By ELAINE SPENCER
In his life of just 39 years, Thomas "Fats" Waller composed more than 400 jazz and swing tunes.
Many Waller tunes became hits for other artists of the jazz, swing and big band eras, but Waller, who died in 1943, didn't receive credit for many of the songs he wrote. "Ain't Misbehavin': The Fats Waller Musical Show," which opened Friday at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, remedies that oversight with style.
Produced and directed by Gus Gordon, the Tony Award-winning Broadway show is a quickly paced revue of 31 Waller tunes presented by five well-known local performers: Kevin Ford, Joel Tinsley-Hall, Debbie Ross, Tosh Gorens, and Lynexia Owens.
Act I opens with the title song, followed by 14 other Waller tunes, most with romantic or humorous twists. In Act II, the tunes take a more earthy turn with numbers such as "The Viper's Drag" ("viper" was 1930s Harlem slang for a marijuana smoker), "Your Feet's Too Big," "Fat and Greasy," and "Find Out What They Like".
Then the mood switches abruptly with "Black and Blue," which laments the burden of racism. Finally, the show concludes with swing-era hits such as "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie."
All five cast members are known for their ability to belt out tunes, and Friday night's performance was no exception. Their voices blended well throughout the show in many different combinations -- duets, trios, and ensemble numbers.
Ross' deeper voice was best displayed in "Mean to Me," a blues tune lamenting mistreatment by a lover, and "Find Out What They Like," a double-entendre-laden duet with Gorens about how to satisfy a man's appetite for something other than food.
Gorens added a brassy edge to that duet and to songs including "Squeeze Me" and "When the Nylons Bloom Again." And Owens, who had the highest voice of the three women, went just enough over the top on numbers such as "Yacht Club Swing" to provide a touch of humor without losing her pitch or timing.
Meanwhile, Ford and Tinsley-Hall got to show off their dancing skills in solo numbers and with the women members of the cast. Tinsley-Hall, who appeared this summer as Jim in The Muni's "Big River," also showed great comic acting chops in "That Ain't Right," a duet with Gorens in which she scolds him for cheating on her.
If you like jazz or swing music, or wonder what it might have been like to attend a show at the Cotton Club or other famous jazz venues of the past, you are most likely to enjoy this show.
"Ain't Misbehavin'" runs 1 hour and 50 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. The show will be presented tonight, Feb. 3 and 4 at 8 p.m. and Sunday and Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults and $17 for senior citizens and students. For tickets call 523-2787 or visit www.hcfta.org.
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