Music by Thomas Fats Waller

Based on an idea by Murray Horwitz

& Richard Maltby, Jr.

Director/Choreographer: Jim Weaver

Music Director: Darryl G. IveySet Designer:

Russell ParkmanCostume Designer: Karen Ann LedgerLighting Designer:

Jack MehlerSound Designer:

Ed ChapmanProduction Stage Manager:

Lloyd Davis, Jr.

with

DAmbrose BoydJoilet F. Harris

Tracey Conyer LeeJoy Lynn Matthews-Jacobs

Dennis Stowe June 30 - July 16, 2011

Welcome backstage at the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company with our new online StageNotes. Enrich and expand your WPTC experience as you explore the history of the play, read interviews, discover connections and contexts, and learn about the playwrights, composers, directors, actors and designers who make your WPTC live

theatre experience so memorable. Enjoy the show!

Information compiled by Rebecca Skrypeck, Layout by Jenni Amis

Overview, About the Play

Performance History

About the Creator

Review (NY TIMES 1978)

Connections and Contexts

Interview with Production Stage Manager: Lloyd Davis, Jr.

You Tube Then and Now (music)

Other Resources

Aint Misbehavinis presented through special arrangement with

MTI: Music Theatre International est. 1952For licensing information visit the website at www.mtishows.com

2011 Stage Notes

Aint Misbehavin 1929[Fats] worked on it for 45 minutes and there it was - Aint Misbehavin.

Andy Razaf

OVERVIEWTwo Acts, Revue, Rated PG Original Broadway version (1978)

The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930s Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadways best.

The inimitable Thomas Fats Waller rose to international fame during the Golden Age of the Cotton Club, honky tonk dives along Lenox Avenue, rent parties, stride piano players and that jumpin new beat, Swing. Although not quite a biography, Aint Misbehavin evokes the delightful humor and infectious energy of this American original as a versatile cast struts, strums and sings the songs he made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to downtown Tin Pan Alley to Hollywood and concert stages in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Source: http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000002#

ABOUT THE PLAYACT ONE

Hi there fellas! What you say? This is little Fats Waller, my mothers two hundred and eighty-five pounds of jam, jive and everything. These words crackle out of an old recording, inviting us into the sometimes zany, sometimes sexy, always jazzy world of Thomas Fats Waller. The piano that comes out of the recording is joined first by a live piano, then by a band, and finally by five people (DAmbrose Boyd, Tracey Conyer Lee, Joilet F. Harris, Joy Lynn Matthews-Jacobs, Dennis Stowe) dressed up to the nines in classic Harlem Renaissance style singing Aint Misbehavin. It is a kind of paean to fidelity, yet the group then tells us it can be difficult waiting for love (Lookin Good, But Feelin Bad).

What sort of world is this world of Fats Waller? Its a world where, if I want to jump in the ocean, T Aint Nobodys Business If I Do. Its a world where, as DAmbrose and Joilet tell us, love is as sweet as a Honeysuckle Rose, and Joy lovingly coos to her daddy (Squeeze Me). Most of all, its a world of music and the wonder of stride piano, as the cast sings the praises of a Handful Of Keys. Joilet may croon that Ive Got A Feeling Im Falling, but in this place, love means dancing, whether its hot (How Ya Baby) or sweet (Jitterbug Waltz).

L to R: Joy Lynn Matthews-Jacobs, Joilet F. Harris, Dennis Stowe, Tracey Conyer Lee, DAmbrose Boyd in

rehearsal for WPTCs production of Aint Misbehavin

Fats Waller comes from a time of big bands. Dennis and DAmbrose tell us about the women who not only looked great but sounded great as well (Ladies Who Sing With The Band). The women each take a turn with some wartime themed songs (Yacht Club, When The Nylons Bloom Again, Cash For Your Trash) and all three get us moving again with an infectious dance (Off-Time). The act ends with the entire cast keeping the mood high and swinging with The Joint Is Jumpin.

ACT TWOThe party continues into the second act as the cast celebrates all over the five boroughs of New York (Spreadin Rhythm Around). DAmbrose and the gals spread it downtown in counterpoint (Loungin At The Waldorf ) and Dennis spreads it uptown at a dark speakeasy (The Vipers Drag/The Reefer Song).

