This week I wrote up a scope of my project, including all I plan on putting together:
INTEGRATIVE PROJECT SCOPE
working title: HITSVILLE, DETROIT Tour
ARTISTS:
Martha Reeves
Smokey Robinson
Levi Stubbs
Diana Ross
Otis Williams
*Berry Gordy
OTHER POSSIBILITIES:
Mary Wells
Melvin Franklin
Abdul "Duke" Fakir
Florence Ballard
NEED FOR TOUR:
4 Performers - 2 girls, 2 guys - A cappella members
Map of Stops and tour info - 1 sheet, folded.
Website - forwarded to from map, interactive, more in depth than map(info-wise).
SCRIPT & SONGS:
Reeves - "Come and Get These Memories" or "Heatwave"
Smokey - "Shop Around"
Stubbs - "Reach Out" or "Can't Help Myself"
Ross - "Baby Love" or "Come See About Me"
Williams - "My Girl" or "The Way You Do the Things You Do"
I also e-mailed 2 professors in CAAS because they are currently teaching classes about Motown. One of them e-mailed this back:
"Your project sounds fascinating. I don't know the city of Detroit well, unfortunately, and my knowledge of Motown comes mainly from the books we're reading this semester. We're reading about Ross (of course), Smokey, Reeves (though just a bit), as well as Otis Williams's history of the Temptations. The best I could do in the way of offering help is to send a copy of my syllabus, which is attached. Sorry I can't be of more assistance."
The syllabus included books I've read and some I haven't, so I'll be looking into those further.
Also, to answer Sean's inquires, I've decided to focus on the map and scripts now, so the markers will be on the back burner for now. In terms of the order of the tour, this is how I see it panning out:
At each stop will be a speech about each artist, followed by a song.
A bus/van ride to another stop, where music will be played, and tour attendees will be encouraged to share personal stories about Motown in their lives.
After the tour, I'm thinking of giving the attendees the option of going to the Motown Museum, since my tour will be covering what happened before the artists joined Hitsville, and the museum picks up after that.
(I will be contacting Deb Mexicotte at Arts @ Michigan for possible funding and transportation via Culture Bus)
WHAT NEXT:
I'll be writing up a script for Smokey Robinson and thinking about a logo/brand for the tour.
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Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI found this website that has a visual tour of Motown recording studios already documented with street addresses etc, if you haven't already seen it:
http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/web01-soulfuldetroit/index.html
Also, here is a blog I found about Motown locations in Detroit. The last post was just a few days ago.
http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=3422
I am wondering who you anticipate the attendees to be for your tour and how many tours you would give in a day? You have said before that this would be a one day event with an accompanying website. I am worried though, that you aren't addressing your audience or engaging the community in which you want to create this awareness.
Are you interested in making this into a sustainable project? Why or why not? These are important questions to address.
Erica
Thanks Erica!! This blog is REALLY helpful!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteI don't see a post for this last week, although Hannah mentioned you a really good job using the small group meeting with John/Elona's students.
Erica's links look very helpful. Her questions are excellent. I'm wondering your thoughts about audience, engaging community and sustainability of your project. These would be good to reflect on in your next entry.
-stephanie