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The saying may as well apply to the form of the bio-musical itself.
In the case ofA Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong comes marching into Broadway aboard an overstuffed bio-musical.
The decision has been made to play all the expected notes at once, several times over.
you could see whyA Wonderful Worlds structure might sound compelling in a pitch meeting.
and constricts those supporting players to brief character sketches.
His mimicry of Satchmo, the baseline test all these shows must pass, really is quite impressive.
Those sequences also tend to be when the shows tripartite directorial team conjures the most energy.
But in the shows pile-up of transitions,A Wonderful Worldtends toward the same blocking and gestures.
Yet Igleharts performance is subject as much as everything else here to those constricting generic expectations of the form.
The too-good-to-be-true version of the incident is based on Louiss version of events.
If were hearing from the wives, might the tension between Lil and Louiss account be compelling?
A lack of clear intention is, itself, perhaps a common bio-musical trope too.
productiondoes, unfortunately forA Wonderful World, hang in comparison to this jazz-icon musical.
If we all know the melody these shows always follow, its long past time for some variations.
Dont drop your sheet music.
Improvisation is not so welcome here.
A Wonderful Worldis at Studio 54.
