One of the surest ways to chase the winter blues that seem endless in Milwaukee, Ain’t Misbehavin' is a welcome addition to the theater season at Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s intimate Stackner Cabaret. The multi-level venue seems ideal for tunes associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Tables of varying sizes create a nightclub atmosphere, and the theater’s interior conveys a sense of times gone by with its original, pock-marked tiled walls. The music in Ain’t Misbehavin’ is vibrant and swingy, sometimes hilarious and sometimes quiet, sad and lonely. The theater itself seems to enhance all these emotional qualities.
Director Dan Kazemi, the Rep’s associate artistic director, understands the emotions of the 1930s and 40s, as seen through the eyes of African-Americans. Older audience members of every color can laugh through the novelty tunes, such as “When the Nylons Bloom Again” (smartly delivered by powerhouse singer Bethany Thomas) and the sweetly delivered “Jitterbug Waltz.”
The show’s five actors impress from start to finish. How can they not, when they are triple-threat dynamos who can sing, dance, act and play their own musical instruments? The derby-wearing Kenney M. Green is, by default, the actor most clearly identified with Fats Waller. Pounding away on an upright piano, he bangs the keys with such force and conviction that one is reminded of the fervor of a revival meeting.
The show starts out on a brisk pace (maybe a bit too brisk) with a full-throated rendition of “Ain’t Misbehavin,” one of Waller’s most memorable tunes. It quickly segues to the equally upbeat “Lookin’ Good But Feelin’ Bad” and “’T Ain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do.” Things don’t start to settle down until the romantic ballad, “Honeysuckle Rose.”
In addition to their strong vocals, the multi-talented performers impress with the musical instruments that appear and disappear during the show, including a saxophone, trumpet, bass, violin and drums. Even kitchen gadgets such as a wire whisk and four-sided metal grater find their way into the band.
It doesn’t hurt that the trio of women are adorned in gorgeous, brightly hued dresses in shades of raspberry, gold and coral. Studded with glass beads or adorned with rows of fringe, they accentuate the actor’s body language in a most seductive way. The men’s outfits are styling, too, and perfectly in tune with the times. Sometimes the audience gets an even closer look at the actors – and their sumptuous outfits – such as during the humorous, “Your Feet’s Too Big.” A jovial Kenney M. Green walks among the crowd as he sings this tune, carrying a bottle of “whiskey” and a handful of shot glasses. He manages to ace the song while pouring “drinks” for some of the audience. This adds a bit of fun diversion to a stand-out, don’t-miss production.
Occasionally, the songs in Ain’t Misbehavin turn somber. In one of the evening’s highlights, each of the five actors sings a line of Waller’s troubling Black and Blue before they all come together in a tableau, where they sing a plaintive, a cappella rendition of the song’s finale. As they sing, “what did I do, to make me black and blue?,” one hears the desperation in their voices and sees it in their eyes. Clearly, the singers are wondering why their personal freedoms are so limited due to the color of their skin.
But most of the evening is decidedly upbeat, complete with some snazzy tap dancing by Christopher James Culberson and Britney Coleman. Culberson, youthful and trim, entrances us with his sinuous rendition of “The Viper’s Drag,” an ode to the pleasures of smoking dope. Coleman is a young soprano who morphs from skilled string performer to a sometimes ditzy singer who cheerfully sings off-key. Between the ingénue (Coleman) and the Red Hot Mama (Bethany Thomas) is the solid performance of Erin Willis. In a quiet solo, she sings about the abusive man she loves in “Mean to Me.”
The music of the talented Fats Waller continues to live on, and deservedly so, in this terrific production.
