[Dixielandjazz] "Satchmo at the Waldorf" reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Theater Review: 'Satchmo at the Waldorf'
by Matt Palm
Orlando Sentinel, September 16, 2011
Bubbling under the clever monologues in "Satchmo at the Waldorf," and occasionally
rising to the surface, lurks a time-honored question of the arts: Is giving people
what they want successfully entertaining them or selling out?
In Terry Teachout's new play, jazz legend Louis Armstrong knows his answer: Giving
people what they want is how you earn the all-important applause.
His manager, Joe Glaser, knows his answer, too: Giving 'em what they want is how
you earn the big bucks.
The fact that Armstrong and Glaser, the only characters in the show, fundamentally
agree -- and got along for nearly all their lives -- doesn't leave room for much
conflict. So the play percolates along on Armstrong's optimism and Glaser's pragmatism
without hitting the emotional high notes that Armstrong's famed trumpet could.
First-time playwright Teachout has an ear for speech patterns and creates an engrossing
characterization of Louis Armstrong and, to a lesser extent, his longtime manager
Joe Glaser.
A prolific blogger and drama critic for the Wall Street Journal, Teachout is also
a master storyteller, so Armstrong and Glaser entertainingly spin yarns about touring
the segregated South, wheeling and dealing with Al Capone and the first time Armstrong
realized how popular "Hello, Dolly!" was going to be.
But the inherent conundrum in "Satchmo at the Waldorf" lies in how the stories both
illuminate the characters, yet sap momentum from the play's dramatic arc. Conflict
arises late in the second act, but even then it is quickly resolved for the audience
if not Armstrong.
Luckily, actor Dennis Neal has the right twinklingly devilish stage presence to keep
the audience engaged, even when Armstrong's tales start to meander or repeat themselves.
Neal plays both characters. A simple lighting design -- reds and ambers for Armstrong,
blues for Glaser -- indicates transitions, but under the direction of Rus Blackwell
every switch is obvious in Neal's demeanor and posture.
Armstrong is an old man -- we see him just months before his death -- and Neal hobbles
a bit, struggling to change into his performance clothes. But when he lets an expletive-laced
zinger fly (and the show is full of expletives), his eyes dance, his mouth crinkles
into a smile and a raspy chuckle spills out.
Neal's Glaser is bolder, more vigorous, quicker on his feet, his speech more direct.
He doesn't chuckle, he bellows. All that adds up to a colder feeling, the contrast
to the warmth Neal imbues in Armstrong emphasized by the instantaneous changes between
the characters.
Blackwell carefully walks the fine line of keeping enough activity to avoid static
monologues but not inserting so much stage business as to be distracting. And if
the climactic revelation doesn't quite pack the shock value it could, well, like
many a jazz song the destination isn't the important thing. It's the journey that's
entertaining.




--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
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916/ 806-9551 Cell
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I hate all this terrorist business. 
I used to love the days when you could look at an unattended bag on a train or bus and think to yourself
"I'm going to take that."