Ain’t Too Proud–The Life and Times of the Temptations is set to open on Broadway March 21, 2019, at the Imperial Theatre. But before the company brings the sound of Motown to the Main Stem, they visited the place where Motown began: Detroit, Michigan.
Book writer Dominique Morisseau (Pipeline) took her cast around the city, including the Motown Museum. And, the cast drew inspiration from the hallowed ground: Watch them burst into song in the video above (shot and edited by Jimmy Keys of Anonymous Media Group).
Leading the cast of the musical as The Temptations will be Derrick Baskin as Otis Williams, James Harkness as Paul Williams, Jawan M. Jackson as Melvin Franklin, Jeremy Pope as Eddie Kendricks, and Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin. The Broadway cast will also feature Esther Antoine, Saint Aubyn, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Curtis Wiley, and Candice Marie Woods.
The musical played a limited engagement in Toronto, after previous runs at Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center.
The show features a score of the Temptations' hits to chart the rise of the R&B group, known for such classics as “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”
Two-time Tony winner Des McAnuff directs, with choreography by Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo. The musical also features sets by Robert Brill, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound design by Steve Canyon Kennedy, projection design by Peter Nigrini, orchestrations by Harold Wheeler, and music direction by Kenny Seymour.