MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
8 APRIL 2008BROADWAY IS COMING TO AL AIN IN APRIL
Ambassador Satch, a world premier musical portrait of jazz legend Louis Armstrong, will be coming to the Garden City of Al Ain from the 14th – 19th of April 2008 as guests of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and the UAE University (UAEU).
The show has been playing to sell-out crowds for the past 8 years. Featuring co-writer André De Shields as Louis, a first class five piece jazz band directed by Terry Waldo and a powerhouse female vocalist, Harriett D. Foy, who plays Louis’ several wives, Ambassador Satch has received critical acclaim and rave reviews from everybody who has seen it. Our very own Dr. James P. Mirrone, a lecturer in the English Literature Program in the UAE University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was the co-writer of the play and Mercedes Ellington, the choreographer.
"This visit marks the second time that an American theatre production, starring veteran Broadway musicians, Tony-nominated and Emmy award winning actors, will be showcased in the UAE", Mirrione explains. "However, this time around the students of the UAE University will be given the once in a lifetime experience to attend lecture demonstrations hosted by the stars themselves". The public of Al Ain will have their chance to experience the joys of jazz on Thursday, 17 April 2008 in the Sheikh Khalifa
Auditorium, FMHS, Tawam.
“From the moment the play opens--with De Shields hoisting an umbrella, grinning
gloriously like Louis and leading marching musicians down the aisle as if it
were Bourbon Street, the audience was caught up in a sense of Mardi Gras
excitement.”
All About Jazz
gloriously like Louis and leading marching musicians down the aisle as if it
were Bourbon Street, the audience was caught up in a sense of Mardi Gras
excitement.”
All About Jazz
ABOUT THE SHOW
Telling Armstrong’s story in the songs he sang from the searingly bitter Black and Blue to pop pieces such as "What A Wonderful World", the play carries you from Louis back-of-town birth in New Orleans in 1901, through his pop success with such latter day stars as Barbara Streisand. It touches on his trip to Africa - earning him the nick name of Ambassador (of good will) Satch to go with his other monickers such as Satchel mouth. It also covers his blasting school segregation as well as his famous put-down of bop musicians with his parody of The Whiffenpoof Song—”to the tables down at Birdland to the place where Dizzy plays.”
TICKETS
Telling Armstrong’s story in the songs he sang from the searingly bitter Black and Blue to pop pieces such as "What A Wonderful World", the play carries you from Louis back-of-town birth in New Orleans in 1901, through his pop success with such latter day stars as Barbara Streisand. It touches on his trip to Africa - earning him the nick name of Ambassador (of good will) Satch to go with his other monickers such as Satchel mouth. It also covers his blasting school segregation as well as his famous put-down of bop musicians with his parody of The Whiffenpoof Song—”to the tables down at Birdland to the place where Dizzy plays.”
TICKETS
Tickets cost AED100 each and are available from The House of Arts (03) 762-6651. A portion of the proceeds will go towards the House of Arts' program for children with special needs.
"This homage, written by James Mirrione and Mr. De
Shields, comes from awe, humanized by affection. There is no exploitation here.
The performer commands the stage in his own right, and he has every right to own
it.
Terry Waldo, ragtime pianist nonpareil and eminent scholar of the form,
is musical director and arranger, at the piano. He acts too. … Mr. Waldo is
worth the price of a ticket. Count four more musicians. And Mr. De Shields. Buy
six. Satchmo would approve. He would surely say it is not about him. It's about
playing music, the definition of life"
New York Times
Written By: Monique Holtzhausen
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