André De Shields (Photo: Lia Chang)
When NJPAC and Crossroads Theatre Company needed a director for their upcoming co-production of Ain’t Misbehavin’, they landed an artist who says the show is part of his “performing DNA.”
André De Shields, the two-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy-winning actor, was an original cast member of Ain’t Misbehavin’ when it opened on Broadway in 1978 and swept up a few Tonys, including best musical. Nicknamed “the Fats Waller musical,” Ain’t Misbehavin’ sashays into NJPAC’s Victoria Theater for six performances between February 1-4.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the 1978 Tony Awards.
In the past, De Shields has circled back to the show as a director-choreographer and a mentor to those who don the pinstriped suit and bowler hat of the character he created. Ain’t Misbehavin’ “left a cookie on my soul,” says the Baltimore native, comparing his affinity for the musical to an everlasting imprint.
Marshall Jones III, Producing Artistic Director of Crossroads Theatre Company, came up with the idea of reuniting De Shields with the show for a run during his theater’s 2011-12 season. Crossroads, the recipient of an outstanding regional theater Tony, is currently on the move, staging its Afrocentric productions at different venues, including NJPAC, until the completion of a new performing arts complex in New Brunswick.
“No one on this planet understands and appreciates this show better than André,” says Jones, who refers to him as “a vital treasure.” “He’s been involved since its inception and the last time we produced the show, it was clear that his vision successfully captured the music and the culture of Fats Waller, and the historic time of his music.”
That time would be the Harlem Renaissance. Set in a smoky jazz club of the 1920s and 30s, Ain’t Misbehavin’ features a cast of five singer-dancers who unroll back-to-back blues, soul and honky-tonk numbers by stride pianist Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller and other composers of the era. In addition to the title tune, the score includes “Black and Blue,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Ladies Who Sing with the Band” and “The Viper’s Drag” (The Reefer Song), the last being De Shields’ mesmerizing reptilian solo, inspired by Eastern dance.
The players include Johmaalya Adelekan (Ragtime), Zurin Villanueva (Mean Girls; Shuffle Along) Rheaume Crenshaw (Groundhog Day), David Samuels, and an actor to be announced.
“(Cast members) take over the exquisite job of sharing not only the genius of Fats Waller with the world but also the gift of American classical music, which is jazz … there’s so much in Ain’t Misbehavin’ that is a teaching moment beyond being a performer in a successful show. There is American history in that show, which is, of course, the Harlem Renaissance,” De Shields says.
“I’m definitely going to leave my stamp on the choreography, as I did in the 2011 production,” he continues, then elaborates on the part he played. “Because the character requires mystery, I’m going to keep the elements of Balinese dance … and when you see those undulating fingers and those gyrating hips, and you can’t associate it with anything that’s familiar to Western culture, it helps to sell the moment of ‘The Viper’s Drag’ (The Reefer Song).”
Ain’t Misbehavin’
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
1 Center Street, Newark, NJ
February 1-4
