Ain't Too Proud at the Eccles

Last night I had the chance to see Ain't Too Proud at the Eccles Theatre and it was so good!  It is a jukebox musical about The Temptations and it reminded me a lot of Jersey Boys (a musical I love).  It obviously features all of the wonderful music by the group (and others) but I also really enjoyed the story because I didn't know a lot about The Temptations.  After Otis Williams (Michael Andreaus) has a brush with the law, he decides to form a music group so he can rise above the streets of Detroit and never lose his freedom again.  He recruits Al Bryant (Devin Price), Melvin Franklin (Harrell Holmes, Jr.), Eddie Kendricks (Jalen Harris), and Paul Williams (E. Clayton Cornelious).  Bryant is soon replaced by David Ruffin (Elijah Ahmad Lewis) and they are signed by Berry Gordy (Jeremy Kelsey) to Motown Records where they begin working with Smokey Robinson (Omar Madden) as a songwriter and producer.  The show features the creation of their biggest hits, their rivalry with The Supremes (Amber Mariah Talley, Shayla Brielle G, and Traci Elaine Lee) at Motown, and how personal conflicts and tragedies as well as racial tensions in the United States threaten to tear them apart.  The entire cast is unbelievably talented because the singing and dancing in this show is absolutely brilliant!  I especially loved Lewis because, just like David Ruffin does in The Temptations, he often steals the spotlight and dazzles with his vocal performance!  Andreaus is also outstanding because he narrates the show from beginning to end and provides many of the emotional beats.  I really enjoyed the staging of the songs, especially when they would seamlessly transition from city to city while performing a song on tour through choreography and the changing of the marquee above them.  I also enjoyed the recreation of their performance of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" on American Bandstand because the cameras become part of the choreography.  My favorite numbers were "My Girl" and "Get Ready" (I may or may not have been singing along) but I also liked how many of the songs mirror what is happening in the story such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now" when Josephine (Quiana Onrae'l Holmes) leaves Otis, "I Wish It Would Rain" when Martin Luther King is assassinated, "Ball of Confusion (That's What The World is Today)" when the group wants to record more politically charged music, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" when Ruffin and Kendricks insist on joining the group for a reunion tour, "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" when personal tragedies befall the group members, and "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" when Otis Williams is the last original member left.  I didn't really know what to expect from this show but I enjoyed everything about the production and I highly recommend getting a ticket for one of the remaining performances (go here) at the Eccles.