This review aired on KBAQ
ATC DELIVERS SMASHINGLY SPRY AND ENERGIZED “AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’”
”AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’”
Arizona Theatre Company,
Fats Waller isn’t a well known song writer, but his many tunes from the late 1920s through the early ‘40s are amazingly familiar. Song hits like “Honeysuckle Rose,” “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “Your Feet’s Too Big,” and the title tune have been combined cleverly with several less popular songs to create the entertaining musical revue “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Arizona Theatre Company’s smashingly spry and energized production looks sharp, has been brilliantly staged, and is lustily performed by a talented ensemble of gifted singer/dancers who turn Waller’s tunes into a spirited entertainment.
“Ain’t Misbehavin’” links 30 Waller tunes but lacks commentary about the composer. If you listen to the lyrics you’ll understand why Waller’s tunes provided his perspective on the emerging Black culture then and why they are still enticing today. Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr. discovered many of Waller’s unpublished songs and combined them with his well known hits to create this dazzling revue that won Broadway’s best new musical Tony Award in 1978.
Director Kent Gash finds loads of telling insights throughout each song and he has the perfect cast to bring off the subtle glances and nuanced innuendo that adds depth to each song. Combine Gash’s insightful staging with choreographer Byron Easley’s slithery and sexual dances, all stunningly executed by the cast, and they add raucous humor to almost every song. The team isn’t afraid, though, to let the cast just sit and sing one of Waller’s more soulful songs like “Black and Blue” as a welcome contrast to the showy numbers.
The first act splashes with reverberating gusto and the second act delivers even more as the sexiness expands into a scintillating and gyrating playfulness when cast member Christopher L. Morgan slides down a rope shirtless and flirts with several female audience members in “The Viper’s Drag.” Not to be outdone, the three female cast members, Rebecca Covington, Angela Grovey, and Aurelia Williams, swivel their hips and thrust their chests in several grand numbers. The other male cast member, Ken Robinson, is hysterical in “Your Feet’s Too Big,” but even here he adds plenty of underlying sexual tension to the comical song. Each of these talents have show stopping solos but they also work together beautifully in the big production numbers.
The simple unit set with an arch of blinking lights and a plush stage curtain highlights each number and the cast is decked out in colorful period attire. The orchestra plays the spirited melodies with jazzy syncopation and musical director/conductor Darryl G. Ivey plays an integral part in the action.
The stylish “Ain’t Misbehavin’” entertains as it sparkles. It continues through January 17. For tickets, call the Arizona Theatre Company box office at 602-256-6995 or order online at www.arizonatheatre.org.
Grade: A