Overview:
The Temptations' founder, Otis Williams, has written a memoir about the group's rise to fame, which has been adapted into a musical that won 12 Tony Award nominations in 2019. The musical, "Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations," is currently playing at the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Winspear Opera House, featuring 21 singers and dancers and 31 songs from the Motown catalog. The show takes the audience through the band members' struggles with addiction, ego, and rivalries, and highlights their rise to fame from singing on Detroit street-corners to top of all national charts.
The last man standing gets to tell the story. Otis Williams, founder of the Temptations and the sole surviving member of the group, wrote a memoir about the famed quintet’s rise from singing on Detroit street-corners to the top of all national charts. That book became the basis for the musical that won 12 Tony Award nominations when it opened on Broadway in 2019. The musical then went on to win the Tony for Best Choreography.
Nostalgic Performances Rooted in History
The performance takes the audience, wringer by wringer, song by song, through the band members’ addictive thrill of performing to an enthralled audience. The play does not shy away from depicting the members’ addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex and “slugging it out” with each other. The story highlights the struggle of handling battered egos, facing off against ruthless agents, dealing with highly-driven managers and reconciling differences with each other.
Dominique Morisseau wrote the book based on Williams’ memoir, and Sergio Trujillo created the elegant, irresistible choreography based on dancing that captivated baby boomers on American Bandstand at the time. During this era of musical history, R&B music was making a crossover to white audiences, and every child was trying to duplicate the drop-dead moves and splits on screen.
A Whirlwind of Entertainment
Billed as the quintessential Jukebox musical, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations is packed with powerhouse harmonies and the smooth, highly stylized choreography of the great DooWap era, is onstage at the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Winspear Opera House. The touring production features 21 shining singers and dancers, and has all the glam, glitz and hand-clapping fun of 31 songs from the legendary Motown catalog. The production features more than just Temptations hits like “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and “Since I Lost My Baby.” The svelte, sexy Supremes, also have featured hits like “Baby Love” and “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” This cohesive catalog of hits is sure to elicit whistles and stomps from any audience.
From Detroit one-nighters in the 60s to network television and top clubs in major cities across the country, to present-day music legend status, Williams (played by soulful tenor Rudy Foster) kept the band touring and performing for decades. The play also follows the historical context of the race riots and burnings in Detroit, the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Vietnam War. Williams found a replacement for band members, regardless of their respective reasons for leaving the group. Though some may see his actions as ruthless, Williams’ vision was the force that held the band together through so many shifts of style and venue. At the end of the two-hour show, Williams steps forward as a narrator, and reminds the audience that there were “27 Temptations, and [they] were the longest performing group in history.”
The entire cast of performers left it all on the stage on opening night. The band, the stagehands, and all cast members were greeted with cheers and applause by eager, nostalgic fans of all backgrounds singing along — happy to share a night out with their old heartthrobs.
In need of a soul music fix? “Ain’t Too Proud” runs through May 5 at the Winspear Opera House. For times and tickets, check out attpac.org or call 214-880-0202.