Rousing Revue Fats Wallerís Genius of Jazz Gets Its Due in ëAinít Misbehaviníí by Carolyn Cosmos The song and dance delight ìAinít Misbehaviní: The Fats Waller Musical Show,î now playing at the Arena Stage, isnít a musical at all in one sense of the word: Itís pure revueómusic theater stripped down until form is the focus, and what you essentially get is a live concert. ìAinít Misbehaviníî serves as a showcase for Thomas ìFatsî Wallerís genius brand of jazz. His Harlem Renaissance roots, stride piano and sense of humor form the backbone of an evening filled with song, dance and comic kidding around. The show gives you 20 years of popular American song from the first half of the last century with 30 pieces, including ìHoneysuckle Rose,î ìMean to Meî and ìThe Joint is Jumpiní,î that Waller wrote, co-wrote, or recordedósome of them familiar tunes and others not so well known. They serve up the delight of discovery and the comfort of old favorites all in one scoop. Although thereís a bit of pizzazz missing from this production, itís still worth the ticket price. For starters, it features a superb jazz ba nd that is right up in the audienceís face. You also get five deliciously delineated comic characters, three women and two men in search of truce in the gender wars. Their banter sparks duets, links singers and songs together, and provides humor-laced takes on the traditional travails of love. Cast member E. Faye Butler creates an earthy hot mama while Amy Jo Phillips does sexy sass and Janeece Aisha Freeman plays the energetic ingÈnue. Good-looking Raun Ruffin and big-daddy Doug Eskew do the honors on the menís side. Comic highlights include Eskewís belting bass rendition of ìYour Feetís Too Bigî and a raunchy advice column-type duet for Butler and Phillips. Ruffin on the other hand does a suitably ìevilî version of ìThe Viperís Drag,î and he and Eskew had the audience clapping along and almost dancing in the aisles to their rousing ìFat and Greasy.î The hijinks halt for several more somber songs, including Butlerís smooth ìIíve Got a Feeling Iím Fallingî and her purple-silk rendition of ìMean to Me.î She lifts the latter from a pouty lament to a profoundly adult take on the mysteries of love. The second haunting meditation is a five-voice choral tableau of Waller and lyricist Andy Razafís ìBlack and Blue,î a song that addresses racism and this countryís skin-bias sufferance. As in ìMean to Me,î the song is framed as a series of questions without answers; the lyrics not only go to white-on-black bias but address intraracial discontent over darker skin. It resembles ìStrange Fruit,î singer Billie Holidayís anti-lynching anthem, but the song has broader overtones with multiple meanings, layering traditional love lament with insinuations of domestic abuse and the omnipresent pain of racial prejudice. The revue is rather uncertainly set: One wonders if it is in a nightclub serving as a recording studio or a broadcast house dressed up like a club. And the visuals seem unnecessarily drab, even for the designated 1943 date. The costumes and set are drained of color and missing the Ritz you might expect from such a high-spirited celebration of jazz. Things do pick up in the second act when the cast, freshly decked out in white and the ladies glamorous in rhinestones and fur, strut their stuff. Although not quite a marriage made in heaven, your encounter with Waller at the Arena Stage is sure to at least bring you something old, something new, something borrowed and definitely something blue. ìAinít Misbehaviní: The Fats Waller Musical Showî runs through May 25 at the Kreeger Theater of the Arena Stage, 1101 6th St., SW. Tickets are $40 to $58. For more information, please call (202) 488-3300 or visit www.arena-stage.org. Carolyn Cosmos is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.