For Temptations founder Otis Williams, the Broadway musical evokes pride and sadness about the enduring but ever-changing quintet of the Dead.
The national tour of “Not So Proud: The Life and Times of Temptations” opens April 18 for a one-week sold-out run at the Ohio Theatre.
“I have had a very interesting life with trials, many highs and lows. The musical allows people to see the challenges we’ve gone through,” said Williams, the only surviving original member and musical executive producer.
Who were the tests?
Despite frequent changes in the band’s line-up, the concert showcases how the members of the quoit have learned to transform their fine-tuned voices into a masterpiece.
“It’s human history, beyond setting records … we’ve been through all kinds of ups and downs as everyday people,” Williams said.
Playwright Dominique Morrisseau (Broadway’s “Skeleton Crew”) and director Des McAnuff (“Jersey Boys”) adapted songs from The Temptations and Motown’s catalog into a biomusical, created by Williams and Patricia Romanowski in 2011. Along with the history of the band.
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“All we wanted to do was sing. We’ve accomplished more than we ever imagined, but with heart disease and drugs, it was tough,” Williams said.
In the year After signing with Motown Records in 1961, the group traveled from the streets of Detroit to frequent tours, national TV appearances and 44 Top 10 R&B hits. The group
What songs are in the show?
In 1965, the group’s first number one single, “My Boy,” became their signature hit.
“When I first heard ‘My Boy,’ I had no idea it would become such a hit. It’s a quantum leap beyond what we thought would happen,” Williams said.
Also among the show’s 31 songs: “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” “Come See About Me,” “Don’t Look Back,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” “War,” “The Way You Do The Things You Do” ‘ and “Their hearts will be broken.”
Actor-singer Michael Andreas, who plays Otis on the tour, said, “People relate to these musicians and their work and appreciate the opportunity to see behind the scenes of what it’s like to create that work….
“What makes them such a strong and enduring band is their ability to grow, change and adapt their sound at different times with their own identity and harmonies,” Andreas said.
How does the leading actor see the role?
As Otis, Andreas narrates the two-act musical.
“He’s a man on a mission, single-minded but never to the point of being mean or cruel to anyone,” Andreas says.
“For Otis, the challenges are really the calling, finding the right parts and people to make the songs and the band popular,” he said.
Told from Williams’ perspective, the story charts the Tests’ successes and setbacks from 1961 through their reunion tour in the early 1980s.
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“It’s a memory game – Otis’s memory. He sets the stage for the audience, tells them what is happening, and lives his life in his memory. While researching the role, Andreas learned that Williams had been incarcerated as a youth growing up. Assume that he will do nothing to avoid failure again. “He knew that music and singing would get him off the streets,” Andreas said. Williams, on the other hand, knows himself on stage.
“That’s right. I would describe him (Otis) as real, strong enough to outlast all the different guys in the Temps,” he said.
Since its inception, the group has had 27 members, a recurring focus of two-act music.
For example, a lead singer named David Ruffin He was fired in 1968 for drug use and skipping concerts. Eddie Kendricks, better known as Falletto, left in 1971 due to personal conflicts and disagreements over the direction of the band.Baritone Paul Williams committed suicide in 1973 by shooting himself. Bassist Melvin Franklin died of a heart attack in 1995.
“I absolutely love those guys. We went through all that turmoil, and I still miss him,” Williams said.
“To lose that many members, to deal with that and carry on, a lot of people would have stood up. But those things give the game element and reality,” he added.
Andriaus agreed.
“There is no progress without sacrifice. This is one of the first lines in the show… is it all worth it? I leave it in the lap of the audience whether the heights they reach are worth all they have to give up along the way.
Williams and his manager Shelley Berger met with Morrisseau and McAnuff for an extensive interview in 2016 to help shape the musical, which they first envisioned a decade ago.
“They asked deep questions. … This can’t just be based on the music. They said we have to talk to you deeply to show the trials and tribulations,” Williams said.
At one point, Williams got emotional and held Morrisseau by the arm.
In the year When the musical premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2017, Williams found himself overwhelmed and in tears. He had seen it more than a dozen times since then.
“It still hits me the way I did when I first saw it. … It’s a shame that most guys don’t stay together that long,” he said.
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“Not So Proud,” which had a 2019-22 Broadway run interrupted by the pandemic, was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, and won for Sergio Trujillo’s choreography.
Critic Ben Brantley wrote in the article, “While honoring all the expected biomusical clichés, including the rapid and sometimes disjointed release of its subjects’ greatest hits, this production exhilarates the improbable triumph of brutal and incendiary parts assembled into dazzling efficiency.” New York Times review.
Like “Jersey Boys” and “Mama Mia!”, “Ain’t So Proud” uses previously recorded songs, defining the “jukebox-musical” genre. Williams, who still sings and tours with Temptations, sees his show as something more.
“I’m glad audiences don’t see it as another jukebox musical, but as a piece of theater about our struggles, strength and courage, it’s come together so well.
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PNC Broadway in Columbus and the Columbus Association of Performing Arts will present “Not So Proud: The Life and Times of Temptations” April 18-20 at 7:30 p.m. April 21 at 8 p.m.; 2 and 8 pm April 22; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. April 23 at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Limited tickets available. (capa.com)
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