The popular music industry requires artists to balance a complicated set of interests: Do you play for the crowd, for other musicians, for yourself? How do you define the terms of your own success – and how do your business partners, critics, and fans? Satchmo at the Waldorf, a one-act play offering a glimpse of Louis Armstrong in his late career, examines these questions in the context of Armstrong’s status as one of the United States’ most visible and influential Black musicians. Through the voices of Armstrong himself, manager Joe Glaser, and Miles Davis, Satchmo reflects on the individual toll of a life in the entertainment industry while prompting a generative conversation about larger cultural forces at play.
Virginia Rep’s current production of Satchmo at the Waldorf has many strengths, but I’ll start with the obvious: this is a one-man show, and that one man delivers an astounding performance.
Jerold E. Solomon is an effective impressionist whose voice as Louis Armstrong is instantly recognizable and well-executed in speaking and song. He’s also an excellent actor, conveying Armstrong’s weariness after a performance at the Waldorf Hotel, while moving the audience through every emotional beat. Even more impressive, Solomon brings us this expressiveness while juggling three different characters. Armstrong, Glaser, and Davis are completely distinct performances, and through his timing, voice, and body language, he instantly briefs the audience on each character. Both in scenes where the characters are lost in themselves and ones where they speak directly to the audience, the viewers are their confidants. Solomon holds the audience rapt for over an hour and a half as he moves through their stories.
Thoughtful choices in scenic, light, and sound design support Solomon and provide important cues that create a shared understanding while the audience settles into the format of the show. Solomon’s movements on stage are accompanied by lighting changes that indicate a change in speaker or a transition in time. Joe Doran’s lighting design and Jonathan Pratt’s sound design expand the action of the play out of Armstrong’s dressing room. The production uses these tools cleverly to guide viewers through the show’s structure – and trusts us enough to drop some of these conventions once we’ve developed a relationship with the characters onstage. The audio work is very precise, enhancing the familiarity of Armstrong’s dressing room setting by making it seem like we can hear every action and movement as if we’re in close quarters with him. These design elements also do thematic work, like the Hollywood bulbs that adorn the perimeter of the stage, matching Armstrong’s dressing room mirror and literally framing the performance as a reflection on his relationship with self-image and fame.
This play deftly addresses constraints and motivations which informed the goals — as well as the reception by critics and fans — of the two Black musicians it depicts. Though Louis Armstrong is its central subject, and the history between Armstrong and Glaser is the focus of much of Satchmo’s runtime, the comparatively few scenes with Miles Davis are completely crucial. By contrasting Armstrong with not just Glaser’s business-first mentality toward music, but also with Davis’s different preferences on musical form and disdain for Armstrong’s intentional crossover appeal, Satchmo is better positioned to explore the trailblazing elements of Armstrong’s career and the web of racial, economic, and artistic considerations each musician must untangle. The show is thought-provoking, supremely well-acted, technically effective, and very entertaining.
Satchmo at the Waldorf runs approximately ninety-five minutes with no intermission. The show contains heavy profanity and mature themes, including references to sexual violence, and is recommended only for older teens and adults. Satchmo at the Waldorf runs through April 7 at Virginia Rep’s November Theatre in downtown Richmond. For tickets and showtimes, visit virginiarep.org.
Read more about Jerold E. Solomon in this article by Joan Tupponce.
