Review Roundup: A WONDERFUL WORLD Opens On Broadway
Tony Award-winning actor James Monroe Iglehart steps into the shoes of the one and only Louis Armstrong in the new Broadway musical, A Wonderful World, opening tonight! The reviews are rolling in! See what critics thought Broadway's newest biomusical!
Video: Watch A WONDERFUL WORLD's First Broadway Curtain Call
Watch as the cast of A Wonderful World starring James Monroe Iglehart as Louis Armstrong, Darlesia Cearcy as Lucille Wilson, Kim Exum as Alpha Smith, Dionne Figgins as Daisy Parker, and Jennie Harney-Fleming as Lil Hardin. Watch the curtain call video now!
Review: A WONDERFUL WORLD Presented by Broadway In Chicago
World premiere musical A WONDERFUL WORLD has a wonderful lead in James Monrie Iglehart as Louis Armstrong. Iglehart embodies the acclaimed vocalist and trumpeter completely; he nails Armstrong’s signature raspy voice and vocals and larger-than-life presence, but he’s also a master at embodying the role’s emotions. He’s a joy to watch in every moment he’s onstage, even as Aurin Squire’s book charts both Armstrong’s successes and his more human mistakes. In terms of framework, A WONDERFUL WORLD surprisingly reminded me of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s SIX. The musical starts and ends with Armstrong’s four wives: Daisy Parker (Khalifa White), Lil Hardin (Jennie Harney Fleming), Alpha Smith (Brennyn Lark), and Lucille Wilson (Ta’rea Campbell). Each of the musical’s four parts is centered around one of Armstrong’s wives. While the musical piqued my interest in Armstrong’s biography as a whole, I think this framework meant the timeline on his route to fame was incredibly condensed. And the musical certainly conveys that Armstrong was quite the philanderer; Squire’s book and Christopher Renshaw’s direction and conception don’t shy away at all from the fact that Armstrong cheated on each of his past wives with the next one.