By Eric Butler
Whether he was keeping the dance floor hopping in a cramped Harlem nightspot or broadcasting nationwide on Cincinnati’s WLW radio, Thomas “Fats” Waller knew how to wow an audience. A master of “stride” piano, a highly technical and solo-centric brand of key stroking, Waller’s musical talents and Swing-era panache secured him a significant role in the progression of the blues, jazz and swing genres. And from now through April 3, the Derby Dinner Playhouse is saluting the late entertainer in its production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” a latter-day Broadway tribute show named after Waller’s most famous song. The Playhouse’s rendition features a quintet of musicians and a like number of singer-actors performing over 30 of Waller’s old favorites.
They’ve kept the set pretty simple, with nothing more than a couple of small tables straddling the edges of a donut-shaped stage in the middle of the venue. The band, then, is seated with their instruments in a pit in the middle of the donut with their Fats-inspired Derby hats on. The stage is washed in subdued fuchsia and violet lighting.
But even without much decoration, they’re able to recreate the feel of a 1930s Harlem nightspot through the sincere performances and gaudy costumes of the five actors, who, while strutting around and off the stage, dancing and carrying on in zoot suits and feathered hats, sequined dresses and mink coats, somehow still manage to belt out song lyrics back-to-back for two continuous hour-long sets.
That’s the interesting thing about “Ain’t Misbehavin’”: in all that time it makes no attempt to tell a story at all. It’s a “musical revue,” wherein the singers’ acting merely serves to illustrate the external environment and convey a general mood, rather than deal with any kind of conflict and resolution. This doesn’t mean that nothing happens for two hours; plenty does. There’s dancing, drinking, weed smoking, gunfire, police sirens, even a little tap dancing. Let’s put it this way: it’s a musical, just without the plot.
The actors do a wonderful job throwing their sass around, teasing each other, switching partners back and forth, cracking jokes and harboring friendly resentment. During “The Viper’s Drag,” actor Gregory Green gives a particularly rousing solo dance performance, which I’m sure many of the women in the audience will replay in their minds just before bedtime.
But getting back to the music, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” includes a wide variety of Waller’s memorable tunes: the slow, precious “Honeysuckle Rose”; the quick, flighty “Handful of Keys”; the anguished and brooding “Black and Blue”; and the light, comic “Fat and Greasy,” just to name a few. These serve as a testament to Waller’s emotional and technical fluency in composing and performing songs that cover such a broad scope.
It’s enough to keep your toes tapping all night. But the show du jour is only one aspect of the venue’s nightly entertainment. Over an hour beforehand, the Playhouse begins to serve a buffet-style dinner to all of its guests, which, if a particular night’s performance is sold out, accounts for 500 dinners. The buffet offers fried chicken and fish, baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, carrots and assorted other vegetables, hot rolls, a salad bar and a cutting station with roast beef and turkey. All of the food is pretty standard: classic American cuisine that offers no surprises but satisfies your appetite nicely.
And this seems to be the feel for the Derby Dinner Playhouse as a whole: there’s no reason to rush out and beat down the door to see this performance, but you might like it if you go. Especially if you can get a student rush ticket, which are sold exclusively for the evening performances at 7:30 p.m. and depend on whether extra seats are available in the theater. Student rush tickets bring the regular ticket price down over 350 percent — probably because these tickets preclude getting anything to eat before the show — and cost a mere $10. If you want my opinion, I’d say hit a fast food joint around 7 p.m. and then swing on over. Or at least go pick up a Fats Waller album.
The Derby Dinner Playhouse is located just over the I-65 bridge in Clarksville, Ind., adjacent to the Holiday Inn Lakeview at 500 Marriott Dr. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” is being performed eight times a week: daily at 7:45 p.m. except for Monday, with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 1 and 1:30 p.m., respectively. Buffets for all evening shows open at 6 p.m., while both matinee buffets open at 11:45 a.m. For more information, visit the Derby Dinner Playhouse Web site at http://www.derbydinner.com.
