Just in terms of eagerly anticipated shows I was deprived of seeing, one of the biggest bummers about the pandemic-related shutdown of early 2020 involved Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s shuttered production of “Bright Star,” the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell Appalachian musical. (That Tyrone’s Legacy Theatre is scheduled to produce it this spring is a consolation.)
Some 20 months later, it’s great and long overdue that co-founding artistic director Anita Farley’s Roswell troupe is finally up and running again, of course. To be perfectly honest, though, I wasn’t quite so psyched about the prospect of sitting through yet another version of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the jukebox revue of greatest hits by jazz-age composer and musician Fats Waller that I’ve previously seen more than a few times over the years.
I hereby stand corrected. Under the guidance of the estimable S. Renee Clark — already among the most accomplished music directors in town, here proving to be a splendid stage director, as well — by the time the first act culminates with a rollicking rendition of “The Joint Is Jumpin’,” the Ensemble’s “Misbehavin’” has been justifiably jumpin’ from the get-go.
The original script is credited to Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horwitz, but there really isn’t much to it in the way of the usual historical or biographical banter that serves as filler between songs in a lot of revues. For that matter, there’s barely any dialogue at all, and it’s well into the second act before Waller’s name is even mentioned, or that we realize the pianist who walked on stage to open the show, Louis Heriveaux, is meant to represent the spirit of Waller.
Spirit is something that rarely wavers or wanes in Clark’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” which wisely allows the musical numbers to speak, or rather sing, for themselves. And, instead of simply planting the cast front and center to deliver each and every one of more than two dozen songs, there’s a fluidity of movement in her staging that’s constantly energizing the proceedings.
It isn’t only about the lively choreography of Clark’s longtime collaborator Thomas W. Jones II (with tap routines credited to Lauren Brooke Tatum), although that certainly provides a big boost to the show. While this one singer or these two singers are in the spotlight downstage, that other one or those other two are complementing the number with little bits of business on the upper level or another area of Raquel Jackson’s spacious set.
Credit: Kevin Harry
Credit: Kevin Harry
Accompanied by a six-member band (led by assistant music director Heriveaux on piano), Clark’s ensemble features a tireless quintet of uniformly sensational performers: Fenner Eaddy, Jaymyria Etienne, Lawrence Flowers, Melodie Fort and Latrice Pace. Each of them relishes his or her individual moments to shine, but they also work exceedingly well with and off of one another in various combinations of two or three throughout the show. And when they join their voices in five-part harmony (for “Handful of Keys” or a beautiful “Black and Blue”), wow.
Standout solos include a memorable one-two punch that follows Pace’s mournful “Mean to Me” with Flowers’ hilarious “Your Feet’s Too Big.” Among the duet and trio highlights: “How Ya Baby” (with Eaddy and Fort); “The Ladies Who Sing With the Band” (the two men); “When the Nylons Bloom Again” (the three women); “That Ain’t Right” (Eaddy and Etienne); and especially “Find Out What They Like” (Etienne and Pace). And everyone is dressed to the nines by costume designer Jarrod Barnes.
OK, so it isn’t “Bright Star” — but it’s about the finest “Ain’t Misbehavin’” you could hope for.
THEATER REVIEW
“Ain’t Misbehavin’”
Through Nov. 21. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 4 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $39-$56. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. 770-641-1260. www.get.org.
Bottom line: Disarmingly delightful.
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