Parties end and love sours. Joilet questions her lover in Mean To Me and DAmbrose is downright cruel (in a humorous way) to his girlfriend when he tells her Your Feets Too Big. Joy and Dennis accuse each other of cheating (That Aint Right) while Tracey stays true to her man (Keepin Out Of Mischief Now). Joilet and Joy have a bit of fun when they compare notes about men in Find Out What They Like. Dennis and DAmbrose then tease a man--perhaps Mr. Fats Waller himself--for being Fat And Greasy. But underneath all the joking, dancing, partying and romancing, heartache still lingers (Black And Blue).

The finale brings us back up and snapping our fingers with a dazzling medley of Fats Waller hits (Im Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter, Two Sleepy People, Ive Got My Fingers Crossed, I Cant Give You Anything But Love, Its A Sin To Tell A Lie). The cast introduces us to Fats old band, performing vocal impersonations of the instrumental solos. The group continues to remind us that they Aint Misbehavin, but...one never knows, do one?

Source: http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000002#

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

Fats Wallers song, Aint Misbehavin was introduced at Connies Inn in Harlem during the opening of the all-black musical revue, Hot Chocolates. The show proved such a success that it moved onto Broadway, opening at the Hudson Theatre on June 20, 1929, and running for 219 performances. The Connies Inn performance of Aint Misbehavin was sung as an opening number by Margaret Simms and Paul Bass and then, later in the show, by Russell Woodings Hallelujah Singers. At the Hudson Theatre, the opening remained the same, but at intermission Louis Armstrong, in his Broadway debut, took to the stage to play Aint Misbehavin as a trumpet solo.

Source: http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/aintmisbehavin.htm

L to R: Nell Carter, Andre De Shields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page and Charlaine Woodard, the original Broadway cast of Aint Misbehavin.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Thomas Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) was an African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. He was born Thomas Wright Waller in New York City.

Waller studied classical piano and organ before apprenticing himself to legendary Harlem stride pianist James P. Johnson. Johnson introduced Waller to the world of rent parties (a party with a piano player, designed to help pay the rent by charging the guests), and soon he developed a performing career.

He was an excellent pianist--now usually considered one of the very best who ever played in the stride style--but his songwriting and his lovable, roguish stage personality (One never knows, do one?) overshadowed his playing. Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, Fats Waller and His Rhythm. Among his songs are Squeeze Me 1919, Aint Misbehavin 1929, Blue Turning Grey Over You 1930, Honeysuckle Rose 1929, Ive Got a Feeling Im Falling 1929, and Jitterbug Waltz 1942.

He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf and had a commercially successful career, which, according to some music critics, eclipsed his great musical talent.

His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds (136 kg). His weight and drinking are believed to have contributed to his early death.

Waller also made a successful tour of the British Isles in the late 1930s, and appeared in one of the earliest BBC Television broadcasts. He also appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably Stormy Weather in 1943.

With Razaf he wrote What Did I Do (To Be So Black and Blue)? in 1929 which became a hit for Louis Armstrong. This song, a searing treatment of racism, black and white, calls into question the accusations of shallow entertainment levelled at both Armstrong and Waller.

On December 15, 1943, at age 39, Waller died aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a west coast engagement.

More Biographical Info can be found here: http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=115Source: http://www.mtishows.com/biography.asp?writerid=3488 & From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia.

Review

Aint MisbehavinBy RICHARD EDER Published: May 10, 1978

What whistles, hoots, throws off sparks and moves at about 180 miles an hour, even though it is continually stopped? Aint Misbehavin.

This musical re-creation of Fats Waller, the jazz singer and pianist, is a whole cluster of marvels. No self-respecting audience could let it go on without interrupting it continually, and if the audience at the Longacre Theater, where it opened last night, was self-respecting to start off, it ended up in a state of agitated delight.

There are approximately thirty numbers in the show, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby Jr. with a lot of help from some extraordinary talented friends. Most were written by Fats (Thomas) Waller, who died in 1943 on the Super Chief after whizzing through the twenties and thirties. Others were songs he recorded, and there are a few purely musical numbers to which Mr. Maltby has set lyrics.

