AIN'T TOO PROUD - The Temptations Musical Bound for Broadway in 2018- Page 4

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 10/27/17 at 6:51am

I am a sucker for the Motown sound and the temptations. I would love to watch this.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/27/17 at 9:03am

any update on when this will arrive on Broadway?? Does it get here by the spring? Or do they wait until summer/fall 2018??

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 10/27/17 at 3:31pm

hi wayman

i started to go into the details, and his thesis that aint too  proud either should have been a soliere vs mozart  type struggle between otis and ruffin or the suggestion that the entire musical should focus on the night MLK died were both too ridiculous to bother using my fingers to type with.

you of course are more than worthy of response.....

I agree with you in general on detailed counter arguments and believe ive done so consistently in other threads.  This guys doesnt like musicals much and thats ok with me....

 

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 10:21am

Update: http://variety.com/2017/legit/columns/broadway-temptations-musical-1202601961/

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 10:39am

Find it odd so much is waiting until next season but maybe Frozen and Harry Potter scared everyone off!

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 10:43am

There also just aren't that many theaters available for the spring. Only the Booth, Cort, Hudson, Lyceum, Kerr, and Nederlander are empty, and very few of those would truly be suitable for this kind of show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 11:10am

Maybe they're waiting to see how Mean Girls is perceived. But do think it would fit nicely at the Nederlander.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 12:16pm

if the nederlander could handle newsies it could handle aint too proud

i think they are making a mistake waiting....

[StageDoor3]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 5:21pm

McAnuff and Trujillo are also busy with "Summer" at La Jolla Playhouse.  As entertaining as "Ain't Too Proud" was, in my opinion, it still needs some work on the book.  So a fall opening couldn't hurt.

 

Updated On: 10/31/17 at 05:21 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 3:14am

A caveat: I know nothing about marketing a Broadway show, so take my thoughts for what they're worth.

McAnuff and Trujillo's Donna Summer musical, Summer, which debuts at La Jolla Playhouse next week, was mentioned in Michael Riedel's New York Post gossip column as a candidate to find a Broadway house this spring. The Variety story suggests that Ain't Too Proud would wait until the fall unless a suitable venue opens up.

That doesn't necessarily seem like a disaster for Ain't Too Proud. If the show needs work on the book, hey, that gives them time. Come From Away wandered all over North America before opening on Broadway, and that didn't do it any harm. But I don't think the problem for Ain't Too Proud is Frozen, or Mean Girls, or the Harry Potter plays. They are targeting different audiences. Mean Girls is aimed squarely at the rather large group of girls and young women (and their parents) who grew up on the film. The other two are aimed at families. The Band's Visit, off to a promising start, is a different sort of show. Hadestown, I assume, will try to capture a younger, downtown audience if it arrives.

To me, the biggest problem for Ain't Too Proud is Dreamgirls. Sure, one is a revival of an original musical, but the comparisons are inevitable. The Supremes, or a fictional incarnation, are even in both shows. I have trouble imagining both musicals opening in the fall and succeeding at the same time. They are both aimed at older audiences, who are either familiar with the original show and film (in the case of Dreamgirls) or the Temptations (in the case of Ain't Too Proud). 

I had assumed that Ain't Too Proud's producers wanted to move quickly, to counterprogram against the youth-oriented shows opening in the spring and to beat Dreamgirls to Broadway.  From the Variety story, it sounds like the producers agree - but not enough to take any theater. Part of me wonders, when reading the Variety story, if the producers share some of the concerns about the book and want to fine-tune the show before bringing it to Broadway.

One last thought: A show like Ain't Too Proud doesn't seem like it needs to be open in the spring. It's not likely to win a Best Musical Tony, as I think voters prefer original musicals to jukebox musicals. (Yes, I know Jersey Boys won more than a decade ago, but that show set the template.) If Ain't Too Proud finds an audience, as it certainly has in Berkeley, it could draw well in the fall and thrive - unless Dreamgirls blocks it.

