Get Ready, Here They Come! "ain't too proud" Tells the Story of the Temptations
Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Motown group the Temptations have just swept into town. Dressed in snazzy matching blazers, performing their signature smooth moves in synch, and harmonizing effortlessly on 30 songs over the course of the 2 ½ hour production, the uber-talented ensemble cast of ain’t too proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations is at Overture Center through June 19th. A jukebox musical based on Otis Williams’ autobiography about founding the supergroup, ain’t too proud is a love letter to Black R&B singers, songwriters, producers, and musicians of the ’60s and ’70s, couched in the rise of the iconic Temptations. Heavy on music and light on introspection, ain’t too proud ticks all the boxes of a singalong history of a hit band. Predictably, as their songs climb the Billboard charts, their egos grow, tempers flare, and their lives behind the scenes become more chaotic. But exceptional performances by the whole cast make the scant story enjoyable – although your enthusiasm for the musical will probably depend on your familiarity with, and affection for, the Temptations’ entire, expansive catalog.
Dominique Morriseau’s script puts Otis Williams (played by the seemingly indefatigable Marcus Paul James) firmly center stage as the leader of the band and the narrator of the story. So, versatile showman James speaks directly to the audience between songs as he recounts the group’s hardscrapple upbringing as Southern transplants to Detroit; each member deciding he would rather take a chance on stardom in a singing group than line up for a job at the local auto plant.
Though Morriseau has written stunning plays about struggles specific to this city, the production’s set by Robert Brill consistently communicates much more about the time period and the environment than the musical’s book does. With extensive use of creative projections by Peter Nigrini, the stage transforms from gritty back alleys in an industrial town, to stages all over the world, to recording studios, bars, and after-parties. A theater marquee gives the location for every concert, while projected newspaper headlines and TV clips locate each vignette in time. The black and white images that bathe the stage give ain’t too proud both its pre-civil rights era tone and a sharp edge, framing the experience of these performers, even when their polyester mauve suits and afros tell the audience that we’re well into the 1970s.
As the personalities of the Temptations emerge, it is hard not to like each of the original quintet for their idiosyncrasies: Paul (James T. Lane) loves putting together choreography. Melvin (Harrell Holmes Jr.) is the shy, choir boy with the impossibly deep bass. David (Elijah Ahmad Lewis) is the monster talent with an ego to match. Eddie (Jalen Harris) is the skeptic who’s always on the lookout for a better offer. And Otis is the leader of the pack, trying to keep the peace and making changes to the group when things don’t work out. Unlike other bands that banked on their personalities, the Temptations shuffled through members with the frequency and efficiency of an assembly line, which means they never really broke up, they just came and went. And sometimes came back. It’s an interesting dynamic that separates this story from many others, but also makes it hard to keep track of all the players when the band gets into its third decade.
Happily, there are equally talented women in the cast in a variety of smaller roles, including girlfriends, agents, fans, and even the sequined trio, the Supremes. Traci Elaine Lee stands out in particular in two small but memorable parts. Najah Hetsberger also does really nice work as Josephine in tiny scenes that illustrate the strain on Otis’s marriage, due to his life on the road.
The portrayals of the group’s creative differences, arguments with management, and troubled personal lives of many members of the Temptations (there were two dozen, over the years) are studies in contrast to their stage personas. While in front of a crowd, every member of the group moves in perfect unison and every singer fills in his note in the chord. Their offstage their troubles are not unique – drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, domestic violence, health problems – but the show still seems to give them short shrift as it rockets through the decades. Bigger social issues like segregation in the South and racism in the music industry also receive only a passing glance.
The show shines brightest when it is highlighting the singing, dancing, and showmanship of the male ensemble, which is simply stunning from beginning to end.