Ledisi, Chester Gregory and More to Star in AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ at Ebony Repertory Theatre
The cast will also feature Marty Austin Lamar and Natalie Wachen.
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Ebony Repertory Theatre has revealed the full cast and creative team for the production of Ain’t Misbehavin’. Based on the book by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., the Tony Award-winning musical will feature choreography by Dominique Kelley (Broadway’s The Great Gatsby, Paper Mill’s After Midnight, DCPA’s Oklahoma!) and musical direction by William Foster McDaniel (Broadway’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Timbuktu!).
As previously announced, the sizzling celebration of Fats Waller’s music will be directed by Wren T. Brown, ERT’s Founder & Producing Artistic Director, and headlined by Grammy Award-winning singer Ledisi (Selma; Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story) and Chester Gregory (Broadway’s Hairspray and Motown: The Musical).
The limited engagement will run from May 21 to June 8, 2026, with opening night on May 23, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. Performances will take place at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a musical tribute celebrating Fats Waller, the international jazz pianist and composer whose passion for his art helped create and define American popular music and swing. The tribute features songs like “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Your Feet’s Too Big,” “Black and Blue,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” “The Jitterbug Waltz,” and the title song, “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”
In addition to Ledisi and Gregory, the cast of Ain’t Misbehavin’ includes Connie Jackson (Broadway’s Dreamgirls, Boston Court’s Cassiopea), Marty Austin Lamar (Off-Broadway’s Miss Evers’ Boys, Constellation Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors), and Natalie Wachen (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Broadway’s Merrily We Roll Along).
In addition to Brown, Kelley, and Foster, the creative team for Ain’t Misbehavin’ includes scenic design by the late John Iacovelli, Costume Designer Wendell C. Carmichael, lighting designer Andrew Schmedake, sound designer Danny Fiandaca, props/furniture designer Kevin Williams, and production stage manager Elsbeth Collins.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ was conceived by Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horwitz with music by Fats Waller. The production originally opened in the Manhattan Theatre Club's East 73rd cabaret on February 8, 1978, before opening on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on May 9, 1978. A short exclusive engagement of Ain’t Misbehavin’ was presented by Ebony Repertory Theatre in 2023 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.
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