We have lived in New York for over
twenty-five years, but until we started taking our grandchildren to Broadway
shows, I do not believe we had seen more than a couple in the first twenty. Somehow,
though, we have gotten the “theater bug,” and as you who are regular readers
have probably noticed, we have found ourselves in the theater district (the
area bounded by West 40th Street on the south, West 54th Street on the north,
Sixth Avenue on the east and Eighth Avenue on the west, and includes Times
Square) fairly frequently of late.
Our latest Broadway extravaganza was “Ain’t
Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations.” The Temptations were quite
popular in the 1960s, but if you had asked me a few weeks ago to sing some
Temptations songs, I am not sure I would have correctly identified very many of
them. However, in doing our usual “homework” prior to the performance,
including listening to the Broadway album, I realized that I was quite familiar
with virtually all of the long list of songs included in the show.
This was a high energy and totally
enjoyable performance. The personal history of the group members, which
included various artists who floated in and out of the group over many years,
was not at all familiar to us. Unfortunately, a fair amount of heartache came along
with their success, including problems with drugs, romantic relationships, and
fellow musicians. But the music is still incredibly enjoyable, and the show
relied almost entirely on that music, with only brief snippets of narration by band
member Otis Williams (played by Derrick Baskin) and a bit of dialogue to tie
things together.
I include here both a version of the
Temptations singing that title song back in the 1960s (sorry the video is a bit
grainy), as well as some excerpts from the Broadway show.
If you are of a certain age, or maybe of any age, and in New York looking for a totally enjoyable evening, I highly recommend this show!
Love,
Rebecca
No comments:
Post a Comment