By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
Producers of Broadway shows that performed reasonably well on the Great White Way have largely been upping their game in the years since the pandemic. With theatre-starved audiences shut out during the COVID pandemic, demand has been ramping up and the producers have been delivering star quality shows in the interim.
The upcoming national tour of Mrs. Doubtfire with Broadway sensation Rob McClure is one indication of the commitment of the producers to bring that show to as many people as possible and to give them a level of performance equal to that seen at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Past national tours of Hadestown, Moulin Rouge and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical all positively reflect on this trend.
So, too, is the national tour of Ain’t Too Proud currently on stage at the Saenger Theater in its last showing. Subtitled The Life and Times of the Temptations, it is every bit as good with the high production values that kept it running at the Imperial Theatre before and after the pandemic for 488 performances.
In accordance with the cost of tickets at the Saenger for these national touring shows, such a gold standard of high production values and an elevated level of talent should always be expected.
Michael Andreaus, stars as Otis Williams, the Temptation who wrote the memoir on which playwright Dominique Morriceau based her excellent book for the musical. Using most of the charting songs of the Temptations, the juke box musical also uses several songs culled from the Motown catalog as well as a very few selections that help to propel the characters along from non-Motown Records sources.
As Williams, the last surviving member of the original five-man group, Andreaus is the narrator of the work and it is clearly his story that figures most prominently at each performance. He tells how he was bullied and became a bully on the tough streets of Detroit, entering juvenile detention for a series of bad decisions. How he found song and music as a way to pull himself up and to enlist the services of fellow Detroit performers is at the heart of the origin story of the Temptations.
They begin innocently trying to get into the spotlight and compete with chart toppers like the Supremes with songs like “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” Derek Adams plays Smokey Robinson, the man put in charge of the artists’ repertoire by label owner Berry Gordy (Jeremy Kelsey).
With ballads like “I Wish It Would Rain” and “My Girl,” the Temptations were initially lead by vocalist David Ruffin, (Elijah Ahmad Lewis). Ruffin took the group on a string of incredible hits, but the book reveals at much too terrible a price due to his out of control ego and rampant drug usage.
Jalen Harris plays another lead singer – Eddie Kendricks – who took the group on another egocentric ride as he smoothly sang “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” or advanced sales for the group with more issues-oriented tunes like “Cloud Nine” and “Ball of Confusion.”
Songs like “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” elicit sing-alongs from audience members, who are very familiar with the repertoire.
But it’s not all about the boys. Amber Mariah Talley stars as Diana Ross with Brittny Smith and Shayla Brielle G featured as the other Supremes. The ładies figure in prominent scenes as they put in several appearances, too, as Gordy’s first superstars. At first, the Temptations are the opening act for the Supremes, but it’s not long before they are their equals; eventually, the Temptations’ careers soared past them, outlasting them by several decades.
More than anything else, this is a musical that showcases the perseverance and determination of the members of the group who survived through tough times to become the greatest rhythm and blues group in recording history. According to Morriseau’s book, 22 singers have appeared as Temptations throughout their formation.
The group’s story is also colorfully told through great projections by Peter Nigrini alsong with wonderful lighting by Howell Binley and sound designs by Steve Canyon Kennedy. Exceptional costumes are by Paul Tazewll with an additional shout out to Charles G. Lapointe for original hair and wig designs. The choreography by Sergio Trujillo is terrific and the orchestrations by Harold Wheeler and arrangements by Kenny Seymour, help transform Ain’t Too Proud into one fantastic jukebox musical that should not be missed.
The entire production is well directed by Des McAnuff, the two-time Tony Award winner who set the standard for bio musicals with Jersey Boys.
Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations (2 hours and 35 minutes with a 15-minute intermission) concludes its national tour today with a final 6:30 p.m. performance this evenign at the Saenger Theater, 1111 Canal Street in New Orleans. Tickets are available here or by dialing 504-287-0351.
