At first glance, the Temptations seem like a perfect choice for a jukebox musical.

The vocal group stood among the biggest and brightest acts to emerge from Motown Records, landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on their first nomination in 1989 (the same year as the Rolling Stones) and recorded a series of much-loved, stylistically varied singles that resonate to this day, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.”

The problem? Each one of those songs featured a different lead singer, with the latter performed in true ensemble style by four men. The Temptations are far more memorable for their music than for any one member of the group. (Not to put too fine a point on it, but those three singles all made the cut for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.)

Without a familiar face to lead the action, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations” — which opened Tuesday at St. Paul’s Ordway Center for the Performing Arts — centers the story around Otis Williams.

Otis who, you may ask? The Texas native moved to Detroit at the age of 10 and went on to found what would eventually become known as the Temptations. He rarely handled lead vocals, but kept the group going for decades. Now 82, he’s the sole surviving original member of the Temptations, who have never stopped recording and touring. In 2022, they released the album “Temptations 60” to celebrate their 60th anniversary of signing to Motown, with the subsequent tour hitting the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand that summer.

In his national tour debut, Rudy Foster portrays Williams as an affable go getter who mostly avoids the, uh, temptations that lead to the downfall of several others in the group. Williams serves as both the main character and narrator who leads the audience through the action.

On the way out of the theater Tuesday, I overheard someone tell his date “there wasn’t much story” in the musical. Actually, there’s too much story. The Temptations’ history is filled with both success and strife and takes numerous, complicated turns. As Williams tells the audience near the end of the second act, 27 men have cycled through the group over the years. “Ain’t Too Proud” is based on Williams’ 1988 memoir, which also inspired a four-hour NBC miniseries in 1998.

Playwright Dominique Morisseau, a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient, opens the musical at a leisurely pace, recounting Williams’ troubled youth and the genesis of the Temptations. But midway through the first act, she starts cramming in so much information, it’s easy to get lost in the details. Lead singers come and go, while the men face brutal racism, drug addiction and struggle for creative control. Oh, and they also help to invent the psychedelic soul genre. There’s a lot going on.

“The Legendary Motown Catalog” is credited as the author of the show’s music and lyrics and, indeed, it includes hits from the Temptations and other Motown legends. The Supremes, for instance, are portrayed on stage performing several of their best-known songs. But opening up the soundtrack leads to some odd choices, including Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” popping up for an emotionally charged scene in the second act. (Technically speaking the Temptations did record a version of the number, as did a handful of other Motown artists, a practice that wasn’t uncommon at the time. But Stevie Wonder made it a hit and it felt out of place in a story that wasn’t about him.)

Muddled story aside, “Ain’t Too Proud” shines when it comes to the more than 30 songs woven into the storyline. From early earworms “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “I Wish It Would Rain” to the grittier late ’60s smashes “I Can’t Get Next to You” and “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today),” the musical does a fine job of representing the depth, and excitement, of the Temptations’ hitmaking era.

The nimble ensemble does a solid, if rarely spectacular, job of delivering the numbers, backed by a live rock band that sometimes drowns out the lyrics. Approaching “Ain’t Too Proud” as the chance to hear such classics brought back to life is a far safer bet than trying to navigate the murky, crowded narrative.

‘Ain’t Too Proud’

When: Through Sunday
Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $145-$45 via 651-224-4222 or ordway.org
Capsule: The songs are far stronger than the story.

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