by Genea L. Webb
For New Pittsburgh Courier
A taste of Motown is coming to Pittsburgh on May 9th.
New Horizon, Inc. is bringing Motown Extreme to the O’Reilly Theater’s main stage (621 Penn Avenue, downtown) for the theater’s annual fundraising event. Tickets can be purchased online or at Dorsey’s. Tickets begin at $50. There is a $100 special package which includes orchestra seating and brochure name listing, orchestra $100; balcony $75; upper balcony $50
“They are a high-energy group who can dance and sing. We’re hoping to attract a diverse audience and it should be a great show. We weren’t sure we would be able to do the show because we were waiting on finding, but it looks like New Horizon Theater will be able to come through for the people,” said New Horizon Theater, Inc. Chairperson Joyce Meggerson-Moore.
Tunes from groups like The Jackson 5, The O’Jay’s, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations will be performed.
Motown Extreme is a high-octane, musical revue out of Clark County (Las Vegas) Nevada featuring live performances of Motown classics for a nostalgic trip through Black soul music’s golden era.
“Music back in the day taught the world how to party and how to love. Our music is timeless.,” said Ausar Robert Bragg, performer and founder of the family owned and operated Motown Extreme, which was created in 2015. “We have been performing all of our lives and we’ve traveled all around the world performing. We started this because we saw a need, a need for Old School music because the Old School cats are gone now but people still wanted to see the groups like the Jackson 5.
Keeping it alive is showing people a bit of what was going on back then.”
The Motown Extreme show has won the Las Vegas Black Music Award for Best Live Performance and Best Vocal Performance and Best Vocal Group and many other accolades. It is the only show to feature a Jackson 5 tribute.
Meggerson-Moore is confident that her audience is going to enjoy the night strolling down Motown memory lane. This show configuration is a bit of a departure for New Horizon in that there are 11 entertainers in the show, which is the largest group of performers New Horizon, Inc. has hosted for their annual fundraising event. This year’s affair will not include an excerpt from the theater’s next play production, nor will it include the reception after the show.
“There are so many songs in their repertoire and we wanted people to get the full experience. People will still be able to purchase their good seats. These are all tunes that our audience will like. It promises to be an amazing night of music. People will be dancing in their seats hearing music that they like but haven’t heard in a while.” Meggerson-Moore said.
Bragg is delighted to bring Motown Extreme to the Steel City for the first time and to work with New Horizon,Inc. in its continuing pursuit to bring premium Black theater to Pittsburgh audiences.
“Black theater is very important. Back in the day in Chicago and main street New York there was Black theater everywhere. New Horizon Theater is keeping it alive. You always have support their work from poetry, to music—Bebop, Hip-Hop—you have to keep it alive,” Bragg said. “Black theater is the home of Black music history. It’s a compass people use to let people know who they are.”
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. visit www.newhorizontheater.org to purchase tickets. To learn more about Motown Extreme visit www.Motownextreme.com.
