SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF (2018)
Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans, USA
Written by Terry Teachout
Directed by Maxwell Williams
Scenic Design: Hannah Lax
Lighting Design: Josh Courtney
Performed by: Barry Shabaka Henley
Satchmo at the Waldorf, an extraordinary one-man, three-character play that journeys into the heart and mind of New Orleans’ beloved jazz legend, Louis Armstrong. In March 1971, backstage at the Empire Room of New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the greatest trumpet player in the world sits in his dressing room trying to pull himself together to do one final show.
Directed by Maxwell Williams, “Satchmo at the Waldorf” (through Oct. 21 at Le Petit Theatre) stars Barry Shabaka Henley, a New Orleans native now based in Los Angeles. Henley does triple duty in the one-man show, playing Armstrong, Armstrong’s longtime manager Joe Glaser, and Miles Davis, who speaks for a younger generation of musicians inspired by Armstrong's talent but dismayed by his pandering to white audiences.
“The handsome set by Hannah Lax captures both the luxury of the big-city hotel and the stark, transitory nature of a backstage dressing room”
