September 23, 2013
The GazetteSeptember 20, 2013
By Pat Donnelly
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MONTREAL — Juno-award winning singer Kim Richardson says she’s having “probably the most awesome year ever.”
She’s preparing to star in the classic Fats Waller musical revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’, at the Segal Centre. Last summer, she played a key role in the highly successful French production of the Broadway musical Hairspray, directed by Denise Filiatrault and presented by the Festival Juste pour rire at Théâtre St. Denis. And she just finished a taping for Le choc des generations, a new, competitive Radio-Canada variety/game show hosted by Gregory Charles. “It’s kind of an offshoot of La fureur,” she said, “but with a twist.”
She also recently recorded a Gospel duet with her mother, the renowned Jackie Richardson, for an album featuring family members singing together (L’Album de Famille). It’s due to be released next week.
Richardson is no stranger to Ain’t Misbehavin’. She shared the role of Nell Carter with her mother, in Toronto, in 2005. There were six singers in that production, one more than the usual. In this five-performer production, she’ll be playing the same role all by herself — using her own name, as everyone else is doing, rather than adopting the names of the original cast — the standard etiquette ever since Nell Carter won the Tony Award for her role in the 1978 Broadway première.
The music of Fats Waller (1904-1943) means a lot to Richardson. She approaches Ain’t Misbehavin’ as a tribute to her grandparents, especially to her grandfather who used to sing in a quartet. He was born in Salem, North Carolina, and met her grandmother in Pennsylvania. They had eight children and moved to Toronto when he was in his 40s. “I think I was really able to touch base with his era,” Richardson said. “He was a teenager in the mid-1930s. So it was the style of music of his teenagehood. I was able to appreciate his musical interests. He was a jazz fanatic. I was able to tap into that and really learn a lot of his influences.”
Returning to Ain’t Misbehavin’ meant Richardson had to “dust the cobwebs off a bit.”
But it didn’t take her long to get back into those catchy five-part harmonies. “It’s the kind of music that gets into you really quick. I enjoy the repertoire a lot. I really love the show. I like the comedic bits. I like the interactions between the characters. It’s fun.”
In this production, co-produced by Copa de Oro and the Segal Centre, she’s happy to be sharing the stage once again with Aiza Ntibarikure, who played her daughter in Hairspray. She’s also enjoying the versatility of rapper/songwriter Jonathan Emile. “We’re happy to see him blossoming into another area of his talents,” Richardson said.
Two of the performers are from Toronto. Michael Lamont-Lytle, who is also the dance captain of the show, has performed in a list of major musicals, including Toronto’s The Lion King. Toya Alexis was one of the finalists of the first season of Canadian Idol. Richardson describes her as “a huge talent.”
She’s also enthusiastic about musical director Chris Barillaro. “I think he’s spot on,” she said. “He’s a meticulous guy and he does it in a way that doesn’t feel like work.”
Richardson said she has never worked with director Roger Peace before. But Peace, 78, recalled that her mother, Jackie, starred in his production of Nunsense in Toronto.
Peace also directed Montreal’s first Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Le Stage dinner theatre at La Diligence restaurant in 1986. That one ran for more than a year and did a Canadian tour. There were only four singers, Michelle Sweeney, Ranee Lee, Dorian Joe Clark and Anthony Sherwood, with musical director Ari Snyder alone on piano. “We couldn’t afford a fifth performer,” he said.
That downstairs venue had atmosphere, but there were drawbacks. “When Dorian Joe Clark did the jive with Michelle Sweeney,” Peace said, “she used to call me. ‘My head hit the roof. He’s doing it on purpose.’ It was two feet above them. It was such a tiny room.”
Now at the Segal, the ceiling is high and the set is framed by an arc of piano keys. There’s plenty of room to jive, or tap dance, and there will be a five musicians on stage. “What a difference!” he said.
Peace is happy to be reunited with Ain’t Misbehavin’ “It’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s party time.”
Producer Alan Sandler is smiling, too, about the Ain’t Misbehavin’ ticket sales. Already two-thirds sold, it’s on a par with last year’s season-opener, Guys and Dolls. Holdover dates probably will be added, he said. But a tour isn’t likely, for now. “I’ve got so much on my plate,” he said. That includes preparing two more musicals for the Segal Centre’s next season, planning the English-language première of the Michel Tremblay musical, Belles Soeurs, taking Greg Kramer’s Sherlock Holmes south of the border and bringing a Judy Garland revue to Montreal’s Rialto Theatre.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ previews Sept. 29, 30, Oct. 1, opens Oct. 2 and continues at the Segal Centre, 5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine Rd., until Oct. 20. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org