A whole series of the jazz worlds of the time, uptown and downtown, raffish and posh-the posh had an edge of mockery to it-funny and startlingly beautiful, came to life. We are conducted through it by five singers, a gentle-fingered, garter-sleeved pianist named Luther Henderson, and a small band in the background.

The set, by John Lee Beatty, is simple: concentric red arches that concentrate the action on the Longacres relatively small stage. If the five performers, all of them talented and three of them magnificent, ever flagged in holding the stage, there was always the piano. Tall and ornate as a small cathedral, it had an engaging way of moving around.

When Mr. Henderson got into his most vigorous stride-a two-beat rhythm: bass-note, chord, bass-note, chord-the piano sidled sideways as if being pumped. At the end of the first act, when the cast cake-walked off-stage, the piano bobbed along after them.

The company warms up with the shows title song, engagingly performed. This is

Original playbill cover from the 1978 Broadway production

of Aint Misbehavin.

ground-level, relatively speaking, pleasant as it is. It leads up to one of the half-dozen totally charged, hair-raising numbers that lift the show from merely delightful to electrifying.

This first peak is Honeysuckle Rose. Rather, it is Ken Page, portly, loose-jointed and gravel-voiced, holding his stomach so it wont get away and belting out one note that he holds past resuscitation. Having held it, he tastes it, wrinkles his mouth, and looks rueful. And into his arms, like a large parcel mailing itself, sidles Nell Carter. Round-faced and rounder-bodied, she establishes beyond doubt and with metallic lyric conviction that she is unquestionably the honeysuckle rose that all the fuss is about.

Without waiting for the dust to settle they exit, giving the piano a casual twirl, it turns a half-turn, and there, plastered to the back, is the shows third star, Armelia McQueen. She is not merely round but spherical, and she smiles a demure smile that looks as if maggots had broken in overnight and laid eggs in it. Her high, breathy Squeeze Me is hilarious parody; she is the baby doll to put an end to the species.

Nell Carter comes back and with a blaring OW! starts Ive Got a Feeling Im Falling, one of the shows most devastating numbers. Miss Carter can blare like a trumpet, moan like a muted trumpet, and do a hundred variations on breathiness. Her Mean to Me is sung quietly, but with a silvery, delicate pungency-her round face suddenly becomes a prism of shifting expressions-that could lead an army.

Some of the songs are performed as skits, and some of these are very funny. How Ya Baby is a crackling dance performed by Andre De Shields and Charlaine Woodward, who juggles her thin frame as if she were six hoops all in the air at once. Mr. Page has the shows funniest number, Your Feets Too Big, delivered in high indignation and top form.

By comparison with Miss Carter, Miss McQueen and Mr. Page, the other two performers are weaker. Miss Woodward moves marvelously, but she is not a very interesting singer; and it is pure singing that is the heart of this show. Mr. De Shields is quite out of place; he is bland and mannered and his skill lacks the besotted conviction that makes Aint Misbehavin behave so beautifully. His The Vipers Drag, a long number about a man stoned on reefers, is the shows one real failure.

There are two or three other numbers that fall rather flat. Mr. Maltbys lyrics in a couple of pieces - The Jitterbug Waltz and Lounging at the Waldorf - are too wordy, and they overload the musical line. On the other hand his Handful of Keys, where the singers vocalize the pianos stride effect, is charming.

These are small faults. They are hard to remember after the shows next-to-last number. The five singers sit perfectly still, hands folded, and break into Black and Blue. But the plangent harmonies, the polyphonic quality, the majesty of this setting-the hallucinatory arrangement is by William Elliott-could be a spiritual, a Gesualdo madrigal, or any other musical work that operates on pure spirit. It is the heart of this heart-stopping Aint Misbehavin. Source: http://theater.nytimes.com/

CONNECTIONS AND CONTEXTS

Richard Maltby, Jr.

