WESTPORT — “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical,” showcasing 30 songs by the jazz musician and composer, will open the 93rd season at the Westport Country Playhouse on April 11.
The Tony Award-winning musical, performed by five actors and a seven-piece on-stage band, will run April 11-29 at the theater, 25 Powers Court.
For details on the performance schedule and to reserve tickets online, click here.
The show, a musical anthology from the Harlem Renaissance era, features a score that includes “This Joint Is Jumpin’,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,” among others.
This new version of the original 1978 staging. a 2022 “Critic’s Pick” in The New York Times, is directed and choreographed by Jeffrey L. Page.
“Fats Waller was not only a musical genius, he also deployed humor to covertly speak truth to power structures,” Page, an Emmy-nominated director and choreographer, said in a publicity release for the show.
In the revival, Page said he is “interested in the celebration of Blackness, as well as examining the hard truth: the fetishization of Blackness,” according to the release.
The production looks “at this collection of Waller’s works as one would a finely curated art exhibit,” Page said. “The curated musical pieces artfully tell a story of Waller’s protest through his mask of humor.”
The cast incudes Miya Bass, Paris Bennett, Jay Copeland, Judith Franklin and Will Stone.
The band will be led by Terry Bogart, music director.
For more information about the production schedule and special ticketing arrangements, contact the Westport Country Playhouse box office at 203-227-4177.
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