Review: 'Ain't Misbehavin" belies its title with lyrical naughtiness
Friday, May 11, 2001
By NANCY STETSON, nrstetson@naplesnews.com
The Fats Waller revue now playing at the Naples Dinner Theatre may be named "Ain't Misbehavin'," but don't you believe it for a second.
There's plenty of misbehaving going on on-stage: flirting and sweet talking, spatting and sexual boasting, and it's all tremendous fun to watch and listen to. This Tony Award-winning show consists of five singers — two men, three women — performing 26 Fats Waller tunes.
The cast of "Ain't Misbehavin'" includes, left to right, Francine Finley, Gordon Michaels, Kendrick Knight, Shauna Leigh Alexander and Makia Langston. Donn Brown/Staff
The revue begins with a recording of Fats Waller himself talking, then playing "Ain't Misbehavin'." His version soon blends into a live one, played by Ben Bendenbaugh, the show's very competent pianist, who performs on stage all night with his back to the audience.
The five singers — Shauna Leigh Alexander, Francine Finley, Makia Langston, Gordon Michaels and Kendrick Knight — strut, shimmy and sing, belting out Fats Waller tunes with style and sass.
The songs are classic swing; they include hits such as "Ain't Misbehavin'," "T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "The Joint is Jumpin'." The songs range in tone from the humorous "Your Feet's Too Big" to the sobering "Black and Blue," a mournful song about what it's like to be a black person in white society. The always jovial Gordon Michaels presented "Your Feet's Too Big" with the illogical logic of a man who's drunk too much.
And Kendrick Knight's rendition of "The Viper Drag" was a definite highlight of the evening, a perfect blend of song, movement and acting. He danced and slunk his way through this bluesy song about getting high.
The five singers did solos, duets and trios, pairing off with each other in various combinations for a tune.
Francine Finley was coy and coquettish with "Daddy Squeeze Me," and Makia Langston was Betty Boopish in "Yacht Club Swing."
And while I enjoyed all the singers, it was Shauna Leigh Alexander who grabbed my attention every time she sang, with that wonderful, rich voice of hers. (Those who saw "Damn Yankees" at the theater might remember her as the woman who belted out "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the show.)
The three women were particularly funny as high-society women with furs and big-feathered hats, cigarette holders tilted in a rakish angle, their noses in their air as they sashayed about stage singing "Lounging at the Waldorf."
And Finley and Alexander turned up the heat with "Find Out What They Want," an advice-giving song that sounds like early Dr. Ruth: "Find out what they like/and how they like it/and let them have it/just that way." Their voices harmonized well, and their way of alternating their delivery of the lyrics — first delicately, then bawdily — also added to the humor.
The ensemble's version of "Black and Blue," sung in five-part harmony, about the trials black people face daily, was particularly moving.
This show is saucy and entertaining. Unfortunately, on the night I went, the show wasn't well attended, and the audience didn't seem to warm up to the actors until the end. I felt bad for the singers; it must be difficult to be performing and giving your all, only to feel that there's a vacuum just beyond the stage lights.
These five performers were some of the best singers I've heard in local theater in a long time; it would be great to see them again in other shows. (For one night only, they're putting on a concert of gospel, jazz, and Broadway hits in a special performance June 3.)
"Ain't Misbehavin' " is tremendous fun; show up at the Naples Dinner Theatre and find out for yourself just how the joint is jumpin.
Friday, May 11, 2001
By NANCY STETSON, nrstetson@naplesnews.com
The Fats Waller revue now playing at the Naples Dinner Theatre may be named "Ain't Misbehavin'," but don't you believe it for a second.
There's plenty of misbehaving going on on-stage: flirting and sweet talking, spatting and sexual boasting, and it's all tremendous fun to watch and listen to. This Tony Award-winning show consists of five singers — two men, three women — performing 26 Fats Waller tunes.
The cast of "Ain't Misbehavin'" includes, left to right, Francine Finley, Gordon Michaels, Kendrick Knight, Shauna Leigh Alexander and Makia Langston. Donn Brown/Staff
The revue begins with a recording of Fats Waller himself talking, then playing "Ain't Misbehavin'." His version soon blends into a live one, played by Ben Bendenbaugh, the show's very competent pianist, who performs on stage all night with his back to the audience.
The five singers — Shauna Leigh Alexander, Francine Finley, Makia Langston, Gordon Michaels and Kendrick Knight — strut, shimmy and sing, belting out Fats Waller tunes with style and sass.
The songs are classic swing; they include hits such as "Ain't Misbehavin'," "T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "The Joint is Jumpin'." The songs range in tone from the humorous "Your Feet's Too Big" to the sobering "Black and Blue," a mournful song about what it's like to be a black person in white society. The always jovial Gordon Michaels presented "Your Feet's Too Big" with the illogical logic of a man who's drunk too much.
And Kendrick Knight's rendition of "The Viper Drag" was a definite highlight of the evening, a perfect blend of song, movement and acting. He danced and slunk his way through this bluesy song about getting high.
The five singers did solos, duets and trios, pairing off with each other in various combinations for a tune.
Francine Finley was coy and coquettish with "Daddy Squeeze Me," and Makia Langston was Betty Boopish in "Yacht Club Swing."
And while I enjoyed all the singers, it was Shauna Leigh Alexander who grabbed my attention every time she sang, with that wonderful, rich voice of hers. (Those who saw "Damn Yankees" at the theater might remember her as the woman who belted out "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the show.)
The three women were particularly funny as high-society women with furs and big-feathered hats, cigarette holders tilted in a rakish angle, their noses in their air as they sashayed about stage singing "Lounging at the Waldorf."
And Finley and Alexander turned up the heat with "Find Out What They Want," an advice-giving song that sounds like early Dr. Ruth: "Find out what they like/and how they like it/and let them have it/just that way." Their voices harmonized well, and their way of alternating their delivery of the lyrics — first delicately, then bawdily — also added to the humor.
The ensemble's version of "Black and Blue," sung in five-part harmony, about the trials black people face daily, was particularly moving.
This show is saucy and entertaining. Unfortunately, on the night I went, the show wasn't well attended, and the audience didn't seem to warm up to the actors until the end. I felt bad for the singers; it must be difficult to be performing and giving your all, only to feel that there's a vacuum just beyond the stage lights.
These five performers were some of the best singers I've heard in local theater in a long time; it would be great to see them again in other shows. (For one night only, they're putting on a concert of gospel, jazz, and Broadway hits in a special performance June 3.)
"Ain't Misbehavin' " is tremendous fun; show up at the Naples Dinner Theatre and find out for yourself just how the joint is jumpin.