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GOODMAN THEATRE 170 N. Dearborn Street (312) 443-3800   Photos
from "Long Days Journey Into
Night" and
"the Thugs
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Ain't Misbehavin' based on an idea by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby Jr., with music by Fats Waller, is director Chuck Smith. Ain't Misbehavin' runs through July 27.
Design by Kelly Rickert.
Ain’t Misbehavin’
-
at the Goodman until
August 3rd, 2008
review by Ed Vincent
It's a wonderful production, but as a tribute it would have
been nice to have some more biographical information in the show. Mr. Waller was an interesting individual who pulled himself up by his efforts to become one of the top players and composers of jazz for his era and well beyond. His first song
played on a piano, before any lessons, came from watching
a player piano play a tune over and over. He later took lessons and went on to impress other leaders of music in his time. He
had no silver spoon in his mouth and 'rent parties' would be called for from time to time, where he would invite guests to
his apartment and charge them admission-to help pay his rent.
Once he was well known to the public he found himself being invited to a parties to play piano and perform some of his
songs for the wealthy-earning in a night what he had made in months of work earlier. He was invited to a party, and as a guest, later the man who invited him requested a few songs-
some say with a gun. Thomas Wright Waller (Fats) agreed
to play a few songs, Fats played for three days and nights, drank lots of booze, left with many thousands of dollars in
tips and personal thanks from the guest Alphonse Capone.
Thomas Wright Waller started with rent parties and died on
his own personal train car returning to New York at the age
of only 39 (pneumonia). A bright candle burning too quickly,
the 300 pound Fats lit many a party in person and with his records brought joy to millions.
The show at the Goodman is a fine tribute with excellent
acting, singing, dancing, band playing, costumes, lighting, sound, and heart. It could bring joy to millions too if you
by a thousand tickets or so and tell your friends.
a clone of the famous man, though he might have passed 39 already. The entire cast of E. Faye Butler, Parrish Collier, Alexis Rogers, and Line Kerna brings enough humor in words
and motion to give smiles to all but the most devout, like
Fats Waller's dad-the minister. The production is peppered
with enough spice of innuendo to make bawdy delicious.
The band is fabulous and their jazz is fun, it would be more
fun given the nature and topic of the play, if you could bring
mixed drinks into the theater...sorry. Get your tickets and
have a drink with dinner before you arrive.
(l to r) E. Faye Butler, Parrish Collier, Alexis Rogers, John Steven
Crowley and Line Kerna.
Photo by Liz Lauren.
footprint with lots of energy.
Photo by Liz Lauren.
CHUCK SMITH’S ALL-NEW AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ MAKES THE JOINT JUMP
POWERHOUSE CHICAGO CAST INCLUDING E. FAYE BUTLER, PARRISH COLLIER, JOHN STEVEN CROWLEY, LINA KERNAN AND ALEXIS ROGERS
PERFORMS 30 OF FATS WALLER’S TUNES***
(Chicago, IL – May 30, 2008) Thirty years after its Tony Award-winning world premiere, Ain’t Misbehavin’, the electrifying musical showcase of legendary composer and performer Thomas “Fats” Waller, based on an idea by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr., comes to Goodman Theatre in a brand new production. Resident Director Chuck Smith’s revival emphasizes Waller’s rich music by expanding its platform from cabaret to concert; with set designer Linda Buchanan, Smith transforms the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre into a grandiose period music venue, featuring an eight-piece band led by music director Malcolm Ruhl. Five of Chicago’s foremost musical theater talents including E. Faye Butler (Purlie), John Steven Crowley (Crowns), Alexis Rogers (Black Nativity), Parrish Collier and Lina Kernan present an evening of 30 foot-stomping ragtime romps, passionate ballads and outrageous songs—Your Feet’s Too Big, Honeysuckle Rose and The Joint is Jumpin’ among many others—that Waller composed, recorded or collaborated on. Ain’t Misbehavin’ runs June 21 – July 27 (opening night is June 30). Tickets are $23 – $78. A complete performance schedule including dates, times and ticket prices appears at the end of this release. The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation is the major production sponsor; ComEd is the major corporate sponsor; and Bank of America is the Corporate Sponsor Partner of Ain’t Misbehavin’.
“Ain’t Misbehavin’ revives the musical genius of Fats Waller—joyous music not heard everyday or found on many i-Pods—for a glorious night in the theater,” said Chuck Smith. “Though this is a period piece, our production trades the traditional nightclub setting for a concert venue, complete with eye-popping visuals—a perfect backdrop for these larger-than-life musical numbers. It’s a toe-tappin’, finger-snappin’, hand-clappin’ good time!”
