Shows · Jelly’s Last Jam
Unlike other “and then he wrote” biographies of composers, Jelly’s Last Jam not only explores the music, but also explores the man. In the opening scene Jelly Roll Morton (Gregory Hines) is at death facing the Chimney Man (Keith David), the “concierge of your soul,” who accuses Morton of having denied his African heritage and of believing that he invented jazz. He forces Morton to re-examine his life and to possibly…
- Opened
- 1992
- Performances
- 569
- Type
- Musical
- Era
- Megamusical
Productions1 on Broadway
| 1992 | Virginia Theatre Original. April 26, 1992 · George C. Wolfe | 569 performances |
Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.
21 passages naming Jelly’s Last Jam, found by keyword across 178 books. It's where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.
Wolfe, George C. Bring In ’Da Noise, Bring In ’Da Funk Jelly’s Last Jam book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-seventh-edition-stanley-green-cary-ginell#p387
Jelly’s Last Jam (4/26/92; 569 performances) was a musicalization of the life of Jelly Roll Morton, self-proclaimed inventor of jazz. book:broadway-its-history-people-and-places-an-encyclopedia-bloom-ken-1949-2nd-ed-new#p569
George Wolfe scrunched the songs of Jelly Roll Morton (the self-proclaimed inventor of jazz) into the musical theatre idiom in 1992’s Jelly’s Last Jam. book:broadway-musicals-the-101-greatest-shows-of-all-time-bloom-ken-1949-vlastnik-fra#p75
26 April: Jelly’s Last Jam, a fantasy on Jelly Roll Morton’s last day on earth starring Gregory Hines, opens at the Virginia Theater for a run of 569 performances. book:historical-dictionary-of-the-broadway-musical-volume-22-william-a-everett-paul-r#p31
Jukebox musicals showcasing music and performances by African Americans such as Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978, featuring the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller) and Jelly’s Last Jam (1992, featuring the music of Jelly Roll Morton) have been extremely successful. book:historical-dictionary-of-the-broadway-musical-volume-22-william-a-everett-paul-r#p45
Glover, who had starred on Broadway as a 12-year-old tap dancer in Jelly’s Last Jam, was a remarkable presence in the show as both dancer and choreographer. book:historical-dictionary-of-the-broadway-musical-volume-22-william-a-everett-paul-r#p81
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