Ain't Too Proud

Carol, a client of my wife the accountant, owns and operates a local weekly ad circular. Carol has been a booster and supporter of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine for years. Because of her good relations with my wife, we have had the opportunity to see more than a few productions gratis. 

The playhouse is one of the premier summer playhouses in America. Since 1933, hundreds, if not thousands of actors and performers have played there. Many played there before they were famous, many played there after they became famous. The list of the celebrated stars is huge. 100,000 people take in performances every summer.

My first experience with the playhouse was in the summer of 1961 I think. I was in Maine spending some time with my aunt and uncle. They took me to a children's matinee production, the name of which, I cannot remember. Since then, I have had the pleasure of seeing many shows there.

Last night, we experienced a musical biopic of "The Temptations", a rythm and blues (Soul) group from the 1960s and 1970s.The Temptations, along with "The Supremes" often owned AM radio as their music crossed over racial lines and helped our culture heal some wounds between the races from the nasty legacy of Slavery and later, the Jim Crow era in the South.

I never owned a Temptations album, but I knew their songs. Their music popped up everywhere; Teen Club nights in the North Bethesda Jr. High gym and teen clubs across the nation. I can remember "My Girl" as one of those early "our songs". For the life of me, I cannot remember the girl's name who shared "Our Song" with me. 

"Ain't too proud" was a real treat. 31 songs woven into a narrative as told by Otis Williams, their leader for years. It  followed the trajectory of this super group's rise and fall. The voices of the players were amazing, the band that played the score was true to the music of the group. Overall, another excellent presentaation at this iconic playhouse.

One section of the perfomance caught me up and I could feel my eyes moisten. It was their journey through the Jim Crow South around the time Rev King was assassinated. For a few moments I was back in Tallahassee, Florida as a 12 year old watching white peckerwoods with bats and sticks descend on black protestors as the cops turned their backs or just looked away. I had gone to the protest, defying my parents orders to not go. I never told them until I was an adult.

That moment still haunts me 63 years later.The reality of Jim Crow came full circle for me. I really had no experience with racism until my years in Florida. It was a rude, in my face come to Jesus experience that insured I would never be comfortable around racism. It was maybe my first hint that white folk were no better than anyone else, contrary to the image they painted of themselves.

The biopic last night was not only a great musical treat, the way the narrative of the Temptations became an integral and seamless part of the story made for some fine theater. I had a wonderful time. The set was sparse. But a minute into it, I knew they were not going the rely on the set to prop them up. It was the narrative and the music. The music was fantastic. The outfits were perfect and the doos right on target.

I would have never thought all those years when I was dragged to this concert, that theatrical production; that it would all rub off on me so that now that I am an old fart, I can appreciate that which I did not as a child. Again another full circle has been completed.

Keep it tween the ditches .............................

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Of course I am going to use the Temptations hit, "Ain't tToo Proud to Beg" for this post. I also have to include the first and maybe the only "Our Song" I ever shared with a girl. "My Girl" is a song that has stood the passage of time. Finally, my favorite Temptations tune, "Ball of Confusion". Not just a political song, more importantly, they stepped outside of their comfortable "Pop Music, Motown" sound.