Like any other industry, there are titans in music. These once-in-a-lifetime artists help shift the musical landscape across the globe. The revered trumpet player and singer Louis Armstrong defined jazz for generations. However, many causal listeners remain unaware of the aspects of his personal life that shaped the notes and melodies ingrained in American culture. With a script by Aurin Squire for a show conceived by Christopher Renshaw and Andrew Delaplaine and co-directed by Renshaw, James Monroe Iglehart and Christina Sajous, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” is a majestic spectacle, paying homage to a towering figure and his distinctive legacy.
“A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” opens with Armstrong standing center stage, blowing into his trumpet. Starring as Louis, Tony Award winner Iglehart is mesmerizing, becoming the physical embodiment of the trumpeter from his gravelly voice to his bubbly charisma. Acting as the narrator of his own story, Armstrong reflects on his hometown of New Orleans, where he first fell in love with music and women.
Spanning six decades, “A Wonderful World” is an absolute frenzy of dazzling musical numbers, including “Black and Blue” and “Hello Dolly!” Music director Darryl G. Ivey and choreographer Rickey Tripp use sound and movement along with some of Armstrong’s most enduring songs to transport audiences from the riverboats along the Mississippi River at the turn of the century to a rapidly transitioning New York City following World War II and into the Civil Rights Movement. The depth of the production, including lighting by Cory Pattak and sound by Kai Harada, plus the outstandingly talented ensemble, create a rich and in-depth experience for viewers.
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Though the play is biographical — audiences learn about the Dixieland musician’s introduction to the trumpet and his pension for smoking marijuana — the show also acts as a love story or a series of love stories, since Armstrong was married four times. At the beginning of the musical, the audience meets Daisy Parker (an exceptional Dionne Figgins), a sex worker who enraptures Armstrong with her vicious temper and quick wit. Later in Chicago, he meets Lil Hardin (a captivating Jennie Harney-Fleming), a supremely talented performer in her own right who convinces her husband to strike out on his own, away from his jealous and thieving mentor, King Joe Oliver (Gavin Gregory).
As things in Chicago begin to sour, Armstrong leaves Lil behind and heads to Hollywood accompanied by his third wife, Alpha Smith (an enthralling Kim Exum), who provides him with a glorious but fleeting feeling of freedom. Yet it was Satchmo’s final and lasting marriage to Cotton Club legend Lucille Wilson (a sublime Darlesia Cearcy) that helped cement his legacy.
Every musical number is lovely, but there are a few standouts. In Act I, Armstrong and his Riverboat crew add swing and style to “Avalon.” Later, the jazz legend and his band put their spin on “Heebie Jeebies,” and in Act II, Alpha and Armstrong delight with “Big Butter and Egg Man.” Finally, an ensemble performance of “What a Wonderful World” is the perfect endnote for the two-hour and thirty-minute extravaganza.
While Armstong’s marriages undoubtedly shaped his career, what’s lesser known is the pressure he faced as one of the first Black “crossover” artists in the 20th century. Though he made his name in films like “Cabin in the Sky” and “A Man Called Adam,” years of remaining publicly silent amid racial hatred and segregation cost him a great deal mentally and personally. When he finally spoke out about the horrific treatment of the Little Rock Nine in 1957, he was blacklisted in Hollywood for several years. Though these pressure points are highlighted in the play, especially in his encounter with Lincoln “Stepin Fetchit” Perry (Dewitt Fleming Jr.) and following his public statement on the Little Rock Crisis, the heaviness of his choices and the grating effects of constant racism and microaggressions could have been more centralized here.
Still, the timeliness of “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” cannot be understated. As much as Armstrong and his music are ingrained in the fabric of American culture, so is the rot of racism and injustice. Pops was accomplished and celebrated during his life, but amid the glorious brass of his instrument, it’s disingenuous not to reflect on how far he could have climbed without the perils of hate and anti-Blackness.