Stepping out, on their best behavior

By Barbara L. Fredricksen, Times staff writer
Published July 12, 2007

The joint will be jumpin' on Friday, when the Show Palace Dinner Theatre opens Ain't Misbehavin', the sights and songs of Thomas "Fats" Waller, for a seven-week run.

The 1978 show set records on Broadway and has been on tour and in theaters almost nonstop since.

The eight-member cast includes a three-piece combo playing live on the stage with five singer-dancers, all doing the songs Waller made famous: the mellow Honeysuckle Rose, comical Your Feet's Too Big and Fat and Greasy, seductive The Viper's Drag (Reefer Song), pouty Mean to Me, emotional comment on racism, Black and Blue, and, of course, the title song itself.

Topping the cast is Show Palace veteran Phillip Lamar Boykin, who has toured Europe and North America doing opera, but is best known in the Tampa Bay area for his near show-stopping rendition of Ol' Man River in the Show Palace production of Show Boat.

He'll be joined by Show Palace favorite Jeanine (Lopardo) Wright and newcomers Reggie Whitehead, Mimi Jimenez and Mareeko Finney.

Ain't Misbehavin', The Fats Waller Musical Show, opens Friday and runs through Aug. 26 at the theater, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Dinner and show, $42.50; show only, $31.45; ages 12 and younger, $24.95 and $19.95, all plus tax and tip. Beginning Monday, tickets increase $1.50. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere at 1-888-655-7469. Group rates available.

[Last modified July 10, 2007, 16:26:37]