When musical traditions aren’t fostered in young people, the tradition becomes either obscure or “historic.” That’s sort of what’s happened to New Orleans rhythm & blues, the kind of “New Orleans sound” that was created by producer Dave Bartholomew and his protégé and then star-for-the-ages, Fats Domino.
But that’s about to change.
Bartholomew’s son, Don Bartholomew, in collaboration with musician/actor/writer Lucky Johnson and friend Vince Caruso, are introducing a new musical theater presentation to New Orleans called “Walkin’ To New Orleans” that will pay tribute to both Bartholomew and Domino as well as provide a link for a younger generation to experience not only a music tradition, but how rock n’ roll was actually born in New Orleans.
Al “Lil Fats” Jackson and Shamarr Allen (as Dave Bartholomew) star in the upcoming musical play “Walking To New Orleans.”
The show will open at the Carver Theater at 2101 Orleans Avenue on September 3 and will play Thursdays through Sunday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. indefinitely. The show stars Al “Lil Fats” Jackson as Fats Domino and trumpeter Shamarr Allen as Dave Bartholomew. They appear with saxophonist Derek Douget, a regular cast member and a 10-piece band, and the cast will include special guests (when available) such as James Andrews, “Big Sam” Williams, Kermit Ruffins and many more, as their time and schedule allow.
“We’ve been talking about doing something to honor my dad and Fats for years,” said Don Bartholomew. “Vince and I are like brothers, when Lucky came up with the idea and wrote the book for the show, we knew that this was it,” he said.
“It’s sort of set up like a ‘Jersey Boys’-type of piece,” said Caruso. “I’d worked in the hospitality industry for years and so many people from out of town look for that Fats ‘sound’ and there’s no where to send them to find it. It’s not like Preservation Hall—which is trad jazz—or Frenchmen Street, that’s great, but the musical styles are all over the map. We were interested in showing that real New Orleans sound that was the basis of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Kevin “Lucky” Johnson–a first cousin of film impresario/writer/actor Tyler Perry–is a trombone player, has a background in theater arts and also has acted in productions like HBO’s Treme. He’s also a manager at the Carver Theater.
“When you enter the theater, we’re going to show you a lot of artifacts that were owned by Dave and Fats,” said Johnson. “And we want you to feel like you’re back in 1949, and even feel like you’re at a 1950s speakeasy in NOLA. We’re going to have a great show for the people who know about Fats and Dave, but we’re planning to introduce a whole new audience to Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. All of our shows are family-friendly and we want young people to attend.” The group intends to market the production via hotels and also to young audiences to demonstrate how and why Bartholomew and Domino were so integral to New Orleans music and the ultimate development of rock.”
All ages are welcome at the show.
Johnson, who wrote the book for the show, said “We’re not only going to have a musical; it’s going to have comedic elements and serious elements. I’m really happy we got Al “Lil Fats” in the show because while he’s been around quite a while, there are a lot people who haven’t seen him perform. He not only looks, sings and plays like Fats, he even talks like him because he grew up in the same area that Fats did. It’s amazing. But Walking To New Orleans is really not an impersonation show, it’s got more depth and a lot of the real music. We’re going to show what it was like back then, traveling to make music, with some of the issues that musicians faced with the old ways of discrimination.”
“Interestingly, nmy research kind of showed that Fats wouldn’t have made it on his own without Dave Bartholomew. That was Dave’s band behind Fats. And that band and Fats had a unique sound that white people couldn’t reproduce. That’s what made Fats so huge.”
For tickets, go to walking2neworleans.com.
