Ain’t Too Proud - Prince Edward Theatre

Honestly had no idea it had even opened until I was walking back to Piccadilly through Soho on Friday night

There may be no buzz or excitement, but poll added anyway.

Saw this tonight, and it was much more fun than I expected. It's a biographical jukebox musical, so the least original kind of jukebox musical, and it's straightforwardly told, so the least original approach for the least original kind of jukebox musical, but the music is terrific, the performers are terrific and there's a sly tension introduced by the book writer about whether the main character (Sifiso Mazibuko's Otis Williams, whose biography this is based on) is actually a massive villain lol!

Some spoilers follow. . .

This is not as clever or as good as "Jersey Boys," a Rashomon like puzzle of four accounts of the same history, nor is it as emotive or clever as "Tina the Musical," which actually makes the songs speak to the plot so much more, and which told a story of one woman's triumph over abuse beautifully.

However, this, in my opinion, is significantly better than "The Drifter's Girl" (which was a musical torn between the Drifters and finding songs for Beverley Knight to sing), better than "Get up Stand Up" (which was a musical with the best denouement singalong ever but was otherwise about Bob Marley giving a girl a slap and how many times Arinze Kene could tap his foot), better than "Motown the Musical" (which was a Berry Gordy hagiography that seems to have been written to contradict "Dreamgirls"), better than "Cilla the Musical" (which was mostly one long gig in which Cilla's boyfriend was actually and wrongheadedly the main character), and about on a par with "Beautiful" and "The Cher Show," both of which were quite entertaining.

Unlike those latter two musicals, this is not about genius songwriters: in fact, Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield, who wrote most of these great songs, are completely sidelined and we learn nothing about them.

What this is actually about is:-

(1) Which Temptation do you like the best? Is it the uber charismatic David Ruffin (played by the Uber charismatic Tosh Wanogho-Maud more like a rasping explosive Otis Redding than the actual David Ruffin)? Is it the sweet honeyed Eddie Kendricks, played by the sweet honeyed Mitchell Zhanghaza, who actually sounds like the real David Ruffin lol? Or is it the loveable and decent and kindly and witty Melvin Franklin, played by the reassuringly bass-voiced wonder that is Cameron Bernard Jones with more charm than anyone else on stage? Cos, realistically, those are your choices;

(2) And having decided which of the above 3 you like the best, now you have to choose just how much you hate (or just maybe, like a little bit) the main character, Sisifo Mazibuko's Otis Williams? At one point, the book writer makes clear her barely hidden disdain for this least-talented but longest lasting member of the Temptations, when she has Zhanghaza's Eddie ask how come every time anyone gets on the wrong side of this guy, "poof-" they vanish from the group, despite an initial promise that all power would be shared equally among the star lineup of 5?

The way the lead character builds relationships with Berry Gordy's boss character, turns the band manager into an ally and sidekick, sweettalks various band members one by one into betraying each others hopes and dreams, means that he always tops the band from the bottom, and it is the juxtaposition of this scary fact with his own presentation of himself in his monologues as the ultimate well-meaning survivor that makes this show both amusing and interesting, even as it presents us with a smorgasbord of hits beautifully choreographed and performed.

As the self-justifying survivor, with the heart of a mafioso, Sisifo Mazibuko is quite wonderful, muscular and forceful, even when he's pretending just to fit in.

And the real stars of the Temptations (see the above 3) are all wonderfully defined on stage, and a delight to listen to perform.

This is a jukebox musical purporting to be about a Mozart, but which might actually be about a Salieri, and it's the complexity of that that spikes an otherwise utterly conventional storyline, and which makes it interesting.

4 stars for a jukebox show that is above average for this sort thing.

Dress row F is a safe bet. But the slip seats at the Prince Edward are much cheaper and the view is great. Nearly as good as the seats you´re looking at.

Does anyone know if they’re doing day seats for this? I know it’s on Rush on TodayTix but wondered if there’s any other ‘on the day’ options.

So, I was at the performance on Friday night 28 April. The show started about 20 minutes late. Before it started, they kept apologizing for the delay and saying the show was going to begin as soon as possible. From our seats, we could see the conductor was not at the piano. Eventually, the conductor came out and about 2 minutes later they announced 2 understudies and then the show began. I would guess they did about 30 minutes of the show and during the middle of a song, 1 of the 5 Temptations left the stage and didn't come back. The song ended and the next scene was an interview and one of the chairs was empty. The interviewer asked a question or 2 and then the whole cast left the stage. They announced the show would resume as soon as possible and to remain in your seats while they resolve the issue. They announced this multiple times. I would guess after nearly 30 minutes, a woman came out on stage and said they were sorry but due to a cast injury the show was unable to continue. The ushers had handouts explaining how you would get a refund and to please leave the theatre. I had 3 friends visiting from San Francisco with me and they won't be able to see the show before they leave on Sunday morning as they have an all day tour on Saturday. Really disappointing they didn't have an understudy to take over. I hope the actor is ok. Kind of a bummer of an evening.

Was also surprised the grand circle was closed and most of the box seats were empty. Also could see scattered empty seats in the stalls. Not good for a show that just opened last week on a Friday night. Imagine it must really be empty on a Monday!

Saturday evening started 15 mins late two understudies on. I think David Ruffin not the advertised so maybe a late change. A couple of sound issues later on in the performance but didn’t spoil our enjoyment

Does anyone have a list of the Understudies 1st & 2nd ?

What is going on??

Apparently he is absolutely incredible!