Dick Hyman
MUSIC ADVISOR
Dick Hyman
MUSIC ADVISOR
Dick is an NEA Jazz Master, is a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. With over 100 albums under his name, he was among the first to record on the Moog synthesizer; his Minotaur hit Billboard charts. Dick has won seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and two Emmy awards. He was music director for Benny Goodman’s final TV appearance, In Performance at the White House, and orchestrator of Broadway’s Sugar Babies. In addition, Dick was composer/arranger for twelve Woody Allen movies, Moonstruck, Scott Joplin and other films. He was also artistic director for Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y for twenty years. A member of the Jazz Hall of Fame of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies and the New Jersey Jazz Society, Dick has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School of Music and Wilkes College and the Satchmo from the Jazz Club of Sarasota.
Dick is an NEA Jazz Master, is a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. With over 100 albums under his name, he was among the first to record on the Moog synthesizer; his Minotaur hit Billboard charts. Dick has won seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and two Emmy awards. He was music director for Benny Goodman’s final TV appearance, In Performance at the White House, and orchestrator of Broadway’s Sugar Babies. In addition, Dick was composer/arranger for twelve Woody Allen movies, Moonstruck, Scott Joplin and other films. He was also artistic director for Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y for twenty years. A member of the Jazz Hall of Fame of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies and the New Jersey Jazz Society, Dick has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School of Music and Wilkes College and the Satchmo from the Jazz Club of Sarasota.
Jubilee Theatre Cast
![Ron Johnson (Ensemble]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/694325_c7b88abe6e55443382664e7cd8372343~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_1447,h_1929,q_75,enc_avif,quality_auto/694325_c7b88abe6e55443382664e7cd8372343~mv2.jpeg)
Khira Hailey
DIRECTOR
I am a native of Dallas, a sister, daughter, aunt, cousin, best friend, world traveler, habitual hobbier, lifetime student, and all-around lover of life and people. In this moment of life, I am wearing the hat of director and storyteller. I graduated from the University of North Texas with a BA in Radio-Television and Film and a Minor in Theatre. I am the past artistic director for Mission Waco’s Jubilee Theatre in Waco. My past directing credits include Godspell, The Piano Lesson, North Star, Stick Fly, For Colored Girls…, Alice in Wonderland, Black in the Day, Five Guys Named Moe, and A Woman Called Truth, to name a few. I am happy to be back here directing my third show on this stage. I would like to welcome you and thank you for joining us on this journey. This has truly been a wonderful experience full of laughs and joy. @khirahailey
D. Wambui Richardson
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR / PRODUCER
D. Wambui Richardson is a proud member of the Drama League, playwright, and Artistic Director of Jubilee Theatre. With over 20 years experience as a Director, Playwright, Art’s Educator and Executive Leader, Richardson has worked with Baltimore Center Stage, St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, WordBridge Playwright’s Laboratory, Syracuse Stage, Abington Theatre (Off -Off-Broadway), and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre (Off-Broadway). He is a recipient of the NAACP Michael Jackson Performing Arts Award, The Pearl Cleage Writer’s Award, and numerous awards from the National Association of Speech and Dramatic Arts. His training includes Dillard University for Speech Communications and Theatre Arts, Brooklyn College for Directing, and supplemental training at Chicago’s Second City, and the New York Film Academy. Some of his directorial credits include Sugar Mouth Sam Don’t Dance Here No More [Off Broadway], Les Liaisons Dangereuse [Syracuse Stage], A Stronger Soul Within a Finer Frame [Touring Production for St. Louis Black Rep.] F.E.M.A 1603, Zooman & the Sign, In the Blood, Every Tongue Confess, The Seagull, Measure for Measure, Truth Stands [East Coast Premiere], The Face of Emmett Till, original productions Reflections, and Test to Testimony, and devised theatre productions; Living the Dream: From King to Obama, and From Selma to Ferguson. His Jubilee Credits include Sistas, the Musical, To Be Young Gifted and Black, and If Scrooge Was a Brother.
PRODUCER’S NOTES
We’re often taught to think of jazz’s history as a cavalcade of great men and their bands, but from its beginnings, the music was often in the hands of women. Before Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and the other women we associate with Jazz, there was Lil Hardin, a classically trained pianist who was born to swing. Lil had a talent that no man could deny. Her gift for composing and aptitude for business made her a force to behold. Through her talent, she was oftentimes the only woman in the room. That didn't stop her from letting her light shine. That beacon of light is how Louis Armstrong found her. I know the saying goes that behind every great man is an even greater woman, but to say that Lil Hardin was behind any man is a disservice. In wanting better for herself and for her music, she encouraged others to do the same--none more than Louis Armstrong. Without Lil Hardin, the world would not know Louis Armstrong. Unfortunately, Louis Armstrong's legacy lives on while Lil Hardin Armstrong has been forgotten. I am so glad this piece of art exists so that we can learn of the amazing talent that gave the world some of Louis Armstrong's best hits. This show is for all the strong women history has forgotten, for all the women jazz has forgotten. I hope after you watch this show you take a listen to Lil Hardin Armstrong and other forgotten [female] jazz musicians like Lovie Austin, Valaida Snow, Una Mae Carlisle, Ginger Smock, and Clora Bryant to name a few.
Jelly Roll Blues
JELLY ROLL MORTON: It is known beyond contradiction that New Orleans is the cradle of jazz and I, myself, Jelly Roll Morton, happened to be the creator in the year 1902! The first jazz tune published was “Jelly Roll Blues.” May I?
Chicago, That Toddlin’ Town
LIL: When Louis came to Chicago back in ’22 I was playin’ with Mae Brady’s band at Bill Bottom’s Dreamland Cafe. You know it? On State Street? Over in Bronzeville? Glass floor? That new song tells it all.
Ballin’ the Jack
LOUIS: You a good dancer?
LIL: Don’t get much chance, sittin’ behind a piano.
LOUIS: I’ll teach you. … You know “Ballin’ the Jack”?
LIL: Who doesn’t?
Coal Cart Blues
An early collaboration by Lil Hardin and Louis Armstrong, written before they were married.
LIL: What’s your new song you were singin’?
LOUIS: Don’t know yet. … Got the music down pretty good now.
The Charleston
LOUIS: Fletcher Henderson wants me for his Black Swan Troubadours! At the Roseland in New York. America’s best ballroom.
LIL: You should go.
LOUIS: What about you?
Panama
BILL BOTTOMS, Owner, Dreamland night club:
A rousing finish for a great night! “Panama” by Lil Armstrong’s Dreamland Syncopators featuring her husband, Louis Armstrong, World’s Greatest Jazz Cornetist.
A Good Man is Hard to Find
LIL: I always say I don’t need a man but I surely do want this one. Maybe he’s not perfect—
MAE: But he’s yours. (aside) At least for now. Somebody else might be worse. It’s true what that song says.
Heebie Jeebies
LOUIS: Hey, Red! What’s shakin’, Man? Keepin’ busy?
RED: Not like you. Your music’s everywhere, even overseas. You got “Muskrat Ramble” … and that silly “Heebie Jeebies.”
LOUIS: Sho’ never thought it would make us stars!
Ain’t We Got Fun
LIL: If you want a song, pick somethin’ happy. ... Doesn’t have to be one of mine. Anything. Long’s it’s about fun.
DECIE: How about this?
