Reviewed by Mart\u1f77n Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> RECOMMENDED<\/strong><\/p>\n Ah, they don\u2019t write them like that anymore, and if jazz composer and pianist Thomas Wright \u201cFats\u201d Waller had not passed away in 1943 at the all too early age of thirty-nine, there would be more than the four hundred copyrighted songs in his repertoire for us to savor.<\/p>\n In 1978, Richard Maltby, Jr., and Murray Horowitz culled several Waller classics \u2014 as well as standards from many of his contemporaries \u2014 and crafted a tribute revue that became a New York cabaret hit that later ran for almost four years on Broadway. Running the gamut from the sad to snappy and the sublime to satiric, the songs have, for the most part, stood the test of time and are embedded in the fabric of this country\u2019s musical history.<\/p>\n Welcome to the \u201cHarlem Renaissance,\u201d a period that fell roughly between the 1910s and the mid-1930s and showcased the social, political, and cultural achievements of Manhattan\u2019s historically Black Mecca. In a posh brownstone, our hosts for the evening \u2014 Yvette Cason, Wilkie Ferguson III, Connie Jackson, Marty Austin Lamar, and Natalie Wachen \u2014 have invited us to a swinging cocktail party and set the evening\u2019s tone with a rollicking version of the show\u2019s title Waller\/Harry Brooks\/Razaf tune. Maltby\u2019s and Horowitz\u2019s so-called \u201cbook\u201d then has our stalwart performers engage in solo or combined vocalizing, using each song as mini vignettes rather than fully developed dramatic scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cHoneysuckle Rose,\u201d the Waller\/Razaf composition, gets a delightful rendition by Cason and Lamar, abetted by Dominique Kelley\u2019s comically combative choreography. Lamar\u2019s dreamlike vocals on \u201cThe Jitterbug Waltz\u201d is another highlight, as the singer calls on his love to keep on dancing, exhaustion be damned. Jackson\u2019s jokily overblown performance of \u201cWhen Nylons Bloom Again,\u201d epitomizes the bane of many a woman in the USA during World War II.<\/p>\n Ferguson presents up some \u201csmokey\u201d vocals in Stuff Smith\u2019s amusing ode to marijuana \u201cIf You\u2019re a Viper\u201d \u2014 recorded by Waller in 1943 under the title \u201cThe Reefer Song\u201d and credited as such in the program. Andrew Schmedeke\u2019s crimson-hued lighting and Ferguson\u2019s sinuous moves, staged by Kelley, enhance the dream \u201cabout a reefer five feet long.\u201d Cason\u2019s touching \u201cMean to Me\u201d is a cry for kindness from a less-than-courtly lover, leaving her \u201csingin\u2019 the blues and sighin\u2019\u201d. Wachen delivers a captivating \u201cKeeping Out of Mischief Now,\u201d as a coquette who declares that her \u201cflirting days are gone\u201d now that love is in her heart.<\/p>\n Though some tunes remain timely, others remind us of how times have changed. In a brassy performance by Cason and Jackson. \u201cFind Out What They Like,\u201d suggests women \u201cgive them what they want\u201d when it comes to men and their desires, while Ferguson and Lamar gleefully body shame a rotund gentleman in \u201cFat and Greasy\u201d \u2013\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0encourage the audience to sing along. The ensemble\u2019s take on \u201cBlack and Blue,\u201d a critique on racism against Black people, is harmonically haunting, though the song\u2019s lyrics \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m white inside, but that don\u2019t help my case, \u2018cause I can\u2019t hide what is in my face\u201d \u2014 would give some radical Black political theorists a field day.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, director Wren T. Brown emphasizes the playful and joyous nature of the music, which is enriched by the exceptional quintet of pianist\/musical director William Foster McDaniel, drummer Land Richards, saxophonist Keith Fiddmont, trumpeter Fernando Pullum, and bassist Dwayne Augustine. Wren keeps an easy rhythm to the proceedings and Kelley\u2019s choreography, from solo soft shoe by intricate ensemble work, adds more liveliness to the show. The ample and impeccably detailed set, with furniture and arched doorways, is itself a work of art by the late, great designer John Iacovelli. Designer Wendall Carmichael\u2019s retro awareness to his costumes adds to the shows sense of the historical \u2014 and the colorful.<\/p>\n Ironically, like modern day Harlem, the area surrounding the show\u2019s South LA venue is facing increased gentrification and threatened displacement of Black folks. Hopefully, City Hall can reverse this trend and champion the preservation of Los Angeles\u2019s own historically Black mecca. Like the cautiously optimistic Jimmy McHugh\/Ted Koehler song says in the show\u2019s robust finale medley, \u201cI\u2019ve Got My Fingers Crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNate Holden Performing Arts Center<\/strong><\/em>
\nThrough May 28<\/strong><\/p>\n