Born in Harlem in 1904, Thomas “Fats” Waller remains one of the most influential stride piano players, having written more than 450 songs and recorded over 500 sides during his career. He wrote his first composition at age 14, and became a professional pianist the very next year—playing with legendary artists such as Fletcher Henderson and Jack Teagarden, Alberta Hunter and Bessie Smith. He became famous performing a combination of his own music and music written by others. After Waller’s death in 1943, his influence waned and his legacy faded into the historical background for over three decades. In 1978, theater artists Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr., generated renewed attention and interest in Waller with their creation Ain’t Misbehavin’, through which they paid tribute to Waller’s contributions to American music and highlighted the best aspects of the Harlem nightclub revues of the 1920s and ‘30s. Ain’t Misbehavin’ opened first as a cabaret act, quickly followed by a Broadway run of over 1,600 performances and numerous awards.
“Thirty years after the original Broadway production, Ain’t Misbehavin’ remains vibrantly alive and well, and I am very excited to see Goodman Theatre's production of it,” said co-creator Richard Maltby, Jr., who conceived and directed two Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals: Fosse (1999: Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk Awards) and Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978: Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk Awards), for which he also won the Tony Award as Best Director. “The Goodman is justly famous as a home of dramatic literature, and I have always believed that Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a play masquerading as a revue. Since my own roots are in Chicago, this production is in many ways like coming home. Jazz, comedy, Chicago? I can't wait!” With longtime collaborator, composer David Shire, Maltby Jr. directed and wrote lyrics for Starting Here, Starting Now, 1977; Baby, 1983, with librettist Sybille Pearson; Closer Than Ever, 1989; and the musical Big, 1996, with librettist John Weidman. With the team of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg he wrote lyrics for the international hit Miss Saigon.
"It's an honor for any author to have a work staged by the Goodman, a theater whose artistic resources are second to none. With Ain’t Misbehavin’, however, it's a special treat, because of the deep jazz heritage of Chicago and its people. I couldn't be more pleased," said co-creator Murray Horwitz, whose other theater writing credits include Broadway’s Harlem Nocturne (with André De Shields) and song lyrics for The Great Gatsby (Metropolitan Opera). Horwitz’s first collaboration with Richard Maltby, Jr., was the one-man show An Evening Of Sholom Aleichem, in which he still performs. A Washington-area resident for over 20 years, his work at NPR won three Peabody Awards and a Presidential Medal of the Arts. Horwitz is currently the Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
About the Music
Each of the songs performed in Ain’t Misbehavin’ is attributed to Waller; songs not written by Waller were recorded by him. Musicians in the eight-piece band for Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the Goodman include Peter Benson (piano), Larry Bowen (trumpet), Y.L. Douglas (drums) Anderson Edwards (bass), T.S. Galoway (trombone), Jarrard Harris (tenor sax/clarinet), Stephen Leinheiser (alto sax/clarinet) and Malcolm Ruhl (guitar and conductor). Act I musical numbers include Ain’t Misbehavin’; Lookin’ Good But Feelin’ Bad; ‘T Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do; Honeysuckle Rose; Squeeze Me; Handful Of Keys; I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling; How Ya Baby;The Jitterbug Waltz; The Ladies Who Sing With The Band; Yacht Club Swing; When The Nylons Bloom Again; Cash For Your Trash; Off-Time; and This Joint Is Jumpin’. Act II musical numbers include Spreadin’ Rhythm Around; Lounging At The Waldorf; The Viper’s Drag; Mean To Me; Your Feet’s Too Big; That Ain’t Right; Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now; Find Out What They Like; Fat And Greasy; and Black And Blue. Musical numbers in the finale include I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter; Two Sleepy People; I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed; I Can’t Give You Anything But Love; It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie; Honeysuckle Rose (reprise); and Ain’t Misbehavin’.
About the Artists
Director Chuck Smith is Goodman Theatre’s resident director and an associate producer of Legacy Productions, a Chicago based touring company. Most recently at the Goodman he directed José Rivera's Massacre (Sing to Your Children) for Teatro Vista, curated the Goodman’s August Wilson Celebration and directed Crumbs from the Table of Joy. Other Goodman Theatre credits include the Chicago premieres of Proof and The Story; the world premieres of By the Music of the Spheres and The Gift Horse; James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, which transferred to Boston’s Huntington Theatre, where it won the IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) Award for best direction; Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun; Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky; August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; A Christmas Carol; Vivisections from a Blown Mind; and The Meeting. He served as dramaturg for August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. He directed Knock Me a Kiss at Victory Gardens, where other directing credits include Master Harold and the Boys, Home, Dame Lorraine with Esther Rolle and Eden, for which he received a Jeff nomination for best direction. Smith is the editor of Seven Black Plays and Best Black Plays, published by Northwestern University Press. He is a 2006 recipient of the League of Chicago Theaters Lifetime Achievement Award, a 2005 History Maker,
a 2003 inductee into the Chicago State University Gwendolyn Brooks Center's Literary Hall of Fame and a 2001 Chicago Tribune Chicagoan
of the Year. He is the recipient of the 1982 Paul Robeson Award and the 1997 award of merit presented by the Black Theatre Alliance of Chicago; and is a board member of the African-American Arts Alliance of Chicago.
