Louis Armstrong’s innovative musicianship and incredible charisma as trumpeter and vocalist would lead him from the early days of jazz in his native New Orleans to five decades of international stardom. A Wonderful World tells the story of Armstrong’s blazing musical career from the perspective of his four wives, who each had a unique impact on his life.
Only two of Armstrong’s wives in “A Wonderful World” share a dramatic scene: when Daisy charges Alpha and Louis of bigamy. Otherwise, one actor could play all four female roles, which might give some theatrical flair to a show that’s lacking in panache. Christopher Renshaw directs, and Iglehart and Christina Sajous are credited as co-directors. If there isn’t an adage about too many directors in the theater, there should be.
To showcase and to dissect always are tricky, twin ambitions for any jukebox show, and I think the main problem with “Wonderful World” is that it worries too much about the latter, which gets in the way of fully delivering the former. The show, which organizes itself around Armstrong’s career-defining travels from New Orleans to Chicago to Hollywood to New York, has a whole lot of biographical information to deliver and it’s a very heavy load, especially in Act 2, which becomes a bit of a slog when audiences at such shows long have been conditioned mostly to expect a concert-style finale. In the Wikipedia age, information is not what audiences want so much as a point of view and, well, lots of songs and music. We still could do with less history and more time with Louis and his band.
2020 | Regional (US) |
Colony Theatre World Premiere Regional (US) |
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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