There are few examples of jukebox musicals—a denigrating term if ever there was one—that have blown me away. In fact, without overtaxing my brain, Jersey Boys, which dramatizes the formation, success, and eventual break-up of the 1960s rock ‘n’roll group The Four Seasons, is the only jukebox musical of import that immediately comes to mind. Directed by Des McAnuff and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, Jersey Boys opened on Broadway to rave reviews, a Best Musical Tony, and a 4,642 performance run, followed by continued success off Broadway. Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, another jukebox musical, also helmed by the McAnuff/Trujillo duo, opened this past March at the Imperial Theater on Broadway. No doubt the musical’s 43 producers (all listed in the program) are hoping to duplicate the success of Jersey Boys. I wish that I could say that Ain’t Too Proud turned me inside out and sent me directly to heaven. But the first act is a painful 30 minutes too long, and Dominique Morisseau’s mechanically written, fact-filled book based on the group’s original founder Otis Williams’s 1988 memoir (including lots of “I did that and he did that and then we all did that”) is as engaging as bad coffee and a failed omelet on a gray day. Worse! The musical’s thirty one songs, less than a half a handful sung in their entirety, was a two-and-a-half-hour musical coitus interruptus. In fact, for me, the only satisfying climax came at curtain call when all the super-talented performers, along with the musical’s superb musicians, took their well-earned bows. Yes! A vociferous standing ovation—a Broadway musical tradition for a number of decades—thundered throughout the house. On the upside is the production’s embarrassment of riches: every person on stage, some playing double roles, some just standing and looking good, could act, dance, and sing to a fare-thee-well. Adding extra-high voltage were the voices of the leads. A few could shatter glass and do sudden and unexpected James Brown splits, all of which had the audience yelling and screaming, just as if they had never seen or heard such singular goings on before. Unlike the Jersey Boys that had each band member give his own perspective on the group’s history and music, or The Cher Show and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which offered three Cher’s and three Donna’s, each representing different time period in the star’s life, the Temptations features the group’s original founder Otis Williams (neatly channeled by Derek Baskin) to shepherd us through the history of group’s six decades. With many twists and turns, the journey begins on the streets of Detroit, passes through the country’s civil unrest during the late sixties (think Viet Nam protests and the Assassination of Martin Luther King), tours the segregated south, visits the Temptations’ 42 top ten hits and 14 number one songs, shows a crack party sequence in which ostensibly Otis was the only member to not partake, and reaches the Hall of Fame and beyond. The story mainly revolves around the group’s earliest five members and a few of their replacements, this due to booze, drugs, suicide, illness, and ego problems. Adding a dollop of historical fluff in minor roles and cameos is Motown’s Barry Gordy (Jahi Kearse), and Smokey Robinson (Christian Thompson). As far as Motown’s female contingent, getting to show their singing chops just a wee bit are the Supremes inhabited by Candice Marie Wood (as a superb Diana Ross), Taylor Symone Jackson (as Mary Wells), and Nasia Thomas a Tammi Terrell, who died of brain cancer at twenty-four. One of the musical’s sadder notes, she gets to share half a song with one the Temptations. The highlights, of course, are the songs sung by the Temptations and a few of their early replacements. Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin, the group’s second and most famous lead singer sings “My Girl,” and “I Could Never Love Another (After Losing You).” His scissor splits brings down the house. Drug use and irrational behavior helped to do him in. Jawan M. Jackson as Melvin Franklin, with a shaking-the-rafters bass, brings needed wit and much laughter with his sonorous voice, which can seemingly sink lower than is humanly possible. Unfortunately, health issues lay him low. Jeremy Pope’s Eddie Kendrick is the always questioning cynic of the group. His high notes during “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and “Get Ready” just about pierce the theater’s ceiling. James Harkness, as Paul Williams, another Classic Fiver, in losing a battle with alcohol, commits suicide at 34. His singing “For Once In My Life” with loads of heart-rending emotion is a standout. And of course, the last one standing is Derrick Baskin’s Otis Williams who at 77 is still out there performing with the Temptations. A little known fact I’ll toss in just for fun: the thrice-wed Williams was once engaged to Patti LaBelle. She ended the engagement when he wanted her to quit music and become a housewife. You Go, Patti! As far as the production’s technical prowess, Paul Tazewell’s costume design, the spiffy signature-looking suits of the Temptations, is letter perfect. The set (Robert Brill) with its revolving turn table, simple furniture when needed, and muted gray colors, and Howard Binkley’s lighting design, do no harm to the production. As far as Sergio Trujillo’s choreography, well, his hands were tied from the git-go. After the first half dozen beautiful and smoothly choreographed songs, tedium sets in for the two dozen more. I mean, how many uniquely different hands, legs, and body movements can you stomach before you go bonkers? The good news for Temptation lovers is that the seemingly never-ending group is still touring and releasing albums both old and new.