End of ignorant chatter. I'm seeing Ain't Too Proud this weekend, so I will soon have an opinion on the actual musical.

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 03:14 AM

[antonijan]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 4:43am

Who can do live tweet for this one

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 2:11pm

grabbed a great pair of center orch for thursday matinee from the berkeley rep site to take my wife who hasnt seen it yet. also seeing alladin on tour tonight so a robust musicals week including last saturdays prince of egypt.

if you havent gotten seats yet, try checking around 1pm on every hour or so, some great seats pop up as well as standing room which are still close given how intimate the theatre is....

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/3/17 at 4:06pm

a friend with the show tipped me off that the Temptations are having a show in oakland tomorrow night, and will be at the final Aint Too Proud performance sunday night to celebrate the successful pre broadway run

 

[bear88]

Posted: 11/5/17 at 6:10pm

Ain't Too Proud is so filled with wonderful performances and terrific music that it feels churlish to complain. But in the end, while I was definitely glad I saw it Saturday night, the show is unsatisfying as theater.

The book isn't just the weakest part of the show. It's a mess, a pastiche of clumsy writing, ripoffs of other jukebox musicals, and endless narration by the lead character that flattens out and detracts from what should be an exciting show business tale. Basically, it takes the Jersey Boys/Beautiful model but centers it on a single character whose central achievement seems to have been finding more talented performers, booting them out of the group if they caused too much trouble, and getting along with his bosses and songwriters. The character of Otis Williams - as opposed to the actual Williams, who performed with The Temptations a few miles away in Oakland while we watched the musical in Berkeley - is simply not very interesting. In the show, Williams tells Berry Gordy that he can write songs too, but Gordy blows him off - and that's never mentioned again. So he's not the lead singer, he's not a songwriter, he's almost middle management - at least as portrayed in the musical. This isn't Derrick Baskin's fault. He does what he can, and makes Otis as likeable and well-intentioned as possible. But bookwriter Dominque Morisseau gives him long, repetitive speeches to deliver about the importance of the group - usually cutting off or interrupting a song - and I grew weary of him.

The musical does manage to include some of the weakest parts of Jersey Boys, only to execute them worse. There's a hyped rivalry at Motown with The Supremes, which is mostly an excuse for The Supremes to sing two and a half songs and give the women in the cast something to do. There's Williams' relationship with his ex-wife and son, which we're supposed to care about but are given no reason to do. The lone highlight of this is Rashidra Scott, who gets about a minute of a song and is so good that the audience roared for almost as long. To include Williams' family life, full of touring band cliches, and not give Scott more to do feels like malpractice. 

In fairness to Morisseau, it's tough to write a standard jukebox musical covering decades with a group that eventually includes 24 people. The answer, it seems, would be not to try to follow that template. The show is far more compelling when it focuses on David Ruffin, and it seems like Morisseau and director Des McAnuff are more interested in him anyway. 

In the middle of the first act, Ephraim Sykes enters as Ruffin, the first replacement Temptation and a gifted lead singer, before they hit it big. He's given an eye-catching, amusing introduction, leading into the group's first big hit, "My Girl." The musical doesn't really nail the song (too many narrative interruptions) or the thrill that breakthrough must have been, as Jersey Boys did so effectively with "Sherrie." But it gets better. Sykes' Ruffin is a complete jerk - irresponsible, violent against women, so awful to deal with that the group finally votes to boot him out even though he's the star - but he's also an understandably tortured soul who puts all that into his songs.

The endless narration is finally overshadowed by a performance. Sykes steals the show during a run of songs at the end of the first act that is both thrilling and sad. That stretch of the show is easily its strongest, and left me wanting more. Sykes' Ruffin returns occasionally during the second act, including a hilarious - and apparently true - story about something that happens after he was kicked out of the band. He's compelling and passionate.

The show touches on some interesting themes, including The Temptations' successful bid to appeal to white audiences that illustrated the limits of the power of music to bring people together during the racial tensions of the 1960s. But the musical is always in a hurry, restlessly letting Williams tell the audience what happened next without allowing them to get to know the other Temptations all that well. The lone exception is Jared Joseph's Melvin Franklin, who gets off a number of funny lines and was close to Williams. But they all have moments - just not enough to leave a distinct impression as characters, as opposed to performers.

