Ain't Misbehavin'

 Review by: Paul Towers, 221/5/19

Ain’t Misbehavin’ by Richard Maltby Jr

A Bill Kenwright production, choreographed by Oti Mabuse

Southwark Playhouse 19 April – 1 June 2019

“lively, funny, feel good show.”

Ain’t Misbehavin’ is another of those shows whose soundtrack I have had for many years and never got round to seeing a production. Until now.

The show is arguably the original juke box musical. There is very little narrative, it just lets the songs shine through. And boy do they shine.

Fats Waller was around at the start of the 20^th century(1904 – 1943), so nicknamed for his immense size (ultimately some 300lbs) . Despite such a comparatively short life he had a prodigious output of songs which varied in style from pure jazz to comedy to romance. Listening to the selection made for the show you get a taste of the talent that was sadly cut short. At the time of his career there was, of course, strict racial segregation but Waller was influential in black music and musicians becoming mainstream.

The show at the intimate Southwark Playhouse space is laid out very much like a cabaret venue with a dance floor in the middle, three sides of raked seating and a stage area that is built up to accommodate the four instrumentalists, Elias Jordan Atkinson, Blake Cascoe, Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson and Ruben Ramos Medina. These are led by orchestrator Mark Dickman on piano, who sits on a dais which moves remotely on and off the performance space. The stage area is decorated in gold with lights all around.

Now we come to the singers/dancers. Wow! They sure have some moves, which is not surprising considering they are choreographed by a Strictly professional, Oti Mabuse. The two guys, Adrian Hansel and Wayne Robinson, are more than a match for the three girls, Renee Lamb, Carly Mercedes Dyer and Landi Oshinowo who get all the funny lines as well as filling the dance floor with fine moves.

This is a lively, funny, feel good show with comedy and spectacle. I defy you not to tap your feet through most of the numbers!

The thing with Fats Waller music is that on the surface it seems to be macho, showboating, bragging of the boys. But when you scratch below the surface just a tiny bit you realise that the girls hold all the cards and always win.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ is director Tyrone Huntley’s directorial debut and runs until 1^st June

Southwark Playhouse https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
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