Showtime: Jesse Nager plays the role of Smokey Robinson in the hit show Motown the Musical, on stage at the Academy of Music through Jan. 18.
When he was just 5 years old, Jesse Nager knew he wanted to be a performer, and asked his mom for dance lessons.
She agreed, and since then, there’s been no looking back, surely not for Nager, who today plays the role of Smokey Robinson in the hit show Motown the Musical, showing at the Academy of Music through Jan. 18.
This show is the American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of stars such as Robinson, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.
“And it was one of my dreams to play Smokey,” said Nager, who originally appeared in the Broadway production of Motown as Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations. “I had understudied the role of Smokey on Broadway, so when the show began its tour, I was given the role.”
And what a role it is, he said.
“It’s definitely a huge responsibility because Smokey is a real person and he’s been around for a long time. We’ve done a lot of research and met with him several times. As for me, I naturally have a high voice, so it’s not been difficult to sound like him.”
Featuring more than 40 classic hit songs such as My Girl and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, the show also tells the story behind the hits and the fight against the odds to create the soundtrack of change in America.
“It’s about how white people were able to make a connection to black culture for the first time,” said Nager. “The fact that he could do that was, I think, one of Gordy’s biggest successes. Of course, it did create some strife in some cities, but in the end it all worked out.”
Nager, 33, began working his way toward a musical career while attending LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. Graduating from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, he went on to make his Broadway debut in Mamma Mia. He later went on to appear in Good Vibrations, Mary Poppins, Scandalous and others.
He is also the founder and artistic director of Broadway Boys, a group of New York tenors who incorporate funk, gospel, pop and rock into traditional show tunes.
“You know, a former professor of mine once told me, ‘If there’s anything else you can do and be happy doing it, then do it.’ But for me, this is it. There’s absolutely nothing else I’d rather be doing.” ••
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