“The way that I came into this show in terms of my work and how I approached it,” says choreographer Sergio Trujillo, “goes way back to 15-20 years ago when I was asked to choreograph Jersey Boys. I had to research all the groups from that era and time. The Four Seasons didn’t move or dance. What I did was research The Four Tops, The Temptations. I immersed myself in that world.” And it paid off as Trujillo is now the choreographer for Ain’t Too Proud, a new musical about The Temptations that officially opens at the Ahmanson Theatre on Friday with a Broadway opening scheduled for the Imperial theatre in the spring.
Trujillo, was Tony nominated for this choreography for On Your Feet! (now at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa through September 2nd.) In addition to Jersey Boys, he has choreographed such shows as Summer (the currently running Donna Summer musical on Broadway), Leap of Faith and Memphis.
When The Temptations were rising up the charts, Charles “Cholly” Atkins (with assistance from Paul Williams) did the group’s relatively basic choreography. Trujillo knew that wouldn’t be enough to sustain a Broadway show.
“It was important to create my own version of how The Temptations danced,” he says by phone after a rehearsal for the upcoming touring production of A Bronx Tale (playing the Pantages November 6-25). “Knowing full well the responsibility I have to make sure that I pay homage to them and do justice to the genius that was Charlie and to some degree Paul Williams. Those were big shoes to fill. The show has to sustain 2-1/2 hours and every time I go up to bat with a number, that particular number has to have its own style, its own signature. Basically I’m creating, number for number, each one has vision and conceit.”
Even though the demands of the show require something bigger than what The Temptations did themselves, Trujillo can’t fully ignore their history either. “I made a decision right form the top that basically I was going to do one number in the entire show that would be close to what they did. And the rest of it would be what Sergio would do as a choreographer of The Temptations. Some of this stuff was corny. It was of the period; wonderful and evocative. But looking at it through the lens of 2018, dance has come a long way. I made an effort to use their inspiration as a platform for me to create my own version of their platform.”
Apparently Trujillo did something right. “Otis told me, ‘I’m borrowing a couple of your steps.'” Otis is Otis Williams, one of the founding members of The Temptations. They are on tour supporting their new album, All The Time. The Temptations have multiple stops in Southern California including one at The Rose in Pasadena on September 13th and at The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on September 15th.
Trujillo doesn’t call shows like Summer, The Jersey Boys or Ain’t Too Proud jukebox musicals, but rather “autobiographical” musicals. “We’re taking the lives of these groups and putting them on stage. A jukebox musical is where you take a group of songs and put a story around it.”
In his mind what separates Ain’t Too Proud from other “autobiographical” musicals is the book by writer Dominique Morriseau (Skeleton Crew.) “I think the thing I admire most about the book that Dominique has written is how authentic it is. And the soul she has put into it. She has infused it with history and the truth of the culture and the pain that…all of the things that this particular group of five men have gone through to become The Temptations and how Otis has persevered to go through. It has heart and authenticity.”
That authenticity is also what makes Trujillo believe that the show is very topical. “Have we really changed? Have we really made progress? I don’t know. Last summer we were at Berkeley in previews and there was that White Supremacist March that was going on and I’m coming to rehearsal and there are SWAT teams near City Hall two blocks from the theatre. When we’re dealing with this tension in the country and we’re dealing with it on stage from 50-60 years ago, have we really? That’s what makes it different and makes it relevant.”
Photo from “Ain’t Too Proud” by Doug Hamilton
Images of Sergio Trujillo courtesy of Sergio Trujillo
Update: This post has been updated to include the announcement of a Broadway booking for the show at the Imperial Theatre in New York for the Spring of 2019. No other details are available at this time.