ENTERTAINMENT

Could DTC’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’ be headed to NY?

Betsy Price
The News Journal

Director Richard Maltby Jr., who created and won a Tony for the original “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” has been so pleased with how well the musical at the Delaware Theatre Company has been received that he’s talking about taking it back to its NYC roots.

It’s been 20 years since “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” played on Broadway. Maltby would like to see the show, which features five singer/actors doing Fats Waller songs from the 1920s and ’30s, play in an intimate space and retain its Harlem club atmosphere. He really liked the way the 315-seat DTC theater allowed the singers to interact with the audience. And now it sounds like he might be talking to with some off-Broadway houses about bringing the Delaware show there.

“I think that would be fantastic,” says actress Kecia Lewis, who is playing the character track that won Nell Carter a Tony when the show debuted. “It’s the first of its kind, and it’s very unique in terms of the ‘jukebox’ musical has evolved into. Something like ‘Ain’t’ is probably closest to the form as it was originally intended, which was to give a picture of someone’s personality and historical context to what they contributed musically, as opposed to trying to put together kind of a fake book around someone’s songs and not letting the music speak for itself. In that regard, it would be great so see that revival.”

Lewis knows Broadway. She’s been in the original casts of “Leap of Faith,” “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Dreamgirls” at that age of 18; “Once On This Island;” “The Gospel at Colonus” and the Broadway revival of “Ain’t Misbehavin’. ” She’s also been in “Chicago,” “Shrek” and “Big River,” and you might have seen her in the movie “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” or on television in “Law & Order,” “Law & Order SVU,” “Crossing Jordan” and “The Hughley’s.”

Maltby is recording the Delaware production.

“This production is probably as close to the original as we are ever going to get,” he said in a letter to cast members. “Your performances are true and felt and direct, and free from those comic excesses that crept in over time. The DTC stage with its curved forestage gives you all a chance to connect to the audience in a way that isn’t possible in a lot larger theaters, and which I haven’t seen happen in a long time.”

“The physical production, set, costumes, lighting, are all on a first-rate level. There may not be another chance soon to find a really good production that will show the future ‘how it’s supposed to be done.’ ”

In an interview before the show opened, Maltby said he couldn’t imagine restaging or reinventing the show in another time or place. He told the cast, “We must be real. People are going to do ‘Ain’t’ in a lot of different ways in the future. There is no stopping them, and some might be clever and effective, who knows. But from now on, with this film in hand, afterward, the show will always return to its roots.”

This performance is Lewis’ first time on stage in Delaware. She’s been happy to see audiences growing as the run, which ends April 27, goes on. She enjoys her character, who she describes as over the top with humor and emotion, particularly in the song “Mean to Me.”

She hopes audiences will leave the show wanting to know more about Fats Waller.

“I think his death at 39 is absolutely tragic, and that is the case of so many great and brilliant writers and composers,” Lewis says. “I would hope people would walk away with an appreciation of that time period, and the brilliant musician that he was and want to know more about him and the composers of the Harlem Renaissance.”

When “Ain’t” closes in Delaware, Lewis will move to a more watery and villainous role, playing Ursula in a Massachusetts production of “The Little Mermaid.” Her 10-year-old son is beside himself with glee that he’ll get to see it. “I think that’s going to be ridiculous fun,” Lewis says.