Broadway Star Talks About Iconic Role in Ain't Too Proud

In honor of the 2019 Tony® Awards, we’re celebrating with Broadway Week on One-on-One. Steve Adubato goes One-on-One with 2019 Tony®️ nominated actor, Derrick Baskin, who talks about his role as the iconic Otis Williams in the musical, Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.

6/4/19 #2225

Excerpt:

"I know you wanna leave me, But I refuse to let you go, If I have to beg and plead for your sympathy, I don't mind 'cause you mean that much to me. Ain't too proud to beg sweet darlin' Please don't leave me girl. Don't you go. Ain't too proud to plead, baby, baby. Baby, baby. Please don't leave me girl. Don't you go. You gotta go see Ain't Too Proud. This is Derrick Baskin, who is not just one of the... he is the star, they're a great team. He plays Otis Williams. He narrates the show as well. A Tony nominated... Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations. Imperial Theatre, West 45th Street. I am honored. Oh man. The pleasure is mine. We are honored. My wife and I went to see it a couple weeks ago. Oh, that's amazing. You...? Hmm. [laughter] So let me ask you. Sure. Let folks know why they should go see this wonderful play. Well, if you are a fan of timeless music, if you are a fan of really really good music if you are a fan of history, you want to come and check out this show. You know, this show is kind of a love letter to a team of men who are icons who reflected the music and reflected the times that they lived in, and whose music just reaches far and wide. So if you're a fan of The Temptations, come and see this show. And if you're a fan of history? Like, really come and see the show. You know, what I was saying to you right before we got on the air is that what I was blown away by was, is, your ability to perform, to sing, to dance, to do everything you're doing, and to narrate this show as Otis Williams? Yeah. Who brought them together? He did. He did. Did you know when you said "yes" that that's what it would be? Or did they make you narrate and do all of these other things? Yeah. And then they said "yes" to you? No no. I said "yes" to the project, but I read the script first. And as I'm reading the script, I was like, "Okay, well I'll play the narrator, and then someone else will play me, or play the same character." Right. There'll be two persons playing the same character. You know? I'll narrate and then there'll be someone that actually does the other part of it. And they were like, "Nope. That's all you." And I... I kind of freaked out a little bit..."