This is the second "jukebox" musical in my Year so far, and this one is far superior in my opinion to the previous one. Although perhaps this one should rightly be called a "jukejoint" musical.
A cast of five and a band of eight took the stage at the Goodman Theatre for today's matinee of Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show. I had heard bits of Waller's music before and recognized several of the song titles, but didn't know much about the man or his music. Fortunately, both his story and his music are interesting--varied in style, and well arranged in this revue that was created in 1978.
Here was what I was missing in Smokey Joe's Cafe: a good variety of songs and performance styles in musical arrangements that offered everything from intimate accompaniment to "blow the roof off" numbers. As staged in this production by Goodman Theatre Associate Producer Chuck Smith, the show uses the stage well. And there was a set and costumes that said something about the era of this music. All things that Smokey didn't have.
The standout in the cast has to be E. Faye Butler (pictured) . Ms. Butler is a singer and actress of accomplishment in Chicago, and that experience shone in her performance. The other four performers were each good in their way and made the most of their moment in the spotlight. I may be turning into my father, but I did have a lot of trouble understanding a lot of the lyrics, and most of the jokes were lost on me because I couldn't understand the words. But the music shone through and the incredibly racially diverse audience ate it up--myself included.
Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show
Music by Thomas "Fats" Waller and others
Lyrics by Andy Razaf, Richard Maltby, Jr., Billy Rose and a whole bunch of others
Show conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz
Live Performance at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Directed by Chuck Smith
Cast: E. Faye Butler, Parrish Collier, John Steven Crowley, Lina Kernan, Alexis Rogers
A cast of five and a band of eight took the stage at the Goodman Theatre for today's matinee of Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show. I had heard bits of Waller's music before and recognized several of the song titles, but didn't know much about the man or his music. Fortunately, both his story and his music are interesting--varied in style, and well arranged in this revue that was created in 1978.
Here was what I was missing in Smokey Joe's Cafe: a good variety of songs and performance styles in musical arrangements that offered everything from intimate accompaniment to "blow the roof off" numbers. As staged in this production by Goodman Theatre Associate Producer Chuck Smith, the show uses the stage well. And there was a set and costumes that said something about the era of this music. All things that Smokey didn't have.
The standout in the cast has to be E. Faye Butler (pictured) . Ms. Butler is a singer and actress of accomplishment in Chicago, and that experience shone in her performance. The other four performers were each good in their way and made the most of their moment in the spotlight. I may be turning into my father, but I did have a lot of trouble understanding a lot of the lyrics, and most of the jokes were lost on me because I couldn't understand the words. But the music shone through and the incredibly racially diverse audience ate it up--myself included.
Ain't Misbehavin' The Fats Waller Musical Show
Music by Thomas "Fats" Waller and others
Lyrics by Andy Razaf, Richard Maltby, Jr., Billy Rose and a whole bunch of others
Show conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz
Live Performance at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Directed by Chuck Smith
Cast: E. Faye Butler, Parrish Collier, John Steven Crowley, Lina Kernan, Alexis Rogers
1 comment:
Does anyone have a tape of this production? It was taped and shown on tv (probably PBS) and I recorded it , but my tape has been badly damaged. I LOVED it, and would like to be able to watch it again. ...Anyone??
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