THE Magic Of Motown touring revue is promising “surprises that our audience might not be expecting” at the Grand Opera House in York on Saturday.

None more so than who will be singing Michael Jackson numbers in the 7.30pm show. “For one of our singers, Amara Smith, her speciality is Michael,” says choreographer and lead male singer Andre Lejaune. “When everyone sees her, they think, ‘Hey man, she’s so cute’.

“It was something we tried out because the guy who was doing Michael’s songs went off sick and I thought, ‘Why doesn’t a girl do it?’ and Amara’s done it ever since – and I have to say she’s better than the guy was.”

The 2014 tour takes its title from a celebration of The Supremes in honour of the 50th anniversary of their first British number one, Baby Love.

“The guys have tended to dominate the show, so we decided we wanted a makeover for the ladies, putting them in some nice outfits and glittery things, and focusing more on them,” says Andre.

What better reason to do that than the Motown music of The Supremes, with Nyemeck Besala, from Jamaica, in the role of Diana Ross.

“When The Supremes came out, they were one of the first female groups to do what they were doing, and Motown founder Berry Gordy then took them to a level that no girl group had reached, as people weren’t interested in that possibility before,” says Andre.

“As a female trio, what they did was amazing. They took the world by storm, as did Motown.”

Andre not only sings the songs of Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie and choreographs the show, he also is in charge of costumes, along with his wife Claire, who makes some of the designs.

“I come back from trips with suitcases of clothes, paying for the extra luggage because it’s worth it,” he says.

“The look of the show contemporises the look of back in the day to coincide with what’s happening today, but in most cases, people want to see what the style was back then.

“When I go shopping for the girls, all over the world, in America, in Spain, when I see things that I think will make the show stand out from the rest, I’ll buy three or four of them for the girls.”

Andre will be joined in the show’s male ranks by Phillip Kavuma, who leads The Temptations’ songs; Bevin Sutherland, “our Marvin Gaye”; and Leon Maurice Jones, up front as Levi Stubbs in The Four Tops’ numbers.

“The show is such a feel-good show and we love doing the Four Tops, Temptations and Isley Brothers songs – and this time we’ll be doing songs that people have been requesting that we didn’t do on the last tour.

“Watch this space,” says Andre.

Putting him on the spot to define the essence of the Motown sound, he throws the spotlight on the musicians that played on so many hits. “When Motown was originated from the ground up, the magic ingredient in the chemistry were the Funk Brothers,” says Andre.

“They were the foundation of the music created in the Detroit studios and made Motown what it is. On top of that, Berry Gordy capitalised on it with such amazing singers to perform to their different grooves and different licks. The Funk Brothers did that time and time again; that’s what kept Motown so strong and so alive.”

The Magic Of Motown revels in a seven-piece band replicating that Funk Brothers sound. “Fortunately, I found some British musicians who had that ‘feel’, and they can play just the way the singers are feeling and acting,” says Andre.

Magic indeed: the British and the Americans gathered together in a special Motown relationship.

• The Magic Of Motown, Baby Love, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york. Also Harrogate Royal Hall, May 16, 7.30pm; 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk