<b>ain't too proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations</b> Shea's Mainstage SpeakupWNY | Buffalo NY and Buffalo News

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ain�t too proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations Shea�s Mainstage

By Augustine Warner

�It�s all about the music� is one of the last lines in the wonderfully done �ain�t too proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.�
It�s true.
Okay, there have been 27 Temps and 60 albums/CDs/streamings over the years.
But, there is a list of songs remembered even now.
It showed in the Opening Night audience in the Shea�s Mainstage.
Walking into that historic room, the crowd reminded me of another song and another legendary group: The Who and �My Generation.�
Ticket buyers clearly knew the music since many were singing along and others were cheering individual numbers and individual performers.
�ain�t too proud� is something of an insider view of popular music in changing and turbulent time, the Civil Rights Movement, deadly rioting in Detroit, the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and taste changes in the music audience.
Otis Williams is one of the two cowriters of this musical and he was there, the only survivor of the original five Temps.
Obviously, this story is a little suspect because it�s his story also, as the guy who put the group together and held it together and still performs with it.
He�s older than I am and still is out there, doing that Motown choreography.
Putting together this show, Williams worked with Dominique Morisseau, a prize-winning playwright, some of whose work has been performed on stages in this area.
Okay, having said that: Why is this show so good?
Clearly, there is the music, particularly from Motown stalwarts Brian Holland, Edward Holland and Lamont Herbert Dozier (the legendary Holland/Dozier/Holland) and Norman Whitfield.
There is also Sergio Trujillo�s well-drilled choreography, clearly working with the Motown moves and director Des McAnuff�s experienced skills.
Getting past all of this, there is a great cast here led by Rudy Foster�s Otis Williams, Jameson Clanton�s Melvin Franklin and Josiah Travis Kent Rogers�s David Ruffin.
The music?
For the Temptations, the songs are endless: �Get Ready,� �My Girl,� �Papa Was a Rolling Stone:� and (memorably for a Buffalo audience) �Shout.�
We even hear from the Motown competitors, the Supremes, with hits like �Baby Love� and �You Can�t Hurry Love.�
As usual with top-line shows these days, the show is filled with whiz bang special effects to help bring the story along.
Backstage, the story of the Temptations is filled with messes, from Ruffin�s fatal drug overdose to his physical attack on singer Tami Terrell to deaths from drugs and tobacco and the death of Williams� son Otis in a construction accident.
On stage, in Shea�s and in the legendary theaters and clubs, it�s a great show from start to finish.
�ain�t too proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations� is doing a quick touch and go in Shea�s but there is plenty of time to see the show.
You should go.

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