By Sharon Eberson
During the epilogue of Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations, the actor portraying group founder Otis Williams reminds us that there have been 24 Temptations since the formation of the Classic 5.
That number, including gut-wrenching replacements and the generations that have followed, doesn’t include the men of the Broadway biomusical who have portrayed members of the Motown supergroup, but maybe it should – the show earned 12 Tony nominations and won one, for choreographer Sergio Trujillo‘s stunning synchronized moves and individual jaw-dropping gymnastics.
In keeping with the replacement theme, the opening night of the national tour at the Benedum Center featured four replacements without missing a beat.
Elijah Ahmad Lewis, who delivered some acrobatic moves before intermission as David Ruffin, the lead singer on some of The Temptations’ biggest hits, was injured and replaced by Brian C. Binion.
Ruffin has a diminished role in the second half of the show, but Ain’t Too Proud showed no signs of lagging.
There are thrills aplenty throughout, such as when Jalen Harris hits and holds the high note as tenor extraordinaire Eddie Kendricks in “It Was Just My Imagination,” or James T. Lane – who studied musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State – capturing hearts with a stirring rendition of “For Once in My Life,”
Those were among the moments that sent a wave of chills through the audience, likely filling the Benedum Center with the audience displaying a hearty appreciation for the portrayals of The Temps’ sound and moves.
Ain’t Too Proud delivers on those fronts and tells the story of those early Temptations, triumphs, and tragedies. Told from the perspective of Otis Williams, the surviving member of the Classic 5, which included Ruffin, Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Paul Williams (no relation).
One after the other in the group was replaced amid many a personal crisis, but the band played on.
The story of the Classic 5 morphs into the Amazing Eight, which may be most apparent in The Temptations’ No. 1 hit, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” With vocals by Dennis Edwards, Damon Harris, and Richard Street – who replaced Ruffin, Kendricks, and Paul Williams.
At times, you may need a scorecard to keep up.
As one after the other original group member is replaced, someone says sardonically that he didn’t know “Temps” was short for temporary.
On the tour’s opening night Tuesday, the trio of subs included Michael Andreaus, who usually plays Motown chief Berry Gordy but came up big in the marathon role of narrator Otis. Antwaun Holley took the part of bass singer Melvin Franklin. Nick Drake played Dennis Edwards, the frontman who replaced Ruffin when the latter’s ego and drug use overtook his dedication to being part of the group.
The script by Dominique Morisseau does not skimp on The Temptations’ heady rise, individual falls, and early deaths. Paul Williams, who suffered from alcoholism as his health was failing, was 34 when he committed suicide.
His end is among the easily Googled tragic facts of The Temptations’ lives and times. Otis Williams has lived through the group’s and his own personal tragedies. At 80, he continues to tour with the current generation of Temps.
Through it all, the legacy of the music and the Motown sound remains.
The stories behind hits such as “Ball of Confusion” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” may surprise you. Most of the songs are simply the soundtrack of a generation. Among them, “My Girl,” “I’m Losing You,” “I Wish It Would Rain,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” and the title song all present and accounted for.
The women of Motown also are accounted for here, in particular, Ruffin’s stormy relationship with Tammi Terrell (Shayla Brielle G), and Motown’s other supergroup, the Supremes (Deri Andra Tucker, Traci Elaine Lee, and Brielle G), along with Najah Hetsberger as Otis Williams put-upon wife, Josephine.
The Tony-nominated set design includes projections of the times, such as the Vietnam War, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the civil rights movement. There was rioting in urban streets, spurring arguments among the group members and Motown leader Gordy about taking The Temptations’ music from a crossover act – appealing to white audiences – to reflect Black Americans’ struggles, particularly in their hometown of Detroit.
Otis Williams recites the lyric, “You’ve got a smile so bright / You know you could have been a candle,” then sums up the group’s frustration by observing that “it’s no Langston Hughes.”
However, for more than a decade, vocalists Kendricks, Ruffin, and Co. were muses for prolific Motown writers Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield. Together they created 14 chart-topping R&B hits and four hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Although the group had continued success into the 1970s that coincided with personnel changes, that’s not to say that every voice, every brother in arms, is ever replaceable. All Temptations stand on the shoulders of the Classic 5, whose stories begged to be told through the singular lens of someone alongside them and in a musical as heartfelt and entertaining as Ain’t to Proud.
The national tour of Ain’t Too Proud is at the Benedum Center, Downtown, through May 22. Proof of vaccination and masking is not required by the tour. For updates, tickets, and more details: https://trustarts.org/production/69942/aint-too-proud.
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