Satchmo at the Waldorf

By Terry Teachout

Director Feleceia Wilson

Starring Sam Henderson

Production Stage Manager Lexi Salmon

Asst Stage Manager Devon Patch

Scenic Design Kae Styron

Sound Design David Lanza

Lighting Design Christopher Treviño

Costume Design Hope Cox

Properties Design Ruby Pullum

WaterTower Theatre

Shane Peterman, Producing Artistic Director

presents

SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF

by Terry Teachout

This is a work of fiction, freely based on fact.

My thoughts on Satchmo at the Waldorf or…so much more than “Dolly" and “Wonderful World”

It’s 1971. We are in a dressing room backstage at the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC. Enter world famous trumpeter and vocalist Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Armstrong has just finished a performance and is relaxing and changing clothes before going upstairs where his wife Lucille is waiting for him in their suite.

It is during this interlude that playwright Terry Teachout has Armstrong reflect on his life and career. For 90 minutes the formidably talented Sam Henderson as the legendary performer holds the audience enrapt with Satchmo’s story. We are Henderson’s willing prisoners from the moment he walks on stage recounting a recent “accident” he had that necessitated a change of pants. Bemoaning the “joys” of aging. Armstrong is only four months away from his death.

But this play is far from a downer. It is a celebration of Armstrong’s life told anecdotally. Teachout avoids the trap of “and then this happened” that plagues many one person shows. Director Feleceia Wilson has Henderson traverse Kae Styron’s beautifully detailed set as objects or thoughts provoke memories that Henderson shares. Henderson’s Armstrong is so engaging and charismatic that you anxiously await his next tale. In addition to Wilson’s perfect pacing, David Lanza’s sound design keeps Armstrong’s every word clear and audible .and Christopher Treviño’s lighting highlights the action wonderfully, provides smooth scene transitions, and makes Styron’s mirrored set almost glow.

From his beyond humble beginnings to his time in a juvenile detention center to living under Jim Crow to fame and all that it affords, Armstrong holds back nothing. He is boldly outspoken, peppering his talk with four and twelve letter words. He even recounts the time he had some choice words for infamous Arkansas Governor Faubus and President Dwight Eisenhower.

A unique feature of this one-person show is that Armstrong becomes two other characters, jazz legend Miles Davis and Arnstrong’s lifelong manager and friend, Joe Glaser, who he calls the most important person in his life. Henderson achieves these transformations almost scarily well. If you have ever heard Miles Davis speak, you are going to be amazed. I don’t know if tapes of Joe Glaser exist, but you will swear he’s right in front of you.

That’s the thing about Satchmo at the Waldorf, it all feels real. Thanks to incredible acting, great direction, and a first-rate creative team, I spent an evening with a legend.

Photos by Paris Marie Productions