One big failure with Ain't Too Proud is that it succeeds neither as tragedy nor triumph. The Ruffin material comes the closest, as tragedy, but this is ultimately not his story. And the sad parts in the second act left me unmoved, as it uses more "and then this happened" narrative to wrap things up. The show portrays the group's chart-topping hits and longevity as a victory for the band as a collective entity, which is certainly true, but it often fails to set up the band's successes in dramatic fashion. The musical just sort of muddles and narrates its way to the end. 

For all of my criticisms, there's one thing Ain't Too Proud has that other jukebox musicals I have seen do not: spectacular, precision dance. The sheer energy and vitality of the performances is top-notch. Choreographer Sergio Trujillo has done great work here, and the performers' work is a joy to watch. For that reason alone, the show is worth seeing.   

That leaves me wondering about its Broadway fate. The show is not as well-crafted as Jersey Boys, or even Beautiful (which I didn't love, but has the advantage of telling the story of a creative woman finding her own voice). The performances, Temptations music, and Trujillo choreography might be enough to overcome all of that. But if I were the producers, I would use the opportunity of a pre-Broadway delay to rethink the way the story is presented. I don't think Ain't Too Proud will be a major success as a cookie-cutter jukebox show.  

Updated On: 11/10/17 at 06:10 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 2:58pm

a glorious happy trails final performance sunday night for Aint too Proud. Insanely incredible vocal performances by Ephraim (ruffin) and Jeremy (kendricks) lead producer Tom Hulce (yes Amadeus and Pinto from Animal House and also producer of spring awakening and American Idiot) was there and stood at the side of the orcherstra through both acts. Bookwriter Dominque Morisseau also attended and took a curtain call bow, as was Shelly Berger, temps longtime manager. According to the mkting director at berkeley rep, Berry Gordy attended the night before and loved the show. She also said temps founder Otis williams had planned to attend but had to return home for personal business.

At curtain call the female performers threw ladies panties at the temps, and then from side stage, someone threw mens boxers at the female performers. No final show speech.

A nice ending to a successful pre broadway run.

love the show and also upon refection and multiple watches of the show have to agree with Bear 88, Wayman and others that the show scores highest with the stunning vocal performances and choreography. I also think there is standout acting by most of the leads. i feel the first act book flows pretty well and weaves in the themes of how the Temps respond to the racially charged times that take them through 1968 and the replacement of David Ruffin (Aint nobody sings like ruffin the Melvin franklin character said)

The second act has the very challenging task of covering 1968 to the present and the deaths of four of the five classic temptations as well as Otis Williams son, and could benefit A LOT from a rewrite that:

1) connects viewers emotionally more to and appreciate Otis (he can kind of come off as a less talented control freak than what i think he really was which was the heart and backbone of the group vocally (the middle voice is the one that the other singers play off of) and a genius at identifying and blending gifted voices.) 

2) has an act 2 that is equal thirds  a) temps success post ruffin  b) passing of group members and otis's son c) Temps not only surviving  AND thriving through all the changes (rock and roll hall of fame, charting at top 40 r&b single in 2000, 38 years after they begun, temps story a successful tv movie, etc., top R&B group of all time)-there is too little of this, and its all done too narratively by the williams character

as a huge temps fan, its also wierd to me that the last song "what becomes of the broken hearted" before the finale isnt even a temps song, its a Jimmy ruffin hit......

I like this show a lot and i think it could go from already very good to absolutely great if they get the second act book optimized....

[dance noone watchin]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 11:54pm

I was also at the show on Saturday night. I am a Motown/Temptations music fan.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the set, music and dancing were top notch. Ephraim Sykes was a standout for me as David Ruffin. He had the frontman charisma, voice, style, and the little bit of craziness that the character required. Jeremy Pope as Eddie Kendricks was very good, but embellished more than on the original songs, not sure if that was a style choice or a way to avoid singing/getting smoothly to the high notes in songs such as Just My Imagination in the clean and clear manner of Eddie Kendricks.

