American Stage's Virtual Show: 'Satchmo At The Waldorf'

ST. PETERSBURG, FL —American Stage Theatre's virtual stage production of "Satchmo At The Waldorf" is a one-man show with three characters based on the life of one of the greatest jazz musicians, Louis Armstrong.

Actor L. Peter Callender plays Armstrong, Joe Glaser, Armstrong's white manager, and Miles Davis. It takes place in 1971 in a dressing room backstage at the Empire Room of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where Armstrong performed in public for the last time four months before his death, according to American Stage. Reminiscing into a tape recorder about his life and work, Armstrong seeks to come to terms with his long-standing relationship with Glaser, whom he once loved like a father but now believes to have betrayed him.

Playwright Terry Teachout told American Stage the inspiration for this play was brought to him after he published a biography of Louis Armstrong called "Pops." A theatrical producer emailed him and told him he should turn it into a play. Teachout, a drama critic, had never written a play, and with some inspiration from his late wife, he gave it a try. A photo of Armstrong sitting in a dressing room that appears in the biography is what gave him the story outline for the play.

"Louis Armstrong recorded everything," Callender said in Spotlight American Stage Podcast. "He talked into a microphone all the time, ever since he was introduced to a tape-recorder by Bing Crosby."

Callender explained that in the play, Armstrong was recording what he wanted to include in a book he was writing about his life, and he was constantly aware of his immortality. He was telling his life's story after each performance.

"I think in playing this role, oh my gosh, just knowing fully well that this might be the last time that he's going to blow that horn," Callender said. "This may be the last time that he will kiss his wife goodnight, this may be the last time that he will stand in front of an audience. That's the thread, that's the base, that's the shoe that I wear every time we run this show."

"Satchmo At The Waldorf" plays virtually until Feb. 28. Virtual tickets can be accessed for a 6-hour window beginning at "curtain" time. For tickets and performance times, visit American Stage Theatre.