The opening night of Long Wharf Theatre’s production of Satchmo at the Waldorf couldn’t have gone better. The house was sold out to the walls–the box office was turning away people–and the audience responded rapturously. As for John Douglas Thompson, he lit the afterburners. I’ve never seen him give a bad performance, but what he did on Wednesday, even by his own high standards, was very, very special.
By the time Mrs. T and I made it home from the cast party, Frank Rizzo, the drama critic of the Hartford Courant had already tweeted a link to an online preview of his upcoming review, which will appear in Friday’s Courant:
Thompson gives masterful duo-performamces and Teachout creates a well-crafted drama of a good-hearted, soulful, gifted man dealing with a world that isn’t always so wonderful.
(I also liked the headline: “Old Man With a Horn.”)
I’ve had better days…but not many, and not by much.