Ain’t Misbehavin’

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Ain’t Misbehavin’, the Fats Waller Musical Show tries rocking its way through the rafters at Country Dinner Playhouse now playing through November 6. Parts of it makes its way to the rafters, parts of it goes beyond, and parts of it goes nowhere fast.

From Left to Right: LaDonna Burns, Kenny Moten, Mary Louise Lee, Eric Lee Johnson, Jayne Trinette in the Country Dinner Playhouse Production of the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin’.

Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr. played with an idea, resulting in a limited-run cabaret act that opened at the Manhattan Club, New York City February 8, 1978. Ain’t Misbehavin’, featuring the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller, reproduced the ambiance of a 1930s Harlem Nightclub, becoming such a hot ticket, it moved to the Longacre Theatre on Broadway, running for 1,604 performances.

Sliding into becoming one of the most important pianist-composers of all time, Waller topped the scales at 300 pounds, writing over 500 songs.

Directed and choreographed by General McArthur Hambrick at Country Dinner Playhouse, Ain’t Misbehavin’ features 30 of Waller’s top songs, plus a 78 recording of the great man himself.

The cast is talented, enormously talented, starring La Donna Burns, Eric Lee Johnson, Mary Louise Lee, Kenny Moten, and Jayne Trinette. There is absolutely no question as to the quality of the talent. They sing. They dance. They act. They interact with such songs as “’T Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do,” “I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling,” “The Joint Is Jumpin’,” “Lounging At the Waldorf,” “Your Feet’s Too Big, Fat and Greasy,” and, definitely “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

The music nudged its way into the timeless, classic realm. The lyrics remain as relevant today as in the 1920s and 30s when they first found their way onto paper. A hundred years from now, the truth of the human experience will continue to swing its peculiar Harlem jazz.

A 100 years from now is hardly the major concern. It’s the here and now at what goes on at Country Dinner Playhouse, which definitely contains the music, with something missing from the production.

No matter what the musical revue is, it would help immensely if theatres would not only list the songs being sung, but note who in the cast is being featured for each song. Credit definitely needs to be given when credit is due.

Maybe the lighting contributed to the lack of atmosphere. Perhaps it was the scantily clad set, which, of course, by necessity had to be scantily clad. Perhaps it is the inability to reproduce the atmosphere of a 1930s Harlem nightclub in the middle of Country Dinner Playhouse, or perhaps the distance between a 1930s Harlem nightclub and Country Dinner Playhouse is so immense over space, time, and culture, not to mention geographically, that something gets lost in the translation.

Woven throughout the Waller revue, comedy routines play a large part in tying the music together. The comedy here scoured the scene with roughness, not being able to roll with natural rhythm and punches. The lines are funny because the lines were written with a funny bent. The songs and music set the stage for a “funny” to happen. The cast forces the funny to happen, and it shows.

Act I is showered with much exuberant screeching taking the cast out of their range. Screeching was definitely a part of the once upon a time Harlem nightclub, but there is screeching and then there is screeching. Someone once said back in the 1970s that “the first act will knock your ears off, and the second act will put them back on.” That definitely fits this production. During Act I, there was a wanting to take off my ears and zipper them in my purse under the table. During Act II, I was perfectly willing to leave my ears exactly where they are suppose to be.

The softer music, the “come hither” and “go away” music played into the heart and soul of the cast showcasing their rich talents.

Moten and Burns melted the floor with “That Ain’t Right.”

Burns and Trinette found the wanting comedic timing as they strutted while sniping at each other during “Find Out What They Like.” Moten and Johnson found easy rhythm with “Fat and Greasy.”

What’s missing? Heart and soul, the heart, soul, and memory of what it was to be like living in Harlem in the 1930s, that’s what’s missing. The 1930 Harlem spans too many light years away for the cast to reach and grasp in Act I. Act II plays into the range of the cast, allowing them to slink further into the relaxed sexy motif they are being called upon to deliver.