Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations Is Going To Broadway!

Otis “Big Daddy” Williams, the founding and last surviving member of      The Temptations, has a lot to celebrate on his 77th birthday this year          with a new album, the first for the group in eight years , “All The                  Times”   released in May with three originals as well as arrangements of    hits by   Micheal Jackson, Sam Smith, The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran            and the recent announcement that the musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The        Life and times of The Temptations” will have opening night on                   Broadway   March 21, 2019 at the legendary Imperial Theatre (249 West   45th Street). It seems the successes of The Temptations will continue indefinitely. Williams told Billboard in an interview in June that he’s confident that after its successes so far, including rave reviews,

“Ain’t Too Proud— Will hold it’s own against any other production on the Great White Way.”-Otis Williams

Apparently Williams was right on the money. Benefiting from the global recognition of The Temptations and being directed by Des McAnuff, the behind- the-music expert who’s production of Jersey Boys, a dramatization of the formation, success and eventual break up of The Four Seasons, played a decade on Broadway, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life And Times of The Temptations, tells the story of the legendary Motown group, who was recently named Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop Artist of All Time, broke records in its World Premiere run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it became the highest grossing production in that theater’s nearly 50- year history. The musical went on to play Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the show broke the all-time single-week box office record for the Eisenhower Theater.

With a book by rising Kennedy Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau (photo courtesy of Kevin Berne), a score made up of The Temptations’ hit songs, an estimated capitalization cost of about $12 Million the producers, Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce describe the show as the “story of brotherhood, family, loyalty, and betrayal,” all playing out against a backdrop of civil unrest and set to Temptations classics like “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” the title track and 14 more of the groups 42 top 10 hits.

The cast includes 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.
Tickets for the Broadway performance are not yet available however, it is highly recommended that you put your name on a pre-sales list at New York City Theatre to find out when the tickets become available in order to secure a seat for the opening night March 21, 2019.