A jukebox musical full of powerhouse harmonies and top notch choreography, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations also tells the sometimes heart-breaking story of the Temptations’ journey from humble beginnings in Detroit to become one of the most beloved bands of their era — with all of the fighting, personal struggles, highs and lows, loves lost and found, inflated egos, and brotherhood involved with the group over their long tenure.
The Broadway in Santa Barbara production at the Granada last week tells the band’s story from the perspective of founder Otis Williams, played by Rudy Foster (see my preview interview with him here), who is the last remaining member of the Temptations and still performing their hits today, at age 83. The show, which premiered on Broadway in 2019 and is based on Williams’s memoir — and was nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical — has so many beloved songs that the excitement and nostalgia in the theater was palpable from the get-go.
From their first charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” to “My Girl,” the Temptations’s first U.S. number-one single (they’d go on to have 13 more); along with “Get Ready,” with the distinctive falsetto of Eddie Kendricks (charmingly played by Lowes Moore); and “Since I Lost My Baby,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” “I Wish It Would Rain,” and so many more — the music of this iconic Motown band is every bit as classic as their story.
As the core lineup of the band ultimately comes down to Williams as the last man standing, the show ends on the sad but somewhat hopeful notes of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” But the infectious rhythms of the Temptations’ songbook continued to stick with me for days after I saw the show. Much as the songs of the real-life Temptations have survived — and thrived — and remained part of our cultural history for almost five decades.
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