Aint Misbehavin Tickets

The play sets as its backdrop a posh 1920-30s Manhattan where the night club scene is just taking off and being larger than ever. Places like the "Savoy Ballroom" and "Cotton Club" had become places for high society. They would harbor the most elite who would indulge in posh music. On the contrary, while this trend was going on, the musicians at "Lenox Avenue" were simultaneously creating a new wave. And this was known as swing music; a chaotic, playing sound that would combine skilled piano playing and trumpets. This also gave way to a new form of dance, on that would suit best to this music. Once the contrast is set up, five musicians are introduced, playing incredibly rowdy music and singing humorous tunes. This opening and the songs that go with it are a representation of Waller’s perspective on life. He wanted others to see life to be a journey, where the most important thing is living it to the fullest and being light and playful.

The play opened at the street cabaret at "Manhattan Theatre Club" in early 1978. The original cast consisted of Nell Carter and Irene Cara who led off the musical in addition to Ken Page, Armelia McQueen and Andre DeShields. The show was well accepted when it first started out. They received favorable reviews from most critics. New York Times was also largely appreciative of the play, noting it to be one with sparkle and brightness, possessing a zing and an easy progression that is never boring to watch.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ finally made its Broadway debut three months later in May of 1978 with the performance taking place at "Longacre Theatre". They show then played continuously at two more theatre and came to a close much later in 1982. At this point, the production had put out a whopping 1604 shows which did not include the 14 previews they did for each new opening.

In the original production of the show, Maltby served as the director and collaborated with Arthur Faria who was the choreographer. He also arranged the staging and was responsible for the creative direction. In addition to the original cast, Luther Henderson was also part of the lineup as their pianist. He was also responsible for adapting the original music in a way that would not interrupt the flow of the show but would still retain the integrity of the original artists. In later productions, the cast was replaced by many others. Amongst some of the big names were Debbie Allen, Alan Weeks, Adriane Lenox and Yvette Freeman.

The play was taken to the West End almost one year later in March of 1979. A variation of the original Broadway cast performed in Europe. The play was again revived by the West End much later in 1995 and was performed at the "Lyric Theatre". They even recorded an album and sold it in their opening night.

Broadway attempted to revive the play in 1988 and managed to put out 8 previews and 176 shows. This in turn led to a national tour a few years later. This time, the cast consisted of the famous Pointer Sisters, Michael-Leon Wooley and Eugene Barry-Hill.

More recently, the play was once again relit in 2008, this time starring "American Idol" champion, Ruben Studdard. So far, the play has continued on since then, playing show after show each night. The musical has the goods—it did win many Tony Awards for a reason. Thus, audiences should definitely buy Ain’t Misbehavin’ tickets.