Richard Eldridge Maltby, Jr. (born October 6, 1937) is an American theatre director and producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He is also well known as a constructor of cryptic crossword puzzles. He has done this for Harpers Magazine, sometimes in collaboration with E. R. Galli (prior to 1995), since the January 1976 issue. Maltby was born in Ripon, Wisconsin, the son of Virginia (ne Hosegood) and Richard Maltby, Sr., a well-known orchestra leader. He has conceived and directed the only two musical revues to ever win the Tony Award for Best Musical: Aint Misbehavin (1978: Tony, N.Y. Drama Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards, also Tony Award for Best Director) and Fosse (1999: Tony, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Maltby,_Jr.

Harry Brooks

Harry Brooks grew up in Pennsylvania and worked with local bands as a pianist, joining Leroy Smiths Dance Orchestra and later spent time composing for a music publisher. However, Brooks is best known for his composition of songs, such as Aint Misbehavin and Black and Blue, with his friends Andy Razaf and Thomas Fats Waller. After his work with Waller and Razaf he produced few compositions of note except for Southern Sunset (When the Sun Sets Down South), a collaboration with Sidney Bechet and Noble Sissle in 1938.

Sources: http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Brooks_(composer)

Andy Razaf

Andy Razaf was the son of a Madagascar prince who married the daughter of the American consul to Mada-gascar. With her father, purportedly the first black man in the diplomatic corps, Jennie fled to Washing-ton, D.C. after the French invaded, killed her husband, and annexed the country as a colony. Andy was born in the states with an almost 40-character name which he shortened to Razaf. He sold one song in 1913 and left for Cleveland where he pitched in a black semipro baseball league. He came to New York in 1921 where his reputation as a protest poet (reflected in the lyrics of Black and Blue) landed him jobs as a lyricist with Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, and Paul Denniker.

Source: http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=95

Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, was a literary, artistic, cultural, intellectual movement that began in Harlem, New York after World War I and ended around 1935 during the Great Depression. The movement raised significant issues affecting the lives of African Americans through various forms of literature, art, music, drama, painting, sculpture, movies, and protests. Voices of protest and ideological promotion of civil rights for African Americans inspired and created institutions and leaders who served as mentors to aspiring writers.

More info on the Harlem Renaissance can be found below:Harlem Renaissance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance

http://www.levity.com/corduroy/harlem.htm http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/index.htm

Connies Inn

Connies Inn was a Harlem speakeasy that featured song and dance revues. Found at the intersection of 131st Street and 7th Avenue it was second in popularity only to the Cotton Club. The owners eventually opened the originally segregated club to blacks who were allowed to patronize the club after the whites had gone home. Fats Waller was in good company at Connies Inn, at least with regard to other performers which included the likes of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Ethel Waters.

Source: http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/aintmisbehavin.htm

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong is synonymous with jazz. One of its first proponents and shapers, his technical superiority, spontaneity, and creativity gave life to the music and influenced everyone that came after him. He grew up in New Orleans where he learned to play cornet in reform school and absorbed all of the music around him in the port city. He played around New Orleans in several bands and joined King Olivers Creole Jazz Band in Chicago in 1922. In 1925 he recorded his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions.

Source: http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=129

Louis Armstrong tours with the musical Hot Chocolate(s): http://timelines.com/1929/louis-armstrong-tours-with-the-musical-hot-chocolate

INTERVIEW WITH PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: LLOYD DAVIS, JR.

Question: Tell me a bit about your process in working with Director/Choreographer Jim Weaver. Answer: Well, I gotta say that it helps that he and I have been friends for many years. But when we are in the rehearsal room he is the director and I am his stage manager and it is all business. A lot of funbut all business. Jim is an extremely gifted director and choreographer. In the rehearsal room he is very focused and works beautifully with actors. He is one of those directors who makes my life easy because he comes to rehearsal having done his homework and is very prepared. He is also one of the few directors who know what we do as stage managers and he gives us the space and respect to do what we need to do.

Q: Share with us one of your most enjoyable moments working on this production. A: Well, we are still pretty early in the process to give you a good answer to this but what I can tell you is that it is probably one of the best casts I have worked with in a very long time. They are all very gifted actors and, more importantly, very giving actors. They totally relish watching their fellow actors take their moment and shine. I cannot begin to describe to you how rare that is among actors. But then, the Weston Playhouse producers have an uncanny way of finding truly dedicated artists who want to create good theatre.without all of the drama one often hears associated with theatre companies. It makes me so proud to be a part of this business and very, very proud to be a part of the Weston Playhouse community.

