Boogie Down Broadway, and Down into Hell 

Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations, which chronicles the Motown hitmakers’ journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame through songs, played for nearly three years on Broadway and was nominated for 12 Tony Awards in 2019, winning for Best Choreography. A thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty and betrayal that takes place during a decade of civil unrest in America is set to the beat of the group’s now classic rock/golden oldies hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and the title song. 

Ain’t Too Proud is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, and its Tony-decorated team includes Paul Tazewell, who just made history last Sunday night as the first Black man to win the Academy Award for costume design for Wicked. The jukebox musical’s Santa Barbara debut takes place March 11-12 at the Granada. 

Lights Up! Theatre Company having a go at Hadestown represents something of the completion of a circle for the musical created by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, who wrote the music, lyrics and book almost 20 years ago. Mitchell’s conception was to set the ancient Greek myth in a café inspired by New Orleans’ Preservation Hall above ground, and a hellish, post-apocalyptic industrial environment in the underworld, and to use the show to explore themes of climate change and the struggle between nature and industrialization. Mitchell brought the romantic retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in its concept album form to Sings Like Hell at the Lobero in 2010 before Hadestown went on to become a groundbreaking Broadway sensation, winning eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2019. Lights Up is performing six shows of the Hadestown Teen Edition on March 6-9 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, meaning we have yet to see a full version of the musical on one of our stages. Visit https://lightsupsb.com.