Broadway Bound AIN'T TOO PROUD Begins Performances Tonight at Princess Of Wales Theatre
By: Julie Musbach Oct. 11, 2018
Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations plays a strictly limited pre-Broadway engagement beginning tonight, October 11 - November 17 at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre following this summer's highly acclaimed engagements at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Media night in Toronto is Tuesday October 16, 2018.
Leading this production as The Temptations will be Derrick Baskin as Otis Williams, James Harkness as Paul Williams, Jawan M. Jackson as Melvin Franklin, Jeremy Pope as Eddie Kendricks and Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin. "Ain't Too Proud" will also feature Esther Antoine, Shawn Bowers, Marqell Edward Clayton, E. Clayton Cornelious, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Taylor Symone Jackson, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Saint Aubyn, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Curtis Wiley and Candice Marie Woods.
Before The Temptations became the greatest R&B group of all time (Billboard Magazine, 2017), they were just five young guys on the streets of Detroit. After getting discovered by Berry Gordy and signed to his brand-new label, Motown Records, it took them 24 tries before they finally had a hit song. The rest is history - how they met, how they rose, the groundbreaking heights they hit, and how personal and political conflicts threatened to tear the group apart as the United States fell into civil unrest. This thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty, and betrayal is set to the beat of the group's treasured hits, including "My Girl," "Just My Imagination," "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," and so many more.
Toronto audiences will have the added pleasure of welcoming back hometown heroes, two-time Tony Award-winning Director Des McAnuff, and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo. With a book by Kennedy Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau and a score made up of The Temptations' iconic hit songs, Ain't Too Proud had its world premiere run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it became the highest grossing production in that theater's nearly 50-year history, and broke the single-week box office record at the Eisenhower Theater during its pre-Broadway engagement at the Kennedy Center.
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.
Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy
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