Dream girl makes magic

For the past quarter of a century, Diana Ross has been kicking off many concerts with her number one hit, I’m Coming Out, which was adopted in the 1980s as a song of gay pride.

Roz Thomas has been performing as Diana Ross for eight years in the tribute show, Motown Magic, which will play in Sydney in early May. Whenever she has experienced an ovation from gay fans when she too sang the Ross classic, Thomas admits she always thought the crowd was excited by more than just the song.

I always thought the reason everyone was reacting so much to that song was the costumes I was wearing, she admits from her Californian home. I have been singing that song for years, and I had never thought of it in that way [as a gay pride song].

Someone explained that to me, but I was just performing it like Diana -“ she has used it to open many of her concerts for years. It’s a good song.

In Motown Magic, Thomas performs as Diana Ross in one segment with The Supremes on such hits as Baby Love and Love Child, and then later as a solo star with such Ross hits as Chain Reaction and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.

Clothes obviously play an important role in any Supremes or Ross tribute show, but Thomas admits it has always been the clothes which inspired her as much as the music itself.

I loved the Supremes, but I always loved Diana Ross in terms of her fashion. She has always been an inspiration, Thomas says. Her whole style and aura is incredible.

All the clothing we wear in the show as Diana are my designs, as are The Supremes dresses. I get to design what I think she would wear. And Diana’s dresses are big dresses.

True to her passion, when asked what she liked about the recent Supremes-inspired movie Dreamgirls, Thomas replies, I loved the costumes.

And unlike the notorious stories of when Ross did battle backstage with fellow Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, Thomas says a very different tone is set before each show of Motown Magic with her co-stars Toni Mathews and Gwendolyn Moore-Forsythe.

We pray together, and we always make sure we put God first, she says. We have fun.

In Motown Magic, other legendary acts paid tribute to include The Four Tops, The Temptations and Jackie Wilson.

The show has been touring the world for eight years, but will be making its Australian debut in the May season.

As for why Motown music of 40 years ago remains so popular today, Thomas says it was a time of major talents and a sound which changed music forever.

In this show, I think we are standing on the shoulders of giants, she says. They went through so much, and paved the way for what came after them. Those people were giants and the music lives on because it was incredible.

Motown Magic plays Friday 11 May at the State Theatre, Sydney. Bookings at www.ticketmaster.com.au.