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‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ ’ inaugurates Outfit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: ”Ain’t Misbehavin’ â€?
The women came in furs and lavish full-length skirts. Master patron Bill Balzer wore a tux and top-hat. And the flashing marquee and klieg lights signified that a historic event was happening downtown.
It was the gala opening of Theatrical Outfit’s Balzer Theater at Herren’s, and by the end of Saturday’s knockout performance of ”Ain’t Misbehavin’,” it was clear that the champagne and lofty commentaries were justified.
The $5 million Balzer — a posh half-moon of a theater with 200 plush seats and plenty of leg room — is the city’s best small performance space, and director Freddie Hendricks’ jumping, jiving, jitterbugging take on the Fats Waller musical revue is the hottest ticket of a jam-packed January of openings.
”The theater is a gift to all of us,” said Tom Key, the Outfit’s executive artistic director, choking up as he spoke eloquently about the ”healing power” of his craft, and his hope that the Balzer will endure to bring laughter and tears to future generations.
”See what Brown can do,” said Balzer, referring to a UPS career that allowed him to give nearly $1.4 million to purchase the historic restaurant and start the campaign to rebuild it.
With that, the crowd perked up to the fascinating rhythms of a glorious musical stampede fashioned from some 30 songs either written or recorded by Thomas ”Fats” Waller (”Honeysuckle Rose,” ”Black and Blue,” ”The Joint Is Jumpin’ ”).
If Waller’s palpitating piano transformed the musical styles of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley from the ’20s to the ’40s, this Tony Award-winning 1978 Broadway hit demonstrated that a virtually bookless musical, created around a single historic figure and performed by a cast of five, can be an emotionally complex, wholly satisfying theatrical experience.
Gut-bustingly funny, unabashedly sexy and occasionally poignant, each tune is performed like a miniature play. Consider Broadway director Richard Maltby Jr.’s smokey lyrics to ”The Jitterbug Waltz”: ”The night is getting on, the band is getting slow, the crowd is almost gone, but here we are still dancing.” No wonder the show was an instant classic.
Thanks to the high-energy choreography of Dawn Axam, the seamless musical direction of S. Renee Clark and the cool, hep-cat imprint of Hendricks, the Outfit’s superb team of actors, singers and dancers exploits the comedic and dramatic colors of this tapestry to their fullest.
Atlanta musical regular Eric Moore’s ”Honeysuckle Rose” is the juiciest, honey-drippingest version I’ve ever heard.
D. Wood and Jahi Kearse are the ensemble’s fastest hoofers and prettiest couple. They strut, swing, spin, slide and glide — and yes, at one point, he really does jump over her. Whoa. (One of my few caveats is that Kearse’s otherwise princely performance is a little too pimplike in that ode to reefer, ”The Viper’s Drag.”)
A sublime actress and formidable belter, Denitra Isler gets to exercise her wide range in the sad ”Mean to Me,”â€? the silly ”Cash for Your Trash” and the bumping-and-grinding ”Find Out What They Like.”
But the lady who owns the night is Maia Nkenge Wilson. After cooing her way through ”Squeeze Me,” she turns ”When the Nylons Bloom Again” into a comic howler. In a massive silver cape and faux-European air, the pushy diva character almost suffocates back-up singers Wood and Isler.
While the five-piece band sits in front of a ruby-colored fanlight that evokes the Deco splendor of Harlem, Andre Allen’s sumptuous lighting soaks the room in evanescing autumnal shades. The only problem with Rochelle Barker’s set is that looks exactly like the one she did for Jomandi’s 2001 ”Ain’t Misbehavin’.” But then, Joanna Schmink’s fun, sparkly costumes are just the thing for ”Lounging at the Waldorf.â€?
”’Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” may not be the most adventurous way to open a theater. And yet it is a timeless, soul-nurturing tonic. The Balzer’s off to a boffo beginning, and Tom Key is holding a smash hit in his hot little hands.
THE 411: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Through Feb. 20. $16.20-$43.20. Theatrical Outfit, Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St., Atlanta. 678-528-1500, www.theatricaloutfit.org. The verdict: Don’t hesitate. Syncopate â€â€? to the box office.
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