Satchmo at the Waldorf

[mjzee]

A day after winning the Drama Desk Award for outstanding solo performance on June 1, actor John Douglas Thompson sat on the stage at an empty Westside Theatre, where he plays Louis Armstrong in "Satchmo at the Waldorf." Seated across from him on the set's sofa was Terry Teachout, the play's writer (and this newspaper's drama critic), who was awarded a Bradley Prize days earlier. Reunited to talk about the one-man play, the performer and playwright spoke freely about craft, process and an unlikely subplot—how they wound up as collaborators.

See:

WSJ

(or Google the article's title: Stage Confessions)

[ArtSalt]

It sounds an interesting play, the right themes and dynamics are explored. I would love to see it!

I thought Teachout's Pops was splendid and yet, the Ellington biography, as we have discussed here already, left me disillusioned, not with Ellington which seemed to be the plan in parts of the book, but with Teachout himself. Anyway, you can't please everyone, all the time.