Sweet Sounds of The Temptations Fill the Kravis

Courtesy of the Kravis Center

Courtesy: Kravis Center

By GERRY BARKER
North Palm Beach Life

Motown came to the Kravis Center stage Tuesday night with the opening performance of the Tony Award-winning Broadway show, "Ain’t Too Proud -- The Life and Times of the Temptations." Led and narrated by the band's founder, Otis Williams (played by Rudy Foster), it chronicles the group's tumultuous journey from the Detroit streets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Featuring hit songs like "My Girl," "Just My Imagination," "I Wish It Would Rain" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," the show captures not only the group's highs and lows, but also the social and civil unrest that marked that time period.

Displaying the exhilarating choreography and smooth harmonies for which the group is famous, the talented cast engages the audience from the opening curtain as they juggle new-found fame, personal issues and the challenge of bringing the Motown sound to mainstream, white audiences. Besides Foster, Josiah Travis Kent Rogers, portraying David Ruffin, and Robert Crenshaw, playing Al Bryant, both delivered standout performances.

As a sidenote, Williams, now 83 and the sole surviving member of the original group, continues to perform, keeping alive the legacy of one of the most successful R&B groups of all time.

"Ain't Too Proud -- The Life and Times of The Temptations" is at the Kravis Center's Dreyfoos Hall through June 29. For tickets visit kravis.org or call 561.832.7469.

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