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June - July 2008 - Ain't Misbehavin'

June - July 2008 OnStage

Why Ain't Misbehavin'?

In an era of outstanding musical talents, Thomas Wright Waller (dubbed “Fats” for his outsize girth and personality) stood alone. Born in New York City in 1904, he was something of a prodigy, cutting his musical teeth on the piano and organ works of Bach and other classical masters. In his teens he studied with such legendary jazz pianists as James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith, learning the early jazz style known as “stride” and beginning his recording career at the tender age of 18. Within a decade he was acknowledged as a master of the form, achieving worldwide fame for his dynamic musicianship, roguish stage personality and infectious compositions. In a time when jazz was derided by much of society, Fats Waller was celebrated by the rich and powerful—including Chicago’s own Al Capone, who in 1926 had Waller kidnapped from the club where he was playing and brought to the Hawthorne Inn to play (at gunpoint) for the gangster’s birthday party. He toured America and the United Kingdom with his combo Fats Waller and his Rhythm, made hundreds of recordings, appeared on Broadway and even starred in feature films and short subjects. By the time of his untimely death at the age of 39, Fats Waller was the king of American jazz, influencing such subsequent greats as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Erroll Garner.

Today, Waller is best remembered for his incomparable songwriting, with a catalog that includes many of the great standards of the jazz era: “Keeping Out of Mischief Now,” “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “This Joint is Jumping.” His songs capture the breadth of the human condition: the joy and wonder of love, the pain of loss and even—in such songs as “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue?”—the searing pain of racism. First performed in 1978, Ain’t Misbehavin’ brought Waller’s sophisticated artistry to a whole new generation of audiences and has now become something of a classic itself. Although structured like a standard musical revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’ is anything but standard; it takes us into Waller’s world, both public and private, replete with the complex (and sometimes tortured) relationships, the showmanship and the tremendous humanity that made him an American original.

Under the direction of Goodman Resident Director Chuck Smith, Ain’t Misbehavin’ is both a musical feast and a loving tribute to an artist whose complexity, virtuosity and ebullient optimism captured perfectly the vibrant spirit of a vibrant era. It’s a time worth exploring again—and I know that you’ll enjoy the ride.

Robert Falls
Artistic Director, Goodman Theatre