Q: Were there any particular obstacles that came up while working on this production? Answer: Obstacles come up in every production. Every day! But working with the top-of-the-shelf staff that is here at the Weston Playhouse most obstacles are dealt with quickly and usually before they become a real obstacle.

Q: What is your favorite number in the show and why? Answer: My favourite number is Aint Nobodys Business If I Do. It is a great song. It speaks to me. Billie Holliday (one of my favourite singers) sang it and I love the Fats Waller arrangement.

Q: Anything you would like to share about either the show itself or working on it, with the Weston audience? Answer: If there is anything that I would like to share about the Weston Playhouse is that you have three men, - Steve Stettler, Malcolm Ewen and Tim Fort (our producers) who care about theatre AND their community more than anyone I have ever met in this business. They are in touch with their community and are here to serve them. They also, like all great artists, feel the need to educate their audience. They respect the intelligence of the people around Weston and understand that with the entertaining, relaxing Broadway musical they need to also present the artistic challenge of writers like Pinter and Shakespeare. It is my favourite place to work and I feel blessed that they have had me back here to work for them for several summers. They and this theatre are truly part-of-the-solution!

Lloyd Davis, Jr.

A preliminary digital sketch of Russell Parkmans set for WPTCs production of Aint Misbehavin.

YOUTUBE - THEN AND NOW

Aint MisbehavinFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Wwhe9Hx_wLouis Armstrong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0Es-Hdpn0&feature=fvwrelElla Fitzgerald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVDChx0HRjEMuppet Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DfGHBO2omw&feature=related

Honeysuckle RoseLena Horne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSKzz0GyyMMuppet Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNCDkiSXNp8Sarah Vaughan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1t8E-tQ214&NR=1&feature=fvwpAnita ODay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XH4Uzusrc0&feature=related

Handful of KeysFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIFoAwJPtm4Count Basie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1l8p1qHdDk&feature=related

YOUTUBE - THEN AND NOW (cont.)

Ive Got a Feeling Im FallingBen Bernie and Fats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqqBunpTsAYAnnette Hanshaw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRDc2bgAzIRichard Halpern: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3wQUe7o0h4

The Jitterbug WaltzArt Tatum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK4JDK7d_jQ&feature=relatedMiles Davis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IeUop_4tqI&feature=fvwrel

Yacht Club SwingFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT4YD9CZijE

Cash for Your TrashFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yun5Kv4kM1k&feature=fvwrelNell Carter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmTc6oo52PY

The Joint Is JumpinFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7YAU8CTInw

Spreadin Rhythm AroundBillie Holiday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qmfy761R0M

The Vipers Drag /The Reefer SongFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5T2TfC9K1s&feature=related

Mean to MeDoris Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k429BOuUGoElla Fitzgerald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVna74oY3Ts&feature=relatedBillie Holiday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbqXAwpAtLY&feature=related

Your Feets Too BigFats Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in1eK3x1PBIMuppet Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSMH7jQIwB4&feature=relatedLeon Redbone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FGDnXWUCpc&feature=related

That Aint RightFats Waller & Ada Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ZFsm9msv4&feature=related

Keepin Out of Mischief NowLee Wiley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHaEx2iTPWUDinah Washington: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpBTOIeSmzM&feature=relatedBing Crosby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SgED0a8Ls&feature=related

OTHER RESOURCES

Podcasts:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_aYgp_CtHA&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81en5LQUns&feature=related

Study Guide:http://www.sjrep.com/plays/0910/misbehavin/misbehavin_sg.pdf

TV:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0227999/

MP3:http://www.amazon.com/AintMisbehavin/dp/B0013AWTE6

Reviews:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/04/review-of-aint-misbehavin-at-the-ah-manson-theatre.htmlhttp://www.sanjose.com/review-aint-misbehavin-a27971http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-20583-aint-misbehavin-%28review%29.htmlhttp://dcbarroco.blogspot.com/2011/06/theater-review-aint-misbehavin.html

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