HYDE PARK — The Louis Armstrong Festival kicks off on Thursday in Hyde Park with the Chicago premiere of a new play about the musician.
“Satchmo at the Waldorf” starts a week of previews at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., before the opening on Jan. 16.
The play about Louis Armstrong’s relationship with his Jewish manager Joe Glaser struggling in the white-dominated music industry opens more than a month of events celebrating Armstrong’s life.
There are concerts, film screenings, art exhibits and other events in the South Side neighborhoods around where Louis Armstrong once lived in Bronzeville.
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave., will host four Saturday night performances with trumpet and trombone players starting with an 8 p.m. performance by Corey Wilkes on Saturday.
The Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., will open an exhibit on Armstrong on Friday with a symposium on Jan. 25, and film screenings in February.
Other events include performances by Pharez Whitted on Jan. 19 at the Logan Center for the Arts and a performance by Orbert Davis on Jan. 16 for the South Side Jazz Coalition’s Winter Gala at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive.
A full schedule of events is available at satchmofestival.com.
