What a wonderful show. A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical at Studio 54 after engagements and workshops in Miami, New Orleans, and Chicago, is an absorbing, dazzling musical focusing on the life of the titular beloved jazz icon. James Monroe Iglehart masterfully embodies the great Satchmo, precisely imitating his signature rumbling growl and conveying the enveloping warmth of his performance style as well as his roiling inner conflicts.
The only complaint is Aurin Squire’s book tends to get repetitive and could lose about 20 minutes. The show’s basic structure is at fault. The action is divided into four sections, each devoted to one of Armstrong’s quartet of wives. We go through the brilliant trumpeter-singer-bandleader’s struggles with the white show-biz establishment and underworld figures of New Orleans, Chicago, Hollywood and New York, and the ups and downs of his marriages each time. By wife number four, a sameness settles in. However, the diverting and exuberant musical numbers, made up of songs made famous by Armstrong and performed by a sparkling cast, rescue the proceedings from dullness. There are also stabs at social commentary with Armstrong burying and finally explosively expressing his anger at the brutal treatment of African-Americans.
The staging is smooth and efficient, with the flexible set by Adam Koch and Steven Royal transitioning to multiple settings, but it’s difficult to know who to credit with the direction. Iglehart and Christina Sajour are listed as co-directors while Christopher Renshaw, who also conceived the show with Andrew Delaplaine, gets a sole credit as director. In addition, Rickey Tripp is the choreographer (snappy dances) and musical stager.
World probably went through many phases during its out-of-town gestation period with a plethora of creative cooks. Fortunately the broth is not spoiled. Branford Marsalis (orchestrations and arrangement) and Daryl Waters (music supervision, vocal and incidental arrangements and additional orchestrations) do a magnificent job of recreating several decades’ worth of standards ranging from “Black and Blue” to “It Don’t Mean a Thing” to “Hello, Dolly!” which earned Armstrong his sole Gold Record and knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts. Toni-Leslie James designed the sumptuous and splashy costumes.
Iglehart commands the stage, but does not hog it. This is far from a one-man show. As Armstrong’s spouses, Dionne Figgins as razor-toting prostitute Daisy Parker, Jennie Harbey-Fleming as ambitious, no-nonsense Lil Hardin, Kim Exum as fun-loving and giddy Alpha Smith, and Darlesia Cearcy as starchy, determined Lucille Wilson all have individual moments to shine vocally and dramatically. Dewitt Fleming Jr. displays terrific tap skills as Lincoln Perry, aka the movie star Stephin Fetchit, who portrayed a stereotypical version of black servitude on screen and offers Armstrong advice on getting along in the racist cinema industry. Gavin Gregory is especially affecting as King Joe Oliver, Armstrong’s mentor, who falls from the top of the New Orleans jazz world to poverty-stricken obscurity. Jimmy Smagula is appropriately gruff and edgy as Armstrong’s manager.
Despite some slackness in the book, Wonderful World delivers a wonderful two and a half hours, reconnects audiences with one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, and showcases a star-making central performance by Iglehart. Give this World a visit.
