RECORD STAFF
OutCast Productions tunes up to swing into its next show, “Ain’t Misbehavin.”
The Tony Award-winning Fats Waller musical opens Friday, March 22 and runs through March 30 at the Black Box Theater at the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds in Langley.
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.
The production is directed by Allenda Jenkins, with musical direction by Jamar Jenkins and choreography by K. Sandy O’Brien, with production design by O’Brien and Ned Farley.
The live orchestra for the show includes Brian Bernathy, trombone; Mallory Hunt, clarinet and tenor saxophone; Karen Johnson, trumpet; Richard Hughes, string bass; and Scott Small, drums.
“Ain’t Misbehavin” plays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays March 22, 23, 29 and 30; at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24.
Tickets cost $18 for adults; $14 for students and seniors.
Purchase tickets online at at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/313095 or reserve them with an email to ocp@whidbey.com and pay at the door by cash or check.
