The Motown sound changed music as profoundly as Bob Dylan or the Beatles did. Jesse Nager knew this almost innately as a 5-year-old bopping around his house in Somerville listening to the Jackson Five.
But Nager didn’t grasp the full impact of Berry Gordy’s sonic revolution until he landed a part in “Motown: The Musical,” which runs tomorrow through Feb. 15 at the Boston Opera House.
“I knew the songs; I loved the songs, but I didn’t really understand how Motown affected American culture,” Nager said from the touring production’s stop in Buffalo.
“The company was part of ending segregation. Before Motown, you didn’t see a lot of black and white kids dancing at the same concert. And you didn’t really see into black life. Berry Gordy and Motown began to change that.”
The 33-year-old thought he’d be a professional dancer — he studied for five years at Mary Flynn Murphy Dance Studio, which is still teaching kids in Somerville. But he followed some buddies to a musical theater audition at camp one summer and his journey toward Broadway began.
“It was ‘Sweeney Todd,’ ” he said. “Heady stuff for an 11-year-old, but I knew musical theater was for me from then on.”
Nager has performed in other Broadway and touring shows, but the role of Smokey Robinson forced him to elevate his skills.
“The trick with this one is Smokey’s a real person, a real living person,” he said. “I can’t just go making things up. I had to study him. Also, he’s Berry Gordy’s best friend, maybe the only one that really reaches him sometimes. There’s a lot to the part.”
Jukebox musicals often take heat for substituting songs for substance. And with 50 songs crammed into about two hours and 40 minutes, “Motown” doesn’t have a ton of time for story. But Nager says the tale of Hitsville isn’t just hits.
“It really does take you behind the scene to see how Berry and Smokey built this business,” he said. “These people became a family. You see those relationships develop.
“And you see that Smokey let Berry run the show, but Berry let Smokey be the star.”
Nager will continue to act as the artistic director for the Broadway Boys, a touring troupe he founded a decade ago that performs Broadway standards and classic pop songs, but he’s going to keep living Smokey’s life for a while.
“I’ve only been in the touring show since November, and have no plans of leaving,” he said. “If a year ago, you told me I’d even have this part, I would have been shocked, so I’m not letting it go.”
“Motown: The Musical,” at the Boston Opera House, tomorrow through Feb. 15. Tickets: $40-$225; ticketmaster.com.
