Arts Alive! podcast: Chester Gregory, ‘A Motown Celebration’

On today’s Arts Alive! podcast, singer and actor Chester Gregory talks about the road that took him from his Indiana hometown to the stage at freeFall Theatre, where he’s starring through Sept. 10 in A Motown Celebration.

There were some mighty impressive stops along the way – Gregory, who’d already name a name for himself portraying Jackie “Mr. Entertainment” Wilson onstage from coast to coast – made his first Broadway appearance in Hairspray, then moved on to Cry-Baby and Disney’s Tarzan, among others.

Next, he was tapped – by Motown Records founder Barry Gordy – to play one of the leads in the Broadway production of Motown The Musical. Gregory played Gordy himself, who sings 17 Motown chestnuts in the show. (The real-life Gordy is a songwriter, but not a singer. Such is the magic of theater.)

The result is the 90-minute A Motown Celebration, in which Gregory, backed by a dynamic three-piece combo, tells entertaining stories about Broadway, about Motown’s stars, and about his own professional adventures.

And yes, he sings – a lot. From “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” to “What’s Going On,” from “My Girl” to “Superstition,” this versatile rhythm ‘n’ blues vocalist delivers a veritable who’s who from Motown’s heyday, along with classics from the likes of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding – and Jackie Wilson.

Click on the arrow to listen to the interview.