Ain't Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Shrewd direction of Des McAnuff, with sensational choreography by Sergio Trujillo...While honoring all the expected biomusical clichés, which include rolling out its subjects’ greatest hits in brisk and sometimes too fragmented succession, this production refreshingly emphasizes the improbable triumph of rough, combustible parts assembled into glistening smoothness...As for the performance of those songs...they’re pretty close to perfection."
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"No matter how much you may chafe at the clunky machinery of Broadway’s latest jukebox biomusical, 'Ain’t Too Proud,' the hits just keep coming, distracting your critical faculties with zaps of R&B greatness...The problem with telling the story of the Temptations is that there isn’t a clear central story to tell...As musical theater, 'Ain’t Too Proud' could generously be described as shameless. But as an evening of musical entertainment, it ain’t too shabby."
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"While the tunes themselves are predictably wonderful and the cast’s voices ravishing, 'Ain’t Too Proud' itself has no real arc or engine...Dominique Morisseau’s book has moments of wit, but it’s also got plenty of corny clunkers and ultimately feels like a scroll through the band’s Wikipedia page...'Ain’t Too Proud' is certainly beautiful to look at...The show often sounds great too. But underneath its sparkle is a theatrical monotony that drags the whole thing down."
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"The score is terrific, as are the singing and pit band, but Sergio Trujillo’s choreography is way too slick—the real-life Temptations moved like street-corner kids from Detroit, not glammed-up 42nd Street gypsies—and the projection-heavy set design is ploddingly dull...'Ain’t Too Proud' ends up feeling more like a concert with narration than a full-fledged musical, with results that are dramatically static and banal without limit."
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"'Ain’t Too Proud' mostly accomplishes what so many of the lesser examples of this genre haven’t – a fine cast performs beloved songs, performs them well enough to conjure and honor the people they’re playing and the songs they’re singing, and adds enough Broadway dazzle...That the deaths carry little dramatic punch is no fault of the primary cast, each of whom is given little more than a trait or two in place of a fully developed character."
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"The problem is the conflicts that he discusses are, alas, very much like the conflicts you can find in previous juked bios of male artists...You get certain flavors here of what Morisseau can do, politically and aesthetically, but not near enough...The show livens up in the musical numbers...You’re left wishing the show had chosen one part of this band’s life and stayed close therein...and, above all, been more willing to look at America through this astonishing catalog of musical greatness."
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"More 'Summer'-conventional than 'Jersey Boys'-fresh. But polished performances, slick choreography and a slate of 31 Motown tunes should satisfy audiences who might not be looking for probing storytelling, as long as the show delivers well-performed hits. That it does...The script delivers clichés and melodrama...At least things don’t drag, thanks to McAnuff’s fast-paced direction."
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"Sure, there are craft issues with a show that's more narrated than dramatized...But as a fan experience, this high-energy tribute delivers big time...Propulsively directed by bio-musical specialist Des McAnuff...The briskly paced production frequently generates the excitement of a terrific concert...Even if Morisseau doesn't dodge showbiz clichés about fame and fulfillment not always going hand in hand, her book recounts the group's ups and downs with clarity and emotional involvement."
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