Regarding the story, the theme of Ain’t Too Proud is that it’s about the group, not about individuals, that’s why the Temptations have had such longevity. Should the book be changed? I think it could be more dramatic. Here's an idea - the story is told from multiple viewpoints - Otis Williams intros, David Ruffin tells/sings his story, Eddie Kendricks tells/sings his story, and Otis Williams weaves the stories together and wraps it up at the end. Otis Williams’ view is more of the steadying force, which is less dramatic. More David & Eddie, less Otis and less Otis narration. And allow more singing of a fuller version of the songs. If time is an issue, leave out some songs and stay with the core Temptations songs (e.g,. leave out "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted," one of my all-time favorite songs and my go-to karaoke. I was confused why this was in the show, as this, to me, is a Jimmy Ruffin song. I see now that the Temptations later recorded it.)  Peel back the layers, expose the gems.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 11/7/17 at 10:13am

Bear88 - Great review, I really enjoyed reading it. I get the feeling this could run on Broadway for a year or two just on the very good performances and of course the great music.  The weaknesses you pointed out will prevent it from becoming a major hit unless changes are made. 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/14/17 at 1:32pm

Watch for announcement in the near future of Ain't too Proud continuing its pre-broadway run at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC......

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/23/17 at 10:48am

I talked to Des McAnuff the director of ATP at the Donna preview in San Diego

He said they are absolutely THRILLED with and staying with the current cast for Broadway 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/24/17 at 8:08pm

We know somebody in the show and they are aiming for fall '18 Broadway.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 11/25/17 at 7:56pm

this ones definitely going to broadway!

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/3/17 at 3:40pm

the tempations tv movie was on today and replays tomorrow on the vh1 channel
this is the film based on the book and the same material used for the musical
a must see for temptations fans and you get a lot more back story than they could fit into the musical
having seen this again i think they made pretty good choices overall on what they emphasized in the musical

[bear88]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 3:26am

So the rumors are true, and Ain't Too Proud is heading to Washington, D.C. next summer for a five-week tryout at the Kennedy Center before a planned Broadway opening in the fall.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/temptations-bio-musical-aint-proud-plans-path-broadway-1067054

Despite my somewhat harsh "review" (scroll back if interested) and bias against jukebox musicals, I really did enjoy a lot about the show, and my wife and teenage daughter liked it more than I did. 

As I think the musical has a lot of potential, for some of the performances and the excellent choreography, I really do hope the creatives take a hard look at ways to make improvements. I was harshest about the book, by renowned playwright Dominique Morisseau, and my guess is that part of the problem is that director Des McAnuff was simply hewing too close to the Jersey Boys formula, but was stuck with Otis Williams' biography.

The Williams character in the musical (as opposed to the actual person, who's still alive and is probably more interesting) sucks an awful lot of the drama out of the show. I realize it's based on his memoirs, but it felt to me as if Morisseau didn't have the freedom to break free and tell a story that didn't rely so heavily on rather tired show business cliches that have been done better in other shows.

Morisseau knows Detroit, she grew up on Motown, and she's an award-winning playwright. I think the show needs to take more creative risks, with fewer song snippets and more drama. In its Berkeley form, I think it will probably have a respectable but unspectacular run on Broadway. The show needs to break free of the standard jukebox musical cliches and take full advantage of some of the excellent performances and dig into some of the themes - race in particular - that are certainly touched on but not fully explored. The show can still be fun, but it ought to be less of a blur and do a better job on the characters - many of whom blend together - and the group's peaks, valleys, and challenges.

Updated On: 12/15/17 at 03:26 AM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 5:46pm

well my 11/14 post was right on...agree with u bear 88 there is still room to make this show from good to great and hope theyll put in the effort...the strong reviews(while none from major nyc or la pubs) may lull producers into thinking theyve already got the formula