Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

By: Jun. 05, 2012
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This month, The Robert G. Reim Theatre in Kirkwood feels less like a theatre, and more like a Harlem jazz club in the 1930s, as Stages St. Louis presents the Tony Award-winning musical revue, Ain't Misbehavin'. Check out photos from the production below, featuring Raena White, Willena Vaughn, Eric Lajuan Summers, and more!

The musical anthology of Thomas "Fats" Waller is a tribute to the musicians of the Harlem Renaissance bringing to life the Golden Age of jazz palaces like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. This sassy and swingin' musical recreates the world of jazz great Fats Waller through songs like "Honeysuckle Rose," "The Joint is Jumpin'," "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," and the title song, "Ain't Misbehavin'".

The show features Dwelvan David, Wendy Lynette Fox, Raena White, and St. Louis natives Willena Vaughn and Eric Lajuan Summers. Vaughn is remembered for her acclaimed performance as Effie White in the Black Rep's 2006 production of Dreamgirls. Summers returns to his hometown after touring the country as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess and working with Barry Gordy on a pre-Broadway workshop of the new musical, Motown.

Joining the talented cast on stage is a live band of seven talented local musicians led by Adaron "Pops" Jackson. "Pops," as he is affectionately known, is one of St. Louis' most in-demand jazz pianists. He has toured with the Grammy Award-winning Temptations and artists such as Frank Morgan, Red Holloway, Slide Hampton and Wallace Roney. The band will be present onstage for the entire show in a brilliantly designed set by James Wolk, recreating those great supper clubs of a bygone era. The audience will get a true feeling of traveling back in time to the age of the Cotton Club, honky tonk dives along Lenox Avenue, rent parties, stride piano players and that jumpin' "new" beat- swing.

Single ticket prices range from $15 - $55. STAGES performs in the intimate, 384-seat Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Civic Center, 111 South Geyer Road in St. Louis, MO. For more information or to purchase tickets call 314-821-2407 or visit www.stagesstlouis.org.

Photo credit: Peter Wochniak

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Company of Ain't Misbehavin'

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Eric Lajuan Summers

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Willena Vaughn, Dwelvan David

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Willena Vaughn

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Wendy Lynette Fox, Adaron Pops Jackson

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Raena White

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Willena Vaughn and Raena White

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Company of Ain't Misbehavin'

Photo Flash: Raena White, Eric Lajuan Summers et al. in Stages St. Louis' AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'



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