Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations celebrated its official opening at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre March 21. The jukebox musical weaves the group’s hits with a book by Dominique Morisseau to chart the journey from humble beginning in Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, a driving creative force behind the Tony-winning hit Jersey Boys, directs the production that features choreography by Tony nominee Sergio Trujillo. The two reunite on The Temptations musical, having previously collaborated on Jersey Boys and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Trujillo was Tony-nominated for On Your Feet!, the Broadway bio musical about Emilio and Gloria Estefan.
The cast of Ain't Too Proud is led by Derrick Baskin (Memphis) as Otis Williams, James Harkness (Beautiful) as Paul Williams, Jawan M. Jackson (Motown) as Melvin Franklin, Jeremy Pope (Choir Boy) as Eddie Kendricks, and Ephraim Sykes (Hamilton) as David Ruffin.
See what critics thought of the production below.
Playbill will continue to update this list as more reviews come in.
Broadway Journal (Philip Boroff)
Broadway News (Charles Isherwood)
Entertainment Weekly (Leah Greenblatt)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
The New York Daily News (Chris Jones)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Sarah Holdren)
The New York Post (Joe Dziemianowicz)
New York Stage Review (Melissa Rose Bernardo)
New York Stage Review (Elysa Gardner)
The New York Times (Ben Brantley)
Time Out New York (Adam Feldman)
The Wall Street Journal (Terry Teachout)
The Washington Post (Peter Marks)
Rounding out the company are Saint Aubyn, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Candice Marie Woods, Esther Antoine, Marcus Paul James, Jelani Remy, and Curtis Wiley.
Ain’t Too Proud made its world premiere at California’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2017 before going on to play Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Toronto.
The production features choreography by Sergio Trujillo, sets by Robert Bill, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound design by Steve Canyon, and projections by Peter Nigrini. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting and Merri Sugarman, CSA.