People’s Light and Arkansas Repertory Theatre present Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’

Waller (1904-1943) composed hundreds of songs in his short life, and this show adapts many of his hits with an original book from Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., who teamed with stage choreographer Arthur Faria and musical arranger Luther Henderson for the original 1978 Tony-winning production. The People’s Light show is a co-production with Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

An assortment of occasionally connected vignettes rather than a narrative, the show features 31 songs over approximately two hours. The music explores themes of love, longing, betrayal, sexuality and attraction, repulsion, and race, among other topics. Some songs are surprisingly raunchy though (barely) indirect, and every story is told with enormous enthusiasm by singers and musicians who make every moment a delight. The band is Garrett Davis on drums, Koof Ibi on trumpet, Dan McCain on bass, William Mullen on reed 1, Robert Rutigliano on reed 2, Julian Solano on trombone, and Brigitte Rottman on piano.

A great cast

Tawanna Campbell (Nell) is a strong vocalist and actor whose emotional timing and expressive acting help her pack a punch into two words; she knows when to pull back instead of doubling down to achieve maximum impact. Candace Thomas (Charlaine) tackles a role in which her Act I solo must be sung deliberately badly (a skill in itself), though her talent is clear in successive numbers. Charlaine’s first solo is a commentary about women who lack talent but are attractive (i.e., the trope of sleeping your way to the top), but it has aged poorly and reeks of victim-blaming; after all, whose fault is it if men hire vocalists they find physically attractive?

On opening night, Dorse Brown (André) and Marcus Allen Jordan’s (Ken) vocals struggled as they reached for notes in their upper registers. They were notably weaker than their female counterparts, but nevertheless are charismatic and valuable additions to the cast whose performances improved as the show went on. Jordan’s rich, low baritone rounds out the cast’s vocal range, and Brown, who doubles as the choreographer, brings strong footwork and physicality onstage. As Armelia, Chabrelle Williams stands out with a beautiful and stylistically flexible voice, and in a performance low on conversation, she excels at embodying sultry seductresses, jealous partners, over-the-top performers, and a number of other roles with lively energy.

Missing the feeling of the era

Despite celebrating the music of the Harlem Renaissance, the Jazz Age, and the Lindy Hop era, director Steve H. Broadnax III’s production doesn’t borrow from the trends of the time. There’s regrettably little effort to incorporate any Lindy or swing dance overall. A few seconds of Charleston is the strongest reference to the era’s distinctive and unapologetically exuberant dance styles, and the actors’ dance choreography is disappointing overall. More puzzlingly, costume designer Marla J. Jurglanis doesn’t dress the cast in the quintessential zoot suits or drop-waist dresses and cloche hats typical of the era, opting instead for suits from a variety of times and places and figure-hugging modern dresses; outfits that seemed out of place onstage and more suited to modern wedding guests.

A joy to watch

As the visual and musical stand-in for Waller himself, Rottman does triple duty as pianist, conductor, and music director. She delivers a stellar performance in this almost entirely sung-through show. Lighting designer Nic Vincent sets the tone and scene even as they drastically change from moment to moment. A smoky, dimly lit speakeasy transitions to high-contrast theater lighting with spotlights, complete with blinking Broadway-style marquee lights around the proscenium in a masterclass of what lighting design can really do.

So much has changed and so much has stayed the same in the last 100 years, and all of it is worthy of consideration. And while I would have loved to see Broadnax incorporate more elements of the show’s time period, this production is interesting, well-executed, packed with excellent artists, and ultimately just a joy to watch.