Satchmo at the Waldorf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Satchmo at the Waldorf is a one-act, one-person play written by Terry Teachout. It is Teachout's first play[1][2] and it is about the famous jazz trumpeter and performer Louis Armstrong. According to the printed playbill by Dramatists Play Services Inc.: “this is a work of fiction, freely based on fact.”.[3]
Though the play is written for, and performed by a sole artist, it requires for the actor to double and represent other characters, including Louis Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser, and trumpeter Miles Davis.
The play has been performed by John Douglas Thompson and Jerome Preston Bates and the performance was originated by Dennis Neal.
The title of the play, Satchmo was one of Louis Armstrong's nicknames, and that it derived from “satchel-mouth”.[4] Waldorf refers to the luxurious hotel in Manhattan called the Waldorf Astoria New York, where Louis Armstrong played and where he also stayed. The whole play takes place at what is supposed to be Louis Armstrong's room.
Off Broadway
The printed programme (2018) indicates that the original off-Broadway production's World Premiere was presented in Lenox, Massachusetts and in New Haven, Connecticut, in the year 2012; the play was previously premiered in Orlando, Florida in 2011. The theatrical work is based on his biography written in 2009, and titled: “Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong.”[5][6]
The play has been produced in other major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and in Houston, Texas, it was shown from February 24, 2018, through March 18, 2018, at the Alley Theatre.