March 2, 2013
The swingin’ has started over at Whidbey Playhouse!
The Tony Award-winning Fats Waller musical, “Ain’t Misbehavin,” runs through March 17 at Whidbey Playhouse in Oak Harbor, and then moves to Outcast’s Black Box Theater at the fairgrounds for an extended run from March 22 to 30.
Singers Anthony Caldwell, Joseph Glasgow, Germaine Kornegay, Anjelica Glasgow and Allenda Jenkins present this evening of rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping songs that capture the myriad moods and the musical soul of Waller’s 1930’s Harlem.
The musical is considered one of the most popular, well-crafted revues of all time and is set during a period in American history when Manhattan nightclubs were the playgrounds of high society, while the lower class dives were filled with piano players banging out the new beat known as Swing Music. This period became known as the Harlem Renaissance, and it was when artists such as Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller emerged from this heady, musical heyday to become part of the important history of American music.
Waller rose to international fame during the Golden Age of supper-clubs such as the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom and “Ain’t Misbehavin” is a reflection of that time in his life.
The show uses plenty of delightful humor and infectious energy as this versatile cast struts, strums and sings the sometimes sassy and sometimes sultry songs Waller made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to downtown Tin Pan Alley, to Hollywood and, eventually, concert stages all over the world.
“Ain’t Misbehavin” runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $14 and are available at Whidbey Playhouse at (360) 679-2237; or email office@whidbeyplayhouse.com. Groups of 10 or more enjoy a $1 discount per ticket.
Visit www.whidbeyplayhouse.com for more. Visit www.outcastproductions.net for the upcoming Langley production.
(Pictured at top are Joseph Glasgow and Anthony Caldwell./John Pendelton photo)