A Wonderful World, the biographical jukebox musical about the legendary jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, is named for Armstrong’s signature song “What A Wonderful World.” But a more apt title might be “The Four Wives of Louis Armstrong” because each of the four actors portraying Armstrong’s wives come close to stealing the show. It’s not that James Monroe Iglehart isn’t terrific in the lead role. He most certainly is…but each time the women step up to sing, they knock it out of the park. Iglehart’s role as the gravelly voiced, grinning jazz great is comparatively understated and so, impressive as he is, it’s the women who consistently dominate the spotlight every time they’re on.
That’s not a criticism, just an observation, and it gives the show that much more talent to applaud. And talent is on overload in this enjoyable production.
Louis Armstrong was a superstar and trailblazing musician who transformed jazz from a niche art form to a mainstream musical genre by sheer virtue of his unique style and infectious persona. It all came naturally to him with a gift for being able to improvise masterpieces, as one character points out. But what he wasn’t good at was managing his career. And in spite of his repeated claims that he was “just trying to be happy and spread that happiness around with my music,” the business side of his work life suffered. He was advised by his mentor King Joe Oliver (the excellent Gavin Gregory) to “be aware of the two W’s, the whites and the women” with the understanding that black musicians needed a white man to keep them out of trouble and, given the rigors of touring, needed to stay single.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
That advice fell on deaf ears for the majority of Armstrong’s career as he married four women and waited a long time before hiring a white manager. His early years were stumbles but his virtuosity always managed to carry him through.
The story is essentially broken into four phases of Armstrong’s life, with a different wife in each of them…from his earliest days when he learned to play the bugle in New Orleans, moving to Chicago where he honed his skills to become “the world’s greatest trumpet player,” then on to Hollywood where he discovered that stardom didn’t translate the same for a black man, and finally reaching the pinnacle of fame in New York.
It’s all pretty compelling but what elevates the experience is the superlative musicianship on display. The contributions of Daryl Waters, credited with Music Supervision, and Branford Marsalis who did the Orchestrations & Arrangements, could easily have turned the show into a fabulous concert without the libretto. But kudos to the entire creative team for the seamless way they wove the songs into the storyline. And a special bow to Alphonso Horne who provided the sound of Armstrong’s trumpet playing.
As performed, every one of the show’s 30 numbers is a standout: the down and out “Black and Blue,” “Heebie Jeebies” regarded as the first example of scat-singing in jazz history, “Big Butter and Egg Man,” the defiant “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You” sung to the Memphis police department after a jail stint. There are a host of popular standards, from “Up A Lazy River” to “It Don’t Mean a Thing”; and of course “Hello, Dolly!” which resurrected Armstrong’s career, and “What A Wonderful World”, so movingly performed by Iglehart at show’s end.
Iglehart embodies Armstrong with tremendous flair and accuracy, masterfully channeling Satchmo’s distinctive throaty voice, the body language, and of course that trademark toothy smile which we learn was simply a reflection of Armstrong’s love of making music. Many of Armstrong’s contemporaries didn’t see it that way. They complained it made him come off as an “Uncle Tom.” That bothered Armstrong, and in later life his strident activism for civil rights almost ended his career.
Another high point is the exuberant afro-inspired dancing courtesy of Rickey Tripp, who is credited with Choreography and Musical Staging. The ensemble of dancers shimmy and shake with inspired abandon.
The entire cast is outstanding. Dionne Figgins as wife #1, Daisy, “the switch blade hooker” is quite the handful. When she sings the sultry “Kiss of Fire,” the sparks go flying. Wife #2, Lil Hardin, is played by the sensational Jennie Harney-Fleming as a no-nonsense dynamo. An accomplished pianist, she takes over as Armstrong’s manager and it’s her influence that establishes Satchmo as a headliner with his own band – The Hot 5. Their love song, the sweetly swooning “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” is a gem.
Hollywood beckons and Armstrong is soon off with wife #3, the smitten, starry-eyed Alpha Smith. The marriage doesn’t last long but it gives the very gifted Kim Exum a chance to strut her stuff as she kisses him off with the bluesy “Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears.” Armstrong finally meets his match with wife #4, Cotton Club performer Lucille Wilson, who becomes the love of his life. Darlesia Cearcy is sublime in the role. The two have chemistry to spare, making beautiful music together singing “Cheek to Cheek.”
As bio-musicals go, A Wonderful World doesn’t break any new ground, and the book by Aurin Squire is pretty much by-the-numbers, hitting most of the highs and lows spanning 70 years in Armstrong’s storied career. But as conceived by Andrew Delaplaine along with Christopher Renshaw (who also directed), there’s so much charm, artistry and buoyant entertainment here that we are riveted for the entirety of the show’s two and a half hour running time.
The world wasn’t so wonderful in 1967 when Armstrong wrote his most famous song. At the time, the Vietnam War was raging and critics deemed it too sentimental and simplistic. Some 20 years later it gained the popularity that made it of one of the most beloved singles of all time.
Armstrong defended the song to his detractors; and today, amid our own difficult times, he deserves the last word: “Seems. To me, it ain’t the world that’s so bad, but what we’re doing to it. And all I’m saying is, see what a wonderful world it would be if only we’d give it a chance.”
A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical opened November 11, 2024 at Studio 54. Tickets and information: louisarmstrongmusical.com
