A WONDERFUL WORLD: THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG MUSICAL Blares Its Way To Broadway — Review

The disappointing new biomusical A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical suffers from a frustrating case of split identity. Taking in this muddled if sporadically moving production, which opens tonight at Studio 54, is akin to watching two opposed artistic visions uncomfortably battle it out on a single Broadway stage. 

In one corner, we have the rote biographical jukebox musical—a Wikipedia-flavored jog through the major life events of beloved jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong. In this vision, charming lead performer James Monroe Iglehart (a Tony Award-winner for Aladdin) dazzles with his spot-on imitation of Armstrong's gravelly voice, physical mannerisms and signature grin, while frequently stepping into a spotlight to spoon-feed expository information or (in two especially cringeworthy moments) lead the audience in collective song. 

Fighting valiantly in the opposite corner is a far bolder vision of Armstrong’s story. This version approaches the founding father of jazz as a complex figure defined by deeply American contradictions. A Black man rising through the white-dominated worlds of music and film, Armstrong invents his happy, always-smiling persona for the comfort of white audiences while staying silent on racial politics—a compromise that eats away at this heavy-drinking, pot-smoking womanizer. 

That latter vision would, obviously, make for a far more interesting show. It also so desperately feels like the show Wonderful World actually wants to be. But the tougher material has seemingly been contorted into a by-the-numbers, unchallenging narrative. 

Under Christopher Renshaw’s stilted and unimaginative direction, the show’s generic first act floats by uninterestingly. (Christina Sajous and Iglehart himself are co-directors.) A tossed-off framing device is mostly confusing. Rickey Tripp’s choreography is sharp, but the movement takes over at random. Iglehart seems lost, rushing between scenes while finding little chance to establish Armstrong as an individual. 

Only in the second act, when that more daring vision peeks its way through, does Wonderful World take on any life at all. By far the show’s high point is Armstrong’s encounter with Lincoln Perry Jr., or “Stepin Fetchit” (a tremendous Dewitt Fleming Jr.), who coaches Armstrong on catering to white audiences and raking in their cash. As Iglehart and Perry Jr. tap away skilfully, the crowd goes wild, bringing an interesting note of tension into the room. 

Iglehart himself comes to life only when Aurin Squire’s book allows him space to explore Armstrong’s more cynical side, or his pent-up anger at the U.S. government for its treatment of Black Americans. Outside of these moments, his work can feel closer to impression than embodiment. 

In the show’s pre-Broadway run in Chicago, Squire utilized Armstrong’s four wives as narrators—likely to both widen the story’s contextual lens and acknowledge Armstrong’s crueler side (he was unfaithful to three out of the four). Whether or not this device worked, its removal is awkward. The story is still divided up by each marriage, yet now provides only sketchy impressions of the first three partnerships. Only Lucille Wilson, powerfully embodied by Darlesia Cearcy, gets enough narrative real estate to transcend caricature. 

The power of Armstrong’s discography is, of course, undeniable. From “Black and Blue” to “When You’re Smiling,” his signature hits all sound incredible played live at Studio 54 (the orchestrations and musical supervision are by Branford Marsalis and Daryl Waters). Happy but sad, joyous yet angry, a mournful kind of celebration—Armstrong’s music speaks to the tangled mess of contradictory truths that this production as a whole fears to embrace. 

‍A Wonderful World is now in performance at Studio 54. For tickets and more information, visit here.