Ain't Too Proud Thread

RW3 said: "Starting this because tonight is the first preview!"

Where?  Details darling, details!

Already had a very successful world premiere run at The Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, CA.

 

Well that was forgettable and I saw it less than 4 hours ago.

Some quick incoherent thoughts:
1. No reason this show needs to be 2 hours and 45 minutes. Could easily be 1 hour 40 with no intermission. There isn't a logical Act 1 break.
2. Just because their songs are popular, doesn't mean their story is interesting. Was better as a brief showstopper in MOTOWN than as a full show. Say what you want about Motown, but the ACT II opener (Ball of Confusion) brought down the house. Too many songs are cut into snippets with unnecessary narration. 
3. The direction is surprisingly decent. The show flows, but the book leaves much to be desired. Enough with the turntable for the love of god
4. Choreography is great, cast is great, the encore is great. Other than that, a bland evening. 

From the reactions I'm reading, it sounds like the show is pretty much the same as it was at the Berkeley Rep. That's too bad, because a playwright as talented as Dominique Morisseau should really be able to revamp what is otherwise a messy, boring, by-the-numbers book that focuses too much of its attention on Otis Williams - who isn't very interesting as portrayed in the musical - and incessantly interrupts the songs with often-unnecessary narration.

In Berkeley, the performances were good to outstanding, especially Ephraim Sykes, who runs off with the show for a while with a haunted, compelling portrayal of David Ruffin. The choreography by Sergio Trujillo, and execution by the stars, was excellent. 

Des McAnuff's Summer is doing well thus far on Broadway without fixing anything after its California tryout, despite mostly dreadful reviews. That will probably encourage the creative team not to change anything in Ain't Too Proud, especially after the show did sellout business in Berkeley. And my wife and teenage daughter loved the show despite its flaws, simply because the musical and dance performances were so good. I was just left unsatisfied with the overall show.

Audience reaction was positive, though the show certainly attracts non-regular theatre goers. Not saying it is a bad thing, but I doubt the bulk of these attendees were judging the merits of the production and were just happy they got to clap along to SHOUT and GET READY.

I'm seeing it tomorrow night.

I saw the show last night.  I'll say that the performances were uniformly excellent, especially Derrik Baskin (Otis Williams) and Ephraim Sikes (David Ruffin). For the person who asked, the original Temptations are played by Derrik Baskin, Ephraim Sikes, Jawan Jackson (Melvin Franklin), Jeremy Pope (Eddie Kendricks), and James Harkness (Paul Williams).

Des McAnuff made a brief speech prior to the show saying this is a completely revamped show from their earlier engagement in California.  They're still currently in previews. Not sure when their official DC opening is.

Stylistically this show was very much like Jersey Boys.  Very formula.  It was also very reminiscent of Motown.  The audience seemed to enjoy it more than I did.

Although I am familiar with the music of The Temptations, I wasn't very familiar with their background story at all.  As much as liked the performances and the music, by the end I was kind of meh about the evening's proceedings.

Updated On: 6/23/18 at 12:28 PM

leftyloveshuskies said: "Last Thursday I received a call from the Kennedy Center's box office telling me that my seat had been removed. The stage was heightened for this show and they realized that no one in the first row would be able to see the show. I was offered a 6 row middle orchestra seat for the price I paid for my original seat and it was a great seat. As for the the show it is worth seeing just to hear the cast sing and dance. As for the critiques I understand them but have a different opinion. The talking to the audience was needed to review the history of the band, it is how the story is told. As for not singing the complete songs, initially I also wanted to hear the whole songs but then realized that it would not be possible because the song snippets were chosen to emphasize the story being told. Finally, I will remember this show and really hope it is Broadway bound, the cast deserves it.

Was the narration ("talking to the audience" done by one band member or by several? If the show only had one narrator, do you think having more than one (as in Jersey Boys) would be an improvement or a detriment?
 

 

DottieD'Luscia said: "Derrick Baskin's character serves as the narrator."

So I’m curious as to how that worked. If my memory is correct, and I might well be wrong, various members of The Four Seasons served as narrators in Jersey Boys, depending on the story being told at the time. Do you think that would be preferable here, or does Baskin doing all the narration work as well or better?

 

One more question: Do they still keep the band hidden off-stage till the end, or have they moved the band on stage in view of the audience?