Maltby Directs ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’

‘Ain’t Misbehavin,’ the Tony Award-winning musical revue, which is a tribute to Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller, opened at the Ahmanson Theatre Saturday and runs through May 31”and baby, ‘The Joint is Jumpin!’ The show sparkles with humor and innuendo, and energy rocks the house. The original show was a slice of American history, and now, almost 30 years later, the show itself has historical Broadway significance. Director Richard Maltby, Jr., who was also the original director for the revue when it was first produced in New York City at the Manhattan Theater Club, discussed how the original show made the jump to Broadway, and compares it to the current Los Angeles show. The Manhattan Theater Club (MTC), located in the Bohemian Benevolent Association National Hall on 73rd Street, had two theaters and a cabaret stage in its early years. ‘The cabaret was under the ‘radar’ and Lynne [Meadow, the artistic director] was trying to figure out if a show could go in that space that had artistic merit,’ said Maltby, who had earlier brought ‘Starting Here and Starting Now’ to MTC’s stage. Meadows asked Maltby if he had another show. He and Murray Horwitz had worked on a show about ‘Fats’ Waller, but hadn’t gotten beyond the first act. After agreeing to go into MTC’s cabaret slot in January, the team began the laborious process of collecting additional songs from the Library of Congress, because many of the early songs were no longer in print or available. After locating the songs, they’d find out who the publisher was. ‘We’d call the publisher and give them a copy of the song,’ said Maltby, who admits they still didn’t have a second act written, but thought that copies of the songs should be available. ‘When we went into rehearsal, we had a terrific cast, a pile of sheet music and good ideas.’ The two men decided that no one person could personify ‘Fats’ Waller, but that all of the performers would embody his personality. They decided to have a cast of five, three women and two men, because it could involve an endless number of plot lines”two couples, one woman left out, the two heavy women ganging up on the thinner woman; all the different combinations made it possible to turn the songs into individual mini-plays. They showed the cast (Nell Carter, Andr’ DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page and Irene Cara) ‘soundies’ (short movies, kind of like early videos) of Waller from the early 1900s. In one, he was singing to a girl, promising that she was the only one for him, but behind her were two other girls, who obviously had also been his girlfriends. It helped the performers to see that the music implied high comedy, and that in a relationship, ‘never trust what’s said,’ which set the comedic tone for the show. They listened to recordings of Waller’s piano music, in which they heard him talking and teasing the audience, which also helped the performers to find the right balance. Horwitz and Maltby also thought that is was important that the cast be cognizant that in the early part of the 20th century, it was an unfair world where opportunities for talented black artists were limited, but performers like ‘Fats’ Waller, Duke Ellington, and Lena Horne dealt with it through ‘class,’ humor and being so good that they couldn’t be ignored. ‘We created the show in four weeks. It’s entertaining with high and low comedy,’ Maltby said, ‘but underneath it all, there’s an awareness of the world that these artists functioned in.’ He managed to snag Luther Henderson, who adapted Waller’s music for the revue and served as the production’s original pianist, even though Henderson was already committed to another show. Maltby was asked when he knew the show, which opened in a room that had a 6 ft. by 12 ft. stage pushed to the back of the room (no curtain, no wings, and at intermission the actors had to walk through patrons seated around tables, to exit) would be a hit. ‘We were three days into the rehearsal and I knew,’ Maltby said. ‘I went to Lynne’s office and told her, ‘You’d better get ready, there’s going to be an explosion.” The show opened to rave reviews, and word of mouth spread that it was a ‘must-see.’ Fire marshals showed up nightly at the old building, located between First and Second Avenue, to monitor the space and make sure that there were only 65 customers, which was the maximum allowed in the room. The show put MTC on the map and helped to legitimize Off-Broadway and Off-off-Broadway as genuine theater venues. Since that opening, the show has been performed in more than 6,000 theatres, gone on three European tours and been produced in England twice. ‘It’s never lost its popularity,’ Maltby said. ‘It’s successful wherever it goes.’ The Los Angeles cast started rehearsing on March 28, and, once again, Maltby is at the helm. ‘Were reclaiming the ‘tailwork’ that made this show what it is,’ he said. ‘I’m treating the actors as if they were the original cast members.’ Of the original cast, Amelia McQueen returns with Maltby. ‘She’s doing her part again, and it’s richer and more detailed,’ he said. Also returning is original choreographer Arthur Faria. After this show closes at the end of May, does Maltby have plans? ‘The show has never been revived in New York,’ he said. ‘There’s a whole generation of people who don’t know anything about ‘Ain’t Misbehavin.” Call: 213-628-2772 or visit: www.centertheatregroup.org