The bible of Broadway musicals calls “Ain’t Misbehavin”‘ only “the best songwriter revue ever written,” and a new production at Country Dinner Playhouse does little to scuff the polish off its high-heeled reputation.
Ken Bloom’s book “Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All-Time” cites this fabulous Thomas “Fats” Waller tribute, winner of the 1978 Tony, because it takes on a catalog shy on plot but not a point of view: Five distinctive performers in all shapes and sizes tackle a high-energy jazz score that prefers uptempo, humorous numbers over a preponderance of ballads. That makes for a quirky and imaginative evening that glides by as smoothly and quickly as melted butter down an ear of corn.
University of Wyoming director and choreographer General McArthur Hambrick’s sassy and classy new staging is all glamour, sophistication and hot, hot heat.
You’ve heard some of the song titles – most likely “This Joint is Jumpin”‘ and “Honeysuckle Rose.” But even if you’ve never actually heard Waller’s music, trust me, your body already knows it. The pulsating rhythms of “Spreadin’ Rhythm Around,” “Fat and Greasy” and a dozen others live inside you, perhaps dormant, needing only to be summoned with a tap of a toe, a snap of a finger and a quickening pulse.
Local chanteuse Mary Louise Lee (“Beehive,” “Lady Day”) is joined by a sublime national cast of LaDonna Burns, Eric Lee Johnson and the infectious Jayne Trinette. Rounding out the quintet is sweet-singing returning favorite Kenny Moten, who left the CDP a boy (“Footloose”) but has returned a bona fide leading man.
“Ain’t Misbehavin”‘ covers Waller’s compositions from 1922-43, the year he died unexpectedly at age 39 (and 275 pounds) after a wild life most worthy of his nickname. His signature title tune first appeared in the musical “Hot Chocolates,” which in 1929 featured Louis Armstrong in his Broadway debut. Waller took off five years later when he impressed a record exec while performing at a soiree thrown by George Gershwin.
Waller went on to record 800 tunes with dozens of lyricists. His work played with tempos and taboos, his songs characterized by spontaneity, cleverly quarreling lovers, female empowerment and all-around raunchiness.
“Ain’t Misbehavin”‘ grew out of the earlier, Waller-
influenced “Bubblin’ Brown Sugar.” It ran on Broadway from 1978-82, paving the way for many similar shows (with and without plots) including “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “Dreamgirls” and the Denver-born “It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues.”
Hambrick has excised some of the silliness and brazen sexual innuendo (the original, for example, was set in a 1930s Harlem nightclub and featured marijuana reefers as big as cigars), but the signature harmonies, infectious scat and vaudevillian comedy thrive in this more elegant interpretation, one punctuated by Kathy Heeman’s fine and flashy period costumes.
When it comes to money moments, these singers make several trips to the bank – including Lee on “Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now,” Burns and Moten on “That Ain’t Right,” Johnson on “Your Feet’s Too Big” and Trinette on “Cash for Your Trash.” Trinette had spontaneous fun with the nearly all-white opening night crowd, telling one woman she looked like Reba McIntyre, then delivering a good-natured and perfectly timed midsong admonishment of an audience member heading for the restroom.
Group highlights include Lee & Co. on “Handful of Keys,” in which the ensemble sings like human pianos, and “Lounging at the Waldorf,” a satire of the upper crust. And the women sound like honeysuckle Andrews Sisters on the glorious “Off-Time.”
The brief, smoky laments are made more powerful for their rarity: “Mean to Me,” and the unexpected knockout “Black and Blue,” a song about racism in America that’s as pretty as a choir and sad as a wake. If there is a weakness, it’s that Burns is probably called upon once too often to intentionally sing out of key for comic effect.
With “Beehive” and now “Ain’t Misbehavin’, Country Dinner Playhouse continues to make great strides in its onstage diversity. It would be a shame if that diversity does not spread out into its audience.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
*** 1/2 | “Ain’t Misbehavin”‘
MUSICAL REVUE|Country Dinner Playhouse, 6875 S. Clinton St., Greenwood Village|Music by Thomas “Fats” Waller, various lyricists|Directed by General McArthur Hambrick|Starring LaDonna Burns, Eric Lee Johnson, Mary Louise Lee, Kenny Moten and Jayne Trinette|THROUGH OCT. 30|7:45 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays; 1:45 p.m.Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays (dinner 90 minutes before)|1 hour, 55 minutes|$34.95-$39.95|303-799-1410
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HURRICANE BENEFIT The Colorado Theatre Guild’s Katrina response, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” is at7:30 p.m. Sunday at the New Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive. Performances include Curious Theatre Company’s “Trumbo” (starring Jamie Horton), Shadow’s “Sweet Corner Symphony,” PHAMALy’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Buntport’s “Magnets on the Fridge,” Alliance Stage’s “The Syringa Tree” and the Queen City Jazz Band. Tickets benefiting the American Red Cross are $50-$75; call 303-739-1970.
“EXPENSES” Kelly Burke performs excerpts from Zelda Fitzgerald’s writings. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Oct. 8 at the Crossroads Theatre, 2180 Stout St. Tickets $10-$12 (2-for-1 Thursdays); call 303-296-0212.
“WEST SIDE STORY” The Littleton Town Hall Arts Center production is directed by Nick Sugar and stars Elizabeth Welch, Ryan Belinak, Melissa McCarl, Kent Randall and Scott McLean. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-
Saturdays, 2 p.m. most Sundays at 2450 W. Main St. Tickets $20-$32; call 303-794-2787.
-John Moore
