Behavin' Badly; Ain't Misbehavin' January 2004

During the fall of 2003 I was teaching drama at Ludlow ES in North Philadelphia with a program called the Best Program. It was a program designed for students with behaviorial problems. It was very challenging. These students didn't care about consequences or themselves for that matter. So it was a challenge to get them to care. I was also teaching drama at Congreso de Latinos Unidos after-school program also in Noth Philly. I started teaching there that summer and was hired on in the fall. So it was a long day. During the fall of 2003 I did two forgettable shows I'd rather not blog about. I did an outreach show called Speak For Youself with Holcomb Theatre Out Reach ( I would actually do the show again three years later but with a much better script) and a very bad production of Smokey Joe's Cafe with Triple Threat Theatre in Cherry Hill, NJ. It's a great show but a bad production. Sometimes an actor should just say no to a gig. However in January of 2004 there were two productions of the Fats Waller musical revue show called Ain't Misbehavin'. One was at the Ritz Theatre where I did Dream Girls the year before and Birstol Riverside Theatre company. I told Shavonne in the summer of '03 I would definitly get one of them. She thought I was being arrogant. Maybe I was. I was very confident. I never got a chance to even audition for the Bristol River Side production in Febuary of '04. I auditioned for the Ritz production in January of '04. I sang "Love Me" an Elvis song from Smokey Joe's Cafe. It went very well and I was called back for the dance audition. The Ritz cast me two days later. The first thing I asked Bruce after he called me to tell me he cast me was who else was cast. It was Keedra Carroll, Sheree Monique-Roberts and Andre Beckett who were all in Dream Girls with me last year and Gnomia Gre (Lauren Brown). I was very excited about this show. For one it was great show and it also gave me a chance to show the Ritz I had the talent to carry a show. I admit I had little chip on my shoulder for being over looked over for the role of CC in Dreamgirls the year before. Especially seeing as though actor who landed role, Selassie Amanna, wasn't half the singer or actor I was. So I was out to show the Ritz what I can do and this was the show to do it. The stage show of Ain't Misbehavin' is a vibrant musical revue and tribute to the black musicians of the early 1900s. Bold, bright and told with the cheeky humor for which Fats Waller was known, Ain't Misbehavin' is sure to bring the house down! Seeing as though this was an musical revue which means there is no script but forty songs of Fats Waller strung together with a running theme. It was the most challenging show I had ever done by far! I had to learn all my lyrics, chorography, harmonies and staging in a month and half! It was hard but I up for the challenge. Every musical I'm cast in I'm at a disavantage because I don't fluently read music. I tell people I read music on a hook on phonics level. I learn entirely by ear. Imagine learning harmonies for twenty something songs by ear?! I had to work twice as hard. I was the second actor off book after Sheree. Also, three weeks before opening night my first daugther Miciah Reigh was born! The Ritz was nervous she would be born during the run and I would miss shows. They offered me a week off from rehearsals but I wouldn't take it. I had too much to learn. Miciah was born on April 3rd, 2004 on a Saturday morning. I was at rehearsal that Sunday night. I didn't miss one rehearsal! I couldn't wait for opening night. This was also the first time I was personally reviewed in the local newspaper. I was nervous. Wondering what he would write about me in the newspaper. I got a good review. That felt really good. That summer two moths after Ain't Misbahavin' closed the whole cast was contracted to perform the show at the Dell in Camden for a weekend in August. This was an out door theatre and was free to the public. So we came in and rehearsed for a week at the Ritz to brush up and then did three shows that weekend. I loved that run. The space was great and they had a great sound system. It was the perfect way to end the run...