E. Faye Butler‘s Goodman Theatre credits include Purlie and seven seasons of A Christmas Carol. Chicago credits include Ella and Dinah
Was at Northlight Theatre, Seussical…at Chicago Skakespeare Theater, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Wiz, Little Shop at Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre, La Bete and Little Foxes at Court Theatre, Crumbs from the Table of Joy at Steppenwolf Theatre, Blue Sonata at Victory Gardens, A…My Name is Alice Ivanhoe Theatre, Could it be Magic (the Barry Manilow Songbook) at Mercury Theatre, Comfortable Shoes Royal George Theatre, Hello Dolly, Hot Mikado, Sophisticated Ladies at Drury Lane Theatre. Off Broadway: Nunsense. National and regional tours include Ella, Mamma Mia and Dinah Was, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Nunsense, Nunsense 2 and Cope. Parrish Collier returns to the Goodman Theatre having last being seen in Zoot Suit. Other Chicago credits include: Ain’t Misbehavin’, A Chorus Line and 5 Guys Named Moe at Drury Lane Evergreen Park; Jesus Christ Superstar, Kiss Me Kate and The
Producers at Drury Lane Oakbrook; The Full Monty at Drury Lane
Water Tower Place; A Midsummer Nights Dream at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Regionally Parrish has been seen in The All Night Strut and Smokey Joe’s Café at The Milwaukee Skylight Theatre; The Full Monty at The Barn Theatre; Smokey Joe’s Café at Beef and Boards; as well as international productions of Side Story, Starlight Express and the national tour of 5 Guys Named Moe. John Steven Crowley appeared at the Goodman in Crumbs From the Table of Joy and Amen Corner. Chicago credits include Gee’s Bend directed by Smith at Northlight Theatre. Regional credits include work at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Huntington Theatre Company and Hartford Stage. Other productions include Doo Wop Shoo Bop (Jeff Award), Crowns (Helen Hays Nomination), Fences and Ain’t Misbehavin’. Lina Kernan makes her Goodman debut. Other Chicago credits include Company, Cabaret and Ragtime at Porchlight Music Theatre. Her regional credits include Smokey Joe’s Café directed by Chuck Smith at Timber Lake Playhouse; Chicago and Barnum at Cherry County Playhouse; and Almost Heaven with Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse. Kernan holds a BFA in musical theater from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Alexis J. Rogers most recently appeared at the Goodman in Congo Square’s Black Nativity directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, and the reading of Rain,
a new work by Regina Taylor. Other Chicago credits include; Ragtime with Porchlight Theatre, Black Theatre Festival’s Don’t Make Me Over: A Tribute to Dionne Warwick (Dionne Warwick) with Black Ensemble Theater, Jeff Award winning Seven Guitars (Ruby) with Congo Square
and Trouble the Water (Odetta) with MPAACT. Understudies include
Sean Blake, Donica Henderson and Monique Whittington.
The design team and additional artists for Ain’t Misbehavin’ include
Linda Buchanan (Set), Birgit Rattenborg Wise (Costumes), Robert Christen (Lighting), Josh Horvath and Ray Nardelli (Sound), Lisa Willingham-Johnson (Choreographer) and Malcolm Ruhl (Music Director).
Tickets to Ain’t Misbehavin’ are $23 to $78 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or charged by phoning 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online at GoodmanTheatre.org on the day of performance, subject to availability; Mezztix are not available by telephone. When purchasing on GoodmanTheatre.org, enter the promo code MEZZTIX. 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online at GoodmanTheatre.org on the day of performance, subject to availability; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets at will call. Limit 4 tickets per student with I.D. Tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted group tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' EXTENDS THROUGH AUGUST 3
(Chicago, IL - July 1, 2008) Due to overwhelming ticket demand, the joint will jump for one more week: Goodman Theatre extends Chuck Smith's revival production of Ain't Misbehavin' through Sunday, August 3, 2008. Ain't Misbehavin' celebrates the music of Thomas "Fats" Waller, featuring an eight-piece band and performances by five of Chicago's foremost musical theater talents: E. Faye Butler, John Steven Crowley, Alexis Rogers, Parrish Collier and Lina Kernan. A complete performance schedule including dates, times, and ticket prices appears at the end of the release. The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation is the major production sponsor; ComEd is the major corporate sponsor; and Bank of America is the Corporate Sponsor Partner of Ain't Misbehavin'.
Tickets to Ain't Misbehavin' are $23 to $78 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or charged by phoning 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online at GoodmanTheatre.org on the day of performance, subject to availability; Mezztix are not available by telephone. When purchasing on GoodmanTheatre.org, enter the promo code MEZZTIX. 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online at GoodmanTheatre.org on the day of performance, subject to availability; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets at will call. Limit 4 tickets per student with I.D. Tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted group tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.
http://www.goodman-theater.org