It’s showtime! Attendees find themselves sitting just rows from Berry Gordy, Debbie Allen, Mary Wilson, John Legend and the lead singer of the Temptations, Grammy Award Winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Otis Williams. From first note to last, the room is electrified. The crowd is quick to cheer, dance and singalong leaving one to wonder if the elaborate stage lights, sound system, and moving props are being generated by the electrifying stage performers and their audience rather than the theater’s main power supply. It is not just your imagination.
Opening night of “Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations” at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre proves once again why the Music Center leads the nation as producers of ambitious world premiere productions with this magnificent performance inspired by Kennedy Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau.
The movements of the Temptations. Tempting. Very Tempting.
Choreographed by Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo, in between performing the group’s musical hits, Aint Too Proud... is narrated flawlessly by lead actor Derrick Baskin as Otis Williams. Each act reveals more of the life and times of the musical phenomena that was the Temptations quintet. Ultimately, having over 25 rotating members including originals Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks and David Ruff, the tale begins with Otis Williams of Detroit searching his neighborhood to create the perfect group and follows with his memories of each member from their first introductions to the present. The play also confesses the personal toll Williams paid for the price of fame; being estranged from his family for so many years while on the road.
Along the way, we meet genius hitmakers Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and are introduced to Motown’s founder Berry Gordy played by Jahi Kearse.
Berry Gordy’s promise; the same as he had fulfilled with The Supremes – create the Motown Sound and present it with dignity to the world wrapped in the glamour of custom-made suits, sequin gowns, clean cuts, and class.
The heart and soul of America can be found in gospel music.
Important to note the deliberate efforts by the music producers of the day to capture the soul of the gospel. With the resilience of a preacher and his fellow deacons, each member of the Temptations took turns on the verses while using his own particular vocal style and range to testify love, pain, and the need for salvation. With this formula, the Temptations brought soul to the mainstream with a message of love and excitement for living amidst times of hardships and civil unrest. In the 60s and 70s, this was the sound of Black America laid to congas, bass lines, brass and winds. Creating the sound of an era, over the course of the next 15 years, processed naturals would turn into Afros as the call for change transformed itself from a plea into a war cry.
“Perfect pitch, flawless movements… a truly amazing experience for anyone who has ever heard a music note…” – Downtown Weekly LA
Over the course of their career, the Temptations released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles. Their music has earned three Grammy Awards. The Temptations were the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award – for “Cloud Nine” in 1969. – and in 2013 received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Six of the Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three classic Temptations songs, “My Girl”, “I’m Losing you: “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”.
The combination of music and narration pulled the crowd into each routine as if they too were sharing in the sensation of dancing alongside the Temptations in perfect synchroneity. Also, with each familiar song, comes a reminder of the amount of talent needed to fulfill the expectations of the crowd and convince the world The Temptations were worthy of the number one spot at Motown.
Derrick Baskin, James Harkness, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope and Ephraim Sykes were meant to play this legendary group. Along with supporting cast Esther Antoine, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Saint Aubyn, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Curtis Wiley and Candice Marie Woods, “Ain’t Too Proud” recently ended its record-breaking, world premiere run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it became the highest grossing production in that theatre’s nearly 50-year history. Soon the entire cast will be off to Broadway. Ahmanson is Ain’t Too Proud’s pre-Broadway performance.
The creative team also includes Tony Award nominee Robert Brill (scenic design), Tony Award winner Paul Tazewell (costume design), Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (lighting design), Tony Award winner Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design), Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini (projection design), Edgar Godineaux (associate choreographer), Charles G. LaPointe (hair and wig design) and Steve Rankin (fight direction). Orchestrations are by Drama Desk Award winner Harold Wheeler with music direction and arrangements by Kenny Seymour.
Bank of America is the season sponsor and Delta Air Lines is the official airline sponsor for Center Theatre Group’s 2018 – 2019 season at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets for “Ain’t Too Proud” are available by calling (213) 972-4400, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, or by visiting the Center Theatre Group Box Office located at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets range from $30 – $145 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Ahmanson Theatre is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, 90012. The show runs AUG 21 – SEP 30, 2018.
