Quiana Holmes. (DM Civic Center photo)
A Tony Award-winning Broadway musical makes its Iowa debut tomorrow night, featuring the story of a five-man vocal group that rose to stardom in the 1960s and ’70s. ”
Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of The Temptations” features actress and singer Quiana Holmes in the role of Josephine, the wife of Otis Williams, one of the act’s founding members. Holmes says her mother, a biblical playwright, kickstarted her vocal career early.
“I began singing, really, around like four or five. I mean, I’ve always had a microphone in my hand,” Holmes says, laughing. “My mom has all of these videos of me singing when I was really young, but my mom started introducing me into her plays in church. And I continued all the way up through middle school and high school and that’s really where I found my love for musical theater.”
The 28-year-old Holmes grew up in the small town of Rome, New York, where the music of The Temptations was a staple in the household. Her late father was an especially big fan. “He would rock me to sleep with ‘My Girl.’ He would teach me the harmonies that they sang. The Temptations was my first real insight to harmony, like, vocal harmony,” Holmes says. “And my dad would always play a certain part over and over and over again to let me hear the different notes being sung at the same time.”
The musical tells the tale of the group’s extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. While the plot revolves around the men who make up the quintet, Holmes says the ladies in their lives are key to the story. “I get to do so much singing in the show!” Holmes says. “I mean, the women in the show, we have very little stage time but our impact in the show is very, very great. And with this, oh yes, this is The Temptations and all their music, but I’m able to sing backstage every single night to all of these songs.” The compelling story follows the brotherhood and the betrayals, as the group’s personal and political conflicts threatened to tear them apart during a time of civil unrest.
Holmes says it’s a thrill for her to portray this strong woman. “I’m able to use my actual emotions, like, how I’m feeling that day,” Holmes says. “If I’m feeling a little sad or feeling a little more angry, I do have the reign to add that into the character and that makes every night so different even though it’s the same lines, the same choreography, the same blocking each night. I’m able to put myself in that character. So it’s actually really cool and it’s one of my favorite roles I’ve ever gotten to play.”
From their signature dance moves to the smooth harmonies, The Temptations rose to the top of the charts with an incredible 42 Top Ten Hits, including 14 songs that reached number-one. The show runs through Sunday at the Civic Center of Des Moines.