Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD Revisits The Temptations' Hits at Segerstrom Center

As one of the most successful, chart-topping, award-winning R&B/Soul supergroups of the 60s and 70s to be churned out from the Detroit hits factory known as Motown, The Temptations—the multiple Grammy Award-winning group known for its buttery smooth harmonies and lively coordinated choreography—is certainly a worthy subject for a Broadway-mounted jukebox musical.

And, thus, we get the entertaining AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE & TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS, the 2019 stage musical that serves as an abbreviated, by-the-numbers retrospective of the group's real life multiple ups and downs, both on and off the concert stage, sprinkled with a staggering 30-plus (!) songbook that includes way-too-brief snippets of the group's familiar, ear-gasmic hits, plus a few other popular classics from the expansive Motown catalog (with extra songs from The Supremes, Steve Wonder, Edwin Starr, and Marvin Gaye).

Under the direction of Des McAnuff (who also directed that other bio-jukebox musical JERSEY BOYS), the show's enjoyable national tour production continues performances at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through October 29, 2023.

Much of AIN'T TOO PROUD's story—penned by book writer Dominique Morisseau—is told through first-person, exposition-heavy narration (with plenty of standard-issue clichés) by longtime original group member Otis Williams (here played by the incredible Michael Andreaus), who recounts The Temptations's initial formation, their erratic trajectory, their triumphs and struggles, and, most infamously, the various firings and resignations that led to the group's often tumultuous revolving door of group members.

I suppose having the story be narrated by Otis directly towards the audience—thereby continuously breaking that sacred fourth wall—makes theatrical sense, since Morrisseau's script is based on Otis's own biographical book (co-written with Patricia Romanowski).

But with six decades of history to unpack within a two-and-a-half-hour runtime (while also trying to cram in as many of their hits songs in the show as possible), Morisseau's book merely touches on certain touchstones in The Temptations timeline with the shortest of breaths, without truly spending much further depth with them, before abruptly moving on to the next song or vignette. With such machinations at play, significant moments have about the same resonance as, say, a minor bit of exposition—and every recollection, you might say, is skewed only towards Otis's singular point-of-view of how everything went down.

Like a quick-cut recap documentary for short attention spans, the partitioned narrative portions of the show come off as a mere checklist of bullet points rather than an organically flowing story that blends seamlessly from one scene to the next. And perhaps to squash any ambiguity or speculation (or, maybe, confusion?), much of the story is told directly and explained matter-of-factly to the audience, rather than have us observe and evaluate situations unfolding in real time for ourselves.

Unsurprisingly, these narrative bullet points include what one may expect in a tale that recounts the meteoric rise of a bunch of talented artists that have strong, varying personalities: ego-led battles, lots of member in-fighting, jealousy, paranoia, dealing with occasional unfair music biz practices, bouts with alcoholism and drug addiction, debilitating medical ailments, tumultuous sexual and romantic entanglements, inescapable systemic racism, and, yes, even genuinely jubilant celebrations for achieving well-earned fame and success.

At the start of the show, we are told, via longest-serving Temp member Otis—the sole original member still alive as of the writing of this review—about the group's many slow starts before getting that lucky break during an early performance when they were noticed by Motown impresario Berry Gordy (Jeremy Kelsey) who agrees to sign them to his then Tamla label.

Soon the group gets a steady taste of commercial and critical success, which, remarkably, continues for decades after… even with the frequent loss and replacement of several members of its roster as well as the ever-evolving tastes of music-listening audiences.

Along the way, in-fighting with both music executives and each other creates lots of tension, with each member's own relationships off the stage predictably suffering as a consequence of their success (for example, Williams couldn't sustain a relationship with his wife and son, choosing to live life on tour away from them). The two decades of their existence also coincided with evolving racial tensions that they witness first hand (on a side note, I wish we were allowed to glimpse this more rather that being left with one scene).

But somehow the music healed them and brought them together all in some form or another.

To say AIN'T TOO PROUD is pure music nostalgia bait by design is putting it mildly. In fact, the ability to truly enjoy this musical hinges foremost on the audience's affections for these songs, which are doled out mostly as spectacular (but unfortunately shortened) musical numbers that are pushed forward on its swiftly-moving conveyor belt to pleasantly remind us what songs can be credited to them.

