Center Stage

BY TOM NETHERLAND
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

Welcome to Harlem, uptown and hep-cattin' Manhattan, New York City.

Circa, 1920s and '30s.

History terms the period within place the Harlem Renaissance. A flood of art in the form of music, poetry, painting, dance and so on bloomed like roses in winter.

The Harlem Renaissance lives on within "Ain't Misbehavin,'" scheduled to alight the grand old stage of the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tenn. on Feb. 4. Named after Fats Waller's song from 1929 the musical amounts to a celebration of life lived during the Harlem Renaissance, of rich art and of days and nights of excess, access and abundant joy.

"It's like stepping into a time capsule," said Ron Lucas, who portrays Andre in the musical. "Not only is it a look at some of the great moments of the Harlem Renaissance, it gives you a peek into an era that was but never will be again."

Crammed tighter than the Apollo to see Moms Mabley amid the Renaissance heyday, "Ain't Misbehavin'" features 30 songs in two acts squeezed into two tantalizing hours.

"Blues," wrote Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, "had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going."

If so, then "Ain't Misbehavin'" gasses on go to the speed of a cyclone.

"It embodies the Harlem Renaissance and the spirit of Fats Waller," Lucas said. "There's double-entendre and innuendo. It's all very bawdy. Fats was a fun loving guy."

Check out Waller's recording version of "Ain't Misbehavin'" and the way he mans the piano. There's more than just music coaxed from his keys.

"The way he plays it, the way he makes those keys — the highs and the lows come together — is amazing," Lucas said. "Once he lit it up with his piano, it was all she wrote."

Amazing and emblematic of Harlem, America and the era.

"Then he added his spirit to the record," Lucas said. "You can't be sad when you listen to it."

And so it goes with "Ain't Misbehavin'" the musical. Though amid downtrodden times in America that reached from Harlem's 125th Street and into the hills of Appalachia and beyond, the musical embraces the fact that even the can sun shine on the darkest of days.

"Oh, it's a blast," Lucas said. "I've been doing this for almost 20 years. Because we welcome audience participation, it's always fresh. Audiences love it."

No wonder. Songs included run from a soaked in sass "'T Ain't Nobody's Bizness" to the finer-snapping "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter."

"I get to sing ''T Ain't Nobody's Bizness' and 'Viper's Drag,'" Lucas said. "Even though they thought they were racy (songs), compared with today they're not. You realize that it was a different, more innocent era."

But audience, be prepared.

"We go into the audience and bring some people on stage," Lucas said. "You're in the speakeasy with us. You're involved. Pay your nickel and have a great time."

Tom Netherland is a freelance writer. He may be reached at features@bristolnews.com.

IF YOU GO

• » What: "Ain't Misbehavin'"
• » When: Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m.
• » Where: Paramount Center for the Arts, 518 State St., Bristol, Tenn.
• » Admission: $30 adults, $26 seniors, $22 for groups of eight or more.
• » Info: (423) 274-8920
• » Web: www.theparamountcenter.com
• » Harlem Renaissance: www.youtube.com (search Harlem Renaissance for a bevy of videos relevant to the era)