Satchmo at the Waldorf
Inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a German Expressionist horror movie, the doors and tables loom at unsettling angles.
Broadway World has called Tom Christopher’s set design “stylistically smart.”
“White is the compellingly pristine motif of the set design. Created by internationally recognized painter and artist Tom Christopher, in the style of Brutalism from the 1920s with lighting by Dennis Parichy, it favors a form of forced perspective, accenting off-kilter angles, such as trapezoids, to suggest, perhaps, the artist’s eccentricity, which in select cases – this being one of them – qualifies as a synonym for genius.”
Many artists including Munch, Picasso, Noguchi and Dali turned to set design.
The hotel room is sparse in all white with sculptured chair, table and telephone looking as if cast in tons of concrete. Nothing cozy here reflecting his tough life with multiple wives and a mob controlled manager.
Louis Armstrong’s life, played by Wali Jamal, was filled with challenges, growing up in a New Orleans home for waifs where his only hope was discovering the trumpet; the only colorful and real object in this play directed by Bram Lewis.