And, boy, we hear a lot of these hits during the course of the show: the title song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "My Girl," "Get Ready," "The Way You Do The Things You Do," "I Can't Get Next To You," "Just My Imagination," "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone," and much more.

Even better: every song—featuring rousing orchestrations by Harold Wheeler and arrangements by Kenny Seymour, that are performed live by an awesome funk-and-soul band led by musical director Jonathan "Smitti" Smith—is sung and danced by this incredibly impressive cast with such high-energy, go-for-broke gusto that any foundational flaws the show may have, just wonderfully evaporate in a cloud of stage smoke (well… most of the time, but not always).

But, of course, the songs, as expected, are not only here to entertain, but to also serve as chronological markers in the group's story, helped along by a very informative, text-heavy background "set" designed by Robert Brill, which is mostly compromised of flat surfaces that fly in-and-out to provide blank canvases for the effective but somewhat cold digital projections designed by Peter Nigrini that are flashed on them. The projections provide not only illustrations of buildings, locales, and signage, but they also display super-title chyrons that help audiences know exactly when and where they are in The Temptations' timeline.

AIN'T TOO PROUD's practicality and (perhaps) economic efficiency notwithstanding, the presentation of the story's dramatized, unsung moments of dialogue mostly unfolds as if we're watching an autobiographical highlights presentation at an awards banquet rather than a Broadway musical. The contrast between the more exciting musical numbers versus the more laborious spoken moments is pretty noticeable.

And therein lies what clearly becomes the absolute real reason to see the show: the outstanding, explosively rousing musical performances this multi-talented, triple-threat cast provides all evening long. While there is certainly lots of intriguing drama and factoids to be absorbed here—much of which might be brand new information for us casual fans of the group—the run-of-the-mill execution of its narrative takes a definite backseat to the outstanding singing and dancing.

Without a weak link amongst them, the cast of this tour is just phenomenal musical artists with palpable envious stamina. Collectively—especially the core members that make up The Temptations—this ensemble is singing and dancing up a storm for most of the show without much breaks in the action. Wow.

Aside from the hardworking Andreaus who spends the most time onstage as de-facto leader Otis Williams, the superb, vocally-blessed cast also includes Harrell Holmes Jr. as teddy bear Melvin Franklin (amazing low bass notes!), Jalen Harris as divalicious Eddie Kendricks (high notes heaven!), E. Clayton Cornelious as Paul Williams (the group's original lead singer), Devin Price as Al Bryant (The Temp's occasional lead), and the scene-stealing Elijah Ahmad Lewis as David Ruffin (Bryant's charismatic replacement). Later, more "replacement" Temps also include Dwayne P. Mitchell as Dennis Edwards, Devin Holloway as Richard Street, and Derek Adams as Damon Harris (the actor also grabs a few chuckles impersonating then songwriter, and future crooner Smokey Robinson early in the musical).

Other standouts include Quiana Onrae'l Holmes as Otis's long-suffering wife Josephine, Shayla Brielle G. as Motown label-mate Tammi Terrell (who, we learn, allegedly endured abuse from cocaine-addicted boyfriend Ruffin), Brittny Smith who has a standout brief moment as pioneering producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, and Ryan M. Hunt as Temps manager Shelly Berger.

A musically-rich but narratively-constrained jukebox musical, AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE & TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS turned out to be a delightful surprise that is genuinely entertaining overall, particularly, as I said, because of the extraordinary performances of its ensemble. Much like the biographical Tina Turner jukebox musical that visited Segerstrom Center this past summer, this jukebox musical excels more in its musical presentations than it does at conveying its true-to-life story, choosing to just spell things out as neat, summarized footnotes rather than explore nuances or deeper ramifications.

Does that weak spot dissuade one from enjoying the show? Absolutely not.

Much like a character sums up in the show: "You don't always get what you want… but you can negotiate for what you can live with!"

AIN'T TOO PROUD is definitely a fun evening at the theater, especially for those looking for a nostalgic trip.

* Follow this reviewer on Instagram / Twitter-X / Threads: @cre8iveMLQ *

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Photos by © Emilio Madrid, courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Performances of AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE & TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS continue at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA through October 29, 2023. Tickets can be purchased online at www.SCFTA.org, by phone at 714-556-2787 or in person at the SCFTA box office (open daily at 10 am). Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For tickets or more information, visit SCFTA.org.

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