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‘A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical’ Review: This Dazzling Broadway Production Has Never Been More Timely
James Monroe Iglehart and a stellar ensemble are absolutely mesmerizing in a timely biographical musical about the life and music of Louis Armstrong.
Later in Chicago, he meets Lil Hardin (a captivating Jennie Harney-Fleming), a supremely talented performer in her own right who convinces her husband to strike out on his own, away from his jealous and thieving mentor, King Joe Oliver (Gavin Gregory). As things in Chicago begin to sour, Armstrong leaves Lil behind and heads to Hollywood accompanied by his third wife, Alpha Smith (an enthralling Kim Exum), who provides him with a glorious but fleeting feeling of freedom. Though these pressure points are highlighted in the play, especially in his encounter with Lincoln “Stepin Fetchit” Perry (Dewitt Fleming Jr.) and following his public statement on the Little Rock Crisis, the heaviness of his choices and the grating effects of constant racism and microaggressions could have been more centralized here.
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