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Hello, Louis!
James Monroe Iglehart will star as the raspy jazz titan Louis Armstrong in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical on Broadway this fall, producers of the show announced today. The new musical will begin previews at Studio 54 on October 16, and open officially on November 11.
With a book by stage and TV writer Aurin Squire (This Is Us), A Wonderful World divides the story of the iconic trumpeter and singer into four sections, one for each of his wives, and incorporates some of the Great American Songbook standards that Armstrong helped make famous. Expect classics like the title song and “It Don’t Mean A Thing It Ain’t Got That Swing”—with perhaps a lean toward songs that are already in the public domain, such as “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby."
Iglehart, who won a Tony for his performance as the Genie in Aladdin and currently plays King Arthur in Spamalot, earned strong reviews as Satchmo in trial runs of the show in New Orleans and Chicago last year. Director Christopher Renshaw is credited, with Andrew Delaplaine, as the show's co-conceiver; the other members of the cast and creative team have not yet been confirmed.
Tickets for A Wonderful World are scheduled to go on sale in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, you can track the show on its new website or on Instagram, Facebook or X.
