Review Roundup: James Monroe Iglehart Leads Pre-Broadway Louis Armstrong Musical, A WONDERFUL WORLD

A Wonderful World, A New Musical about the Life and Loves of Louis Armstrong, is now playing in Chicago, through October 29, following a run in New Orleans. The musical is aiming to transfer to Broadway, but no information on that run has been announced at this time.

A Wonderful World is the singular story of jazz legend, Grammy Award winner and American icon Louis Armstrong from the perspective of his four wives, who each had a unique impact on his life. Armstrong’s innovative musicianship and incredible charisma as a trumpet player and vocalist would lead him from the early days of jazz in his native New Orleans to five decades of international stardom.

Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Broadway: Aladdin, Hamilton) stars as Armstrong. His wives are played by Ta’Rea Campbell (Philip tour of Hamilton, Broadway: The Lion King, The Book of Mormon) as Lucille Wilson, Jennie Harney-Fleming (Broadway: The Color Purple, Hamilton) as Lil Hardin, Brennyn Lark (Broadway: Six, Les Misérables) as Alpha Smith and Khalifa White (Broadway: Caroline, or Change, Little Shop of Horrors) as Daisy Parker. 

What are the critics saying? Read the reviews for the musical in Chicago below!

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Rachel Weinberg, BroadwayWorld:  Iglehart easily earns his star title and reminds audiences why he’s a Tony Award winner. He has a masterful take on Armstrong, and I was mesmerized every time he opened his mouth to sing. And particularly when Iglehart portrays Armstrong at the end of his life, he shows real vulnerability and raw emotion. He’s in excellent company with the four women playing his wives. White has dry line deliveries and wry timing as Daisy; she beautifully conveys the character’s “take-no-prisoners” attitude when it comes to her husband.

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: Iglehart is just fabulous in “A Wonderful World,” a new musical directed by Christopher Renshaw that opened Friday night at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre with Broadway aspirations and Vanessa Williams among its producers. The Tony Award under his belt for “Aladdin” is testament to Iglehart’s improvisational skills and on-stage charisma, but that’s far from all he’s is doing here. He clearly has intuited that Armstrong, who navigated American show business throughout the 20th century, had to play multiple characters, and that his chaotic personal life (four wives, hundreds of affairs) suggested an undercurrent of profound pain. Iglehart’s talents could be compared to those of Nathan Lane, if you’ll forgive the over-simplification.

Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun-Times: And although Iglehart is phenomenal, having him play Louis as a child getting his first horn keeps us from making an early connection with Armstrong as a kid and young man. Iglehart is the right Louis for a show composed in flashbacks, or for one that switches actors. The positive side: When he performs “You Rascal, You” (otherwise known as “I’ll be Glad When You’re Dead”) to the Memphis Police Department to get out of a marijuana charge, we get both a song working on multiple levels and the only real glimpse of Armstrong’s ability to take complete command of an audience.

Brian Hieggelke, New City Stage: Needless to say, a bio-play about Louis Armstrong soars or sinks with the casting of the lead, and Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart rises to the occasion, not only mastering the gravelly voice and scat singing that were Armstrong’s signatures, but also fully manifesting the physical presence and infectious charisma and smile that made him a star.

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