Bristol Native and Broadway Actor Stanley Martin Comes Home; Stars in Tony-Award Winning Musical ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’

Birthed in New Orleans during the early 20th Century, jazz is likely the earliest known American musical genre.

“Jelly’s Last Jam” is a musical celebration of jazz pioneer Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, running through Sunday at the Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Bristol-native Stanley Martin takes on the lead role in the Bucks County venue’s Philadelphia-area premiere.

Morton, who self-styled and credited himself as the founder of jazz – a distinctly American musical style – which fuses African rhythms, blues and European harmonic structures alongside “in the moment” improvisation was a “larger than life” figure. He was a Louisiana-Creole jazz pianist, composer and band leader during the early part of the 20th Century. His life and work is explored in the Tony Award winning show. 

Tickets, sample show clips and show times may be found here.

For Martin, it’s a sweet “homecoming” of sorts. He first appeared on the stage of the Bristol Riverside Theatre at the age of nine in a production of Romeo and Juliet. Martin played a young page to the Prince of Verona in the play.

Martin said experience has taught him a thing or two and he would tell his younger performing self “to buy Apple stock and to always trust your gut and instincts in rehearsal and on stage.”

Martin said the ability to inhabit a role while being flexible during rehearsals and shows to the nuances and responses of audiences and is a valuable performer asset.

“When you’re in front of a live audience things often change,” he said, which makes flexibility a key factor in a show’s success.

“‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ is set against today’s cultural and political climate. It follows an antihero celebrity (Morton) and his constant contradictions. It deals with him denying his roots – while prospering off of them,” Martin explained of the show’s modern resonance.

Martin said Morton may have been the first “branding influencer” because he understood the value of a popular association with something larger than himself.

“Today with influencers, it is all about brand,” Martin explained.

Where past cultural norms would label Morton “egotistical,” today’s virtual pressures and social media impacts require direct and unashamed self-promotion and brand affiliation to be viewed as successful.

“Jelly’s Last Jam,” was written by George C. Wolfe with lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. Original music by Morton was adapted for the show by Luther Henderson. 

The story finds Morton in limbo after his death, where he must reconcile his career rise against a backdrop of character traits like arrogance profiteering from his talent along with a denial of his Black culture and heritage. 

Morton was born in 1885, 20 years after the end of the Civil War in 1885. He died in 1941. He was alive during the American post-Reconstruction  and Jim Crow segregation and racism eras. 

Ultimately “Jelly’s Last Jam,” which doesn’t shy away from the era’s racially charged language and explicit material, is a story about reconciliation and Morton’s own redemption.

Martin said the show illustrates Morton’s rise, his identity struggles and his impact on jazz.

The show provides insight into the devastating impacts of “emotional avoidance and how that pain is often projected onto others and the traumatic responses [Morton] had in life and what became his downfall-remain extremely resonant,” Martin said.

“Talent and success don’t excuse the ways we deny ourselves and hurt others. Just because someone is a fantastic artist, doesn’t mean they are not causing harm, so how do you want to deal with their artistry,” Martin added.

Martin is a Broadway performer, best known as an original Broadway cast member of Disney’s Aladdin, a Bristol Riverside Theatre press release said.

If you go:

What: “Jelly’s Last Jam,” a Tony-Award winning musical about the life of jazz pioneer, performer and composer Jelly Roll Morton.

Where: The Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street.

When: Now through Sunday, April 26.

For tickets and show times visit Bristol Riverside Theatre’s website.