Ain't Misbehavin' - St. Louis Black Repertory Company (through 3/5/2000]

This is how it all starts in the musical review Ain't Misbehavin', the current production by the St. Louis Black Repertory Company: The recorded voice and piano of the late "Fats" Waller quickly cross-fades to the live piano of Oscar Williams Jr. and the livelier vocalizing of a five-member cast of singing actors. What follows during the next couple of hours is a fast, funny, occasionally touching, and always entertaining look at the music associated with one of the major figures in the history of American popular music.

Thomas "Fats" Waller was born in 1904, flourished in the 1920s and 30s, and died "on the road" in 1943. He was one of the great exponents of the stride piano - a post-ragtime style learned from his legendary mentor James P. Johnson and "hot jazz" styles that marked the transition from ragtime to the "big band" era. Lyricist Richard Maltby -- better known as half of the song writing team of Maltby and Shire -- assembled Ain't Misbehavin' in 1978 from Waller's own compositions and songs by others which he popularized. Each song -- some with their original lyrics, some with new ones by Maltby -- becomes the basis for a "set piece", usually comic or satirical. In the hands of a good cast, which this one certainly is, it makes for an irresistible evening of theatre.

There are so many great moments in this production that it's hard to decide which ones to mention in a brief review, but I'll give it a try. Wydetta Carter, making her Black Rep debut, gets the most out of comic numbers like "When the Nylons Bloom Again", but can also be convincingly coquettish in "Squeeze Me". The wonderfully expressive Lisa Harris can growl like Eartha Kitt in "Honeysuckle Rose" or nearly weep like Edit Piaf in "Mean to Me".

Eddie Webb and J. Samuel Davis are just about perfect - strong singers, fluid dancers, and masters of comic timing. Davis brought down the house with his highly-charged performance of "Honeysuckle Rose", as did Webb with a sinuous rendition of the very politically incorrect "Viper's Drag" and "Reefer Song". Angela S. Arnold, the youngest member of the cast, doesn't have quite the vocal control of the rest but that will come with experience and she turns in a generally fine performance nonetheless.

On the technical size, John Roslevich Jr. has provided a pastel Art Deco nightclub set that gets the period exactly right and wisely puts the band on stage behind the actors.

Which brings up my only complaint: given the size of the Grandel Square theatre and the placement of the band, why mike the actors? It tends to distort their voices, foul up the balance with the band, and render some of the witty lyrics incomprehensible.

Ain't Misbehavin' continues at the Grandel Square theatre through March 5th. It's a solid, entertaining show; go see it. Call 534-3810 for ticket information and reservations.