Christmas Day”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, and “This Christmas” were just some of the songs they sang.
The Best of Motown and More entertained for more than two hours. It was the first time they had performed in Bolivar.
“The Luez Theater is a great venue, and the crowd was the best,” they all agreed.
“We feed off of that and our performance reflects what we get from the crowd,” said AJSR. “Thank you to everyone who came out tonight.”
The Bolivar’s Christmas celebration continued over the weekend with its annual Christmas parade and Christmas tree lighting. Click here to read more about these events and all the Christmas events happening in Hardman County in December.
The Best of Motown and More was brought to the Luez Theater by Faith & Family Events, which will bring “Tied up in Knotts”: A Tribute to 5-time Emmy Award winner Don Knotts to the Luez in January.
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