I felt the musical itself was a mixed bag. Like someone, understandably, wanted to build a show around his music, but he wasn't a controversial-enough character. It became a hit because of the original performances, particularly the dance (for a long time I thought Jelly Roll Morton must have been a dancer, since the show was known for that). There were I think three characters in the Encores!
Pal Joey who were really bad people, worse than Morton here.
I had not seen any performance of the musical before, and found this one really entertaining. Nicholas Christopher is such a charmer (who can play Pirelli, Sweeney, and Jelly Roll?). The orchestra, music, ensemble dancing, for god's sake Leslie Uggams - holy s, she can still really sing - and the vocals in general - some great performances. It looks like a full production (Porter carried a script, or at least a book, at times).
(if I sat in the rear mezz, I'd really need to use a assisted listening device) |
