‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’: River Campus production ‘encapsulates a piece of the African-American experience’

Music and theater lovers had the chance to hear a number of jazzy tunes Thursday evening when "Ain't Misbehavin'" premiered at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

Cast member and Southeast junior Anthony Michael Shepard of St. Louis described the production, billed as "The Fats Waller Musical Show," as artwork that "encapsulates a piece of the African-American experience."

"Ain't Misbehavin'" cast member Malachi Marrero positions a microphone while getting ready for the premier of "Ain't Misbehavin'" on Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus in Cape Girardeau.

"We have so many musicals that romanticize other forms of music we always don't get to romanticize like jazz or we don't get to romanticize like black fun or black life," Shepard said. "It's fun to like bring that onstage."

Kenn Stilson, chairman of The Jeanine Larson Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance, said although shows featured all-black casts at the university's Rose Theatre as long ago as the early 1980s, he believes this is the first show at the River Campus with an all-black cast.

Stilson said the musical was picked because "it's a great show."

"Ain't Misbehavin'" cast member Cynthia Thomas waits with other cast members shortly before the start of the show's premier Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus in Cape Girardeau.

"We want to do shows like this, and we now have the student body that can really tackle these roles," he said.

Stilson described the show as a tribute specifically to the black musicians of the 1920s and '30s who were part of the Harlem Renaissance.

"We felt, and the director felt, that it had to be embodied by African-American actors," he said.

Southeast instructor and music director Josh Harvey, musical director for the show, said the musical takes a revue format.

He described the format as somewhere between a musical with a plotline and a cabaret which, he said, is more of a single person singing onstage telling stories.

"Ain't Misbehavin'" cast members (from left) Kanisha Kellum, Diamon Lester, Brianna Justine and Cynthia Thomas sing during a dress rehearsal Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus in Cape Girardeau.

Harvey said the show contains very little dialogue and lots of singing.

"It's all Fats Waller's music or songs that Fats Waller made famous," he said.

Cast member Brianna Justine of St. Louis said the revue format tells a bunch of little stories instead of only one major story.

"I kind of like it almost a little better than the traditional musical," Justine said.

One aspect cast member Malachi Marrero of Memphis, Tennessee, enjoys is the smaller cast of eight.

Ain t Misbehavin cast members Malachi Marrero, left, and John Williams take part in vocal warmups before a dress rehearsal for Ain t Misbehavin on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

"Not to be cliche, but it literally does feel like we've created a family with the people you work with," Marrero said.

The final performances of the production, directed and choreographed by Darryl Kent Clark, are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Rust Flexible Theatre at the River Campus.