AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM "Ain't Misbehavin' " is coming to Unity Church. It stars, from left, Tennyson Stephens in the main roll of Thomas "Fats" Waller, Billy "Koa" Boyd as the lead male singer (he also is the director), and female singers Vernyce Dannells and Azure McCall.

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By Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.com

The joint will be jumpin' tonight -- with as much musical ruckus as can be raised in a church by three boisterous singers, a four-piece band and a pianist in the role of Fats Waller.

That would be local jazzman Tennyson Stephens, who joins Azure McCall, Billy "Koa" Boyd and Vernyce Dannells, to perform the music of Thomas "Fats" Waller, the man whose tunes emanated out of the Harlem Renaissance and crossed over to a larger (read "white") audience.

It will be a scaled-down and abbreviated version of the Broadway hit "Ain't Misbehavin'," assembled by Boyd (a lay minister at Unity Church) and the indefatigable Jackie Ward.

Ward, noted for her musical "private parties" at Ward Rafters in Kaimuki, has been trying to bring a different audience to the events sponsored at the church by the Hawaii Chamber Orchestra Society. She recently presented Orquesta SalsAloha, getting the audience off the pews for some dancing, and she hopes she'll get just as enthusiastic response to this Waller revue.

"I'm bringing an adventurous sense to the programming," Ward said, " where I hope classical people will come for the jazz, and vice versa."

Waller was a comedian, a wit, a social commentator, a fine organist and a damn good pianist, noted for his stride piano work. From rent parties in Harlem to concert halls, Waller's songs and compositions have lived on way past his early death.

"'One never knows, do one?' is my favorite quote from Waller," said McCall, who will celebrate a birthday Saturday. "When I was part of the Jive Sisters, I'd do some of his songs, like 'Ain't Misbehavin,' 'Mean to Me' and 'Honeysuckle Rose.' I remember as a little girl how people like Fats, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington made music look fun to do, always playing to the crowd."

Many of Waller's songs are good-humored, allowing the performers to mug and kid each other while trading verses on songs like "Your Feet's Too Big," "Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad" and "T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do." But musical director Boyd said the low times of Waller's life will be acknowledged in songs such as "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue."

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Singer Vernyce Dannells.

"This is a capsule history of his music," Boyd said, "from 'Black and Blue' to 'Fat and Greasy,' where he made fun of his own 300-pound girth, to his comment on the drug scene in 'Viper's Drag.' "

A theater arts major at Sacramento State, Boyd toured California for many years performing in the complete "Ain't Misbehavin'," before becoming a lay minister at the non-denominational church here.

Boyd, a member of both the Honolulu Men's Chorus and the newly organized Honolulu Jazz Singers, hopes some local theater group will be inspired to restage the entire Broadway production after seeing this weekend's shows, hopefully with his participation.

"Because of my being in the church, I feel Waller's soul more than ever, and how deep some of his own personal pain went. Fats also started playing in the church, with his father being a lay minister. He was a generous man who died much too young. But overall, this is a fun show, but real-life oriented."

Way off Broadway The Best of "Ain't Misbehavin' " On stage: 7:30 p.m. today, tomorrow and Saturday; 3:30 p.m. Sunday Place: Unity Church of Hawaii, 3608 Diamond Head Road, off Monsarrat Avenue. Admission: $15; $10 seniors and military and $5 students Call: 734-0397

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