Theater: A Rowdy Romp into the Past AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

Music by Fats Waller; Conceived by Richard Maltby Jr.

It is never easy to compete with the memory of a legend, yet the revivers of Ain't Misbehavin' have set themselves that task twice over. Not only do they seek to match the exuberant spirit of Pianist-Songwriter Thomas Wright ("Fats") Waller, whose 1920s and '30s Harlem jazz inspired the pell-mell 31-tune revue, but they also contend with the joyous memory of the 1978 debut staging, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical, made a star of Nell Carter, and ran almost four years before becoming an Emmy-winning NBC special. Of course, the producers of this daring venture have a leg...

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