Hot Chocolates Explained

Hot Chocolates is a musical revue with music by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks and book by Andy Razaf.^[1] It was originally titled Tan Town Topics in hopes it would be picked up by Broadway.^[2] Performed at the Hudson Theater in New York City, it was directed by Leonard Harper and ran for 219 performances from June 20, 1929, to December 14, 1929.^[3] It is also referred to as Connie's Hot Chocolates. It was staged, directed and produced by Leonard Harper. While the revue featured music and singing, including the subsequent hit "Aint Misbehavin'," it was praised for the cast's dancing, including its male and female chorus lines.^[4]

Louis Armstrong made his Broadway debut as part of the show's ensemble.^[5] Cab Calloway later joined the cast as a replacement at Armstrong's recommendation.^[6] Calloway later adopted the song "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue," originally sung by Edith Wilson, for his performances decades later.^[7]

Cast

• Louis Armstrong Ensemble
• Jimmie Baskette Ensemble
• Paul Bass Ensemble
• Madeline Belt Ensemble
• Dick Campbell Ensemble
• Baby Cox Ensemble
• Eddie Green (comedy sketches) Ensemble
• Billy Higgins Ensemble
• Louise Higgins Ensemble
• Jubilee Singers Ensemble
• Billy Marey Ensemble
• Dolly McCormick Ensemble
• Paul Meers Ensemble
• Thelma Meers Ensemble
• Jazzlips Richardson Ensemble
• Margaret Simms Ensemble
• Three Midnight Steppers Ensemble
• Edith Wilson Ensemble
• Cab Calloway Ensemble

See also

• Ain't Misbehavin' (song)

External links

• https://www.amazon.com/Rhythm-Sale-Grant-Harper-Reid/dp/0615678289
• http://www.rhythmforsale.com/
  • (archive)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hot Chocolates . . 20 June 1929 . Playbill.com . Playbill, Inc. . 26 January 2021 . Andy Razaf - Book; Thomas "Fats" Waller - Music; Harry Brooks - Music.
2. Book: Brothers, Thomas. Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. W.W. Norton & Company. 2014. 978-0-393-06582-4. New York, NY. 341.
3. Web site: IBDB. 3 February 2015. ibdb.com.
4. Book: Brothers, Thomas. Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. W.W. Norton & Company. 2014. 978-0-393-06582-4. New York, NY. 345–46.
5. Web site: Hot Chocolates . . 20 June 1929 . Playbill.com . Playbill, Inc. . 26 January 2021 . Louis Armstrong - Ensemble.
6. Book: Hildebrand. David K.. Musical Maryland: A History of Song and Performance from the Colonial Period to the Age of Radio. Schaaf. Elizabeth M.. JHU Press. 2017. 978-1-4214-2239-8. 138. en.
7. Book: Brothers, Thomas. Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. W.W. Norton & Company. 2014. 978-0-393-06582-4. New York, NY. 352–53.