Review: WALLER'S LIFE IS ONLY IN PERIPHERY IN AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

For most of the Short North Stage’s production of AIN’T MISBEHAVIN,’ Marcus Davis is a silent star of the musical based on the life of jazz pianist Fats Waller.

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ opened Sept. 5 and will run through Sept. 22 at the Garden Theater (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus).

The spotlights direct their colored hues on the ridiculously talented cast of Sydney Arterbridge (Armelia), Catara Brae (Charlaine), Christian McQueen (Ken), Israeljah Reign (Nell) and Isaac Tobler (Andre). Davis bides his time on a piano stool with his back to the audience, banging out over 30 Waller classics.

Yet it is Davis and the rhythm section of Noah Brown (trombone), Joel Caniff (reeds), Luis Gonzales (bass), Milo Mannino (trumpet), and William Mayer (drums) that elevate the two-act, two-hour performance into an extravaganza for the eyes and ears.

The quietness of Davis on stage is a sharp contrast to the life of the wild Waller. Waller, who died in 1943 at the age of 39, composed over 400 songs in his lifetime. (If you do the math, that’s over 10 songs a year from the moment he was born). Included in his impressive catalogue are jazz standards, “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I’m Gonna Sit Down and Write Myself a Letter,” and “Ain’t Misbehavin.’”

The pianist, who was once dragged at gunpoint to play at Al Capone’s birthday party, was known for his wild lifestyle almost as much as his music. Waller also broke the color barrier, from being one of the first African Americans to buy a home in the St. Alban Queens section of New York City to performing at the exclusive Waldorf Hotel.

Yet Waller’s life is only in the periphery in AIN’T MISBEHAVIN.’ The show is not your typical Broadway biography. No storyline connects song to song. It’s more a celebration of his music than the story of his life.

And the five-person cast handles that task brilliantly. About half of the songs in AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ are company numbers, but each singer gets one or two spotlight moments.

As Andre, Tobler uses his voice and stage presence to cast a mischievous shadow, especially in “The Viper Drag.” McQueen’s Ken offers the perfect comic counterpunch, offering up some goofy swagger in songs like “Your Feet’s Too Big.”

The women are powerful as a trio, but Waller’s compositions give them their solo moments as well. Brae takes the lead of “Yacht Club Swing,” Arterbridge shines on “Squeeze Me,” and Reign sparkles on “Mean to Me.”

The cast also adjusts the mood of the show quickly. It seamlessly moves from the bravado of “Fat and Greasy” to a somber reading of “Black and Blue” as images of newspaper coverage of lynchings and hate crimes are projected in the background.

The little paint strokes by director Lisa Glover and associate director Darius Fincher complete the picture. Set designer Edward Carignan turns the Garden Theater main stage into a working speakeasy. Patrons are invited to have a drink a half hour before the show starts and take in the ambiance as a trio of singers Marshawn Clodfelter, Shauna Davis, and Jordan Young warmed up the crowd with a few jazz standards.

Music Director Tirzah Washington and sound designer/mixer Brandon Doeringer make sure the audience is given a pristine, clear presentation of Waller’s sound.

Lighting designer Ryan Shreve uses a palette of color to help sell the story. He paints the stage in blue for the scenes in the speakeasys and “rent parties,” then switches to gold to match the opulence of the Waldorf Hotel. During “The Viper Drag,” the set is bathed in green light as Tobler seems to emerge from the bottom of the stage to sing “I'm the king of everything/Got to get high before I sing/Sky is high, ever'body's high/If you're a viper…”

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ isn’t designed to tell the whole life story of Waller, but this energetic show gives a slight peek behind the door of the environment he flourished in.

In the song, “A Handful of Keys,” Waller wrote: “I get a lot of pleasure/With a spano' keys underneath my fingertips/ Tricklin' off o' my lips/A handful of keys and a song to sing/Now how could you ask for more?”

After leaving the show, one wonders, “Now how could you ask for more?” You can ask, but you probably won’t get it.

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