The music team has been announced for the upcoming Broadway bow of “A Wonderful World.” The previously announced Louis Armstrong bio-musical will begin previews on Oct. 16 and open on Nov. 11 at Studio 54. Christopher Renshaw will direct.
“A Wonderful World” will feature arrangements and orchestrations by Tony Award nominee Branford Marsalis and music supervision, vocal and incidental arrangements by Tony winner Daryl Waters, who will also provide additional orchestrations. Rounding out the music team will be Tony-nominated dance arranger Zane Mark and Grammy Award-winning music contractor David Lai. All are new to the musical which played a 2021 world premiere in Miami followed by two pre-Broadway engagements in Chicago and New Orleans.
“Louis Armstrong was a force of nature,” Marsalis said in a statement. “We both grew up in New Orleans, where music is an integral part of life and infuses your soul, just as the spirit of Louis infuses all the songs in ‘A Wonderful World.’ It’s an honor to help bring his sound and style to the stage in this production.”
Marsalis received a Best Original Score Tony nomination for the 2010 revival of “Fences.” In addition to writing original music for 2011’s “The Mountaintop” and the 2018 revival of “Children of a Lesser God,” he has won three Grammy Awards as saxophonist and bandleader of the jazz group Branford Marsalis Quartet.
Both Waters and Zane shared a 1996 Best Original Score Tony nomination for “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk.” As an orchestrator, Waters received three additional Tony nominations, winning in 2010 for “Memphis.” Zane has created dance arrangements for numerous Broadway productions, including 2000’s “The Full Monty,” 2005’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “2013’s “Motown” and the upcoming “BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical.”
Lai has served as music coordinator for over 20 Broadway productions, including 2019’s “Hadestown,” whose original cast album earned him a Grammy Award. Lai has won additional Grammys for the 2009 cast album of “West Side Story” and for the 2022 album “Letters for the Future.”
Co-conceived by Renshaw and Andrew Delaplaine and featuring a book by Aurin Squire, the musical tells the story of jazz musician Armstrong’s life through the perspective of his four wives. The score includes songs made famous by Armstrong.
The principal cast of “A Wonderful World” will include James Monroe Iglehart as Armstrong, Darlesia Cearcy as Lucille Wilson, Kim Exum as Alpha Smith, Dionne Figgins as Daisy Parker and Jennie Harney-Fleming as Lil Hardin. James T. Lane will play the role of Armstrong at select performances.
“A Wonderful World” is being produced by Thomas E. Rodgers, Jr., Renee Delaplaine Rodgers, Martian Entertainment (Carl D. White and Gregory Rae), Vanessa Williams, Liz Curtis and Remmel T. Dickinson. The musical is being presented in association with Studio 54’s owner and operator, Roundabout Theatre Company. “A Wonderful World” will be included as part of Roundabout’s 2024-2025 subscription series.
