Christina Sajous brings depth and perspective to Louis Armstrong on Broadway.
It’s no surprise that Christina Sajous has made a name for herself in the theater community with seven Broadway shows under her belt.
Her credits include American Idiot, The Spongebob Musical, and The Who’s Tommy with an eighth already lined up in the new year).
Now, Sajous makes her epic Broadway directing debut alongside co-directors James Monroe Iglehart and Christopher Renshaw with A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical.
Now playing at Studio 54, Armstrong’s story revolves around a career that boasts five decades as a musician and actor, and touches on the complexity of his relationships with his four wives, his challenged childhood, and his rise to stardom.
Due to the many layers of Armstrong’s life, it’s fitting that three acclaimed directors collaborated to bring the many facets of his life to center stage.
Sajous spoke with The New York Independent about her road to A Wonderful World, her next Broadway costars (Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal), and her surprising hidden talent.
The New York Independent: How did your journey with A Wonderful World begin?
Christina Sajous: I started in this production as an actor. I was lucky enough to get to play Daisy in the Miami production in 2021. Duncan Stewart [casting director] at ARC gave me the opportunity to meet the incredible team. We all got very close. Moving forward, I had an enthusiasm about the show, Louis’ life, and playing one of his wives. I have a very strong point of view about who they are and who they are supposed to be in this production.
One night I threw out a couple of questions and I had some suggestions; [producer] Carl D. White just happened to be present. He and [director] Chris Renshaw agreed that I should be the associate director moving forward…just because I shared some thoughts! I was the associate when we went to New Orleans and Chicago. Because of my contribution in that production, they thought it was only right to upgrade me to co-director for Broadway.
James Monroe Iglehart-as Louis Armstrong and-company in ‘A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong-Musical. (Photo: Jeremy Daniel)
This has been a whirlwind of random circumstances, but I owe a lot of it to Duncan Stewart for seeing me for all that I was worth. I am grateful for casting directors having the openness to receive me not only as a director but also as an artist and an actor. It’s important to me to be able to put on both of those caps and for people to see me as an artist who can do different things.
What type of projects had you directed leading up to A Wonderful World?
I call this phase in my career an expansion. I earned a BFA at New York University (NYU) Playwrights Horizons for acting, directing, and design; the random thing for me is I’m finally using my degree for directing! I did a production of Respect, which was the Aretha Franklin non-union tour. It was my first big production. I’ve also directed my version of American Idiot at Weathervane Theatre, as well as a few readings. I’m not totally surprised that I’m doing this now, but I’m surprised that I’m working at this level.
You’ve talked about how you were brought on as a director because of the perspective you brought to A Wonderful World.
It was important to have a female director’s perspective for the four wives. I think we all had a say in what their voices were, but there was a dependency on what I actually feel and how I feel about these characters because my voice is the female voice in that room. I love to stage, and going to the theater is seeing dimension and staging. An intricate part in contributing to this project was being able to bring Christopher’s vision to life. [Playwright] Aurin [Squire] writes in a very unique way where time and dimension are often being challenged.
James Monroe Inglehart as Louis Armstrong. (Photo: Jeremy Daniel)
Transition is a very intricate part in the way that he writes. That was one of the things that I was attracted to. Myself, James and [choreographer] Ricky Tripp helped inform Chris’ direction by bringing that type of writing onto the stage to make it as intricate and as transitional as it needed to be. James, Chris, and I were all very instrumental in what the women’s roles were, but it took a lot of improvisation to figure out our different dynamics. James and I had to put our actors’ hats on to see who Louis was going to be through those women.
What was the biggest challenge in working with two other directors in that capacity? It’s uncommon on Broadway!
There were no challenges with these guys. I call them brothers because they feel like family. I can understand how it can be complex to other people when they look at it. I think sometimes our cast thought, ‘How is this going to work with three people?’ Ultimately, we had to lead people to understand who to listen to in the moment. Chris is generous to lend our voices to the space for leadership. What was hard was building a show in a couple of months. The show that is now on Broadway is not the show we once knew in Chicago, New Orleans, and Miami. It’s completely different.
What is the most challenging part of bringing a real person’s life to the stage?
Trying to show some integrity and authenticity in their lives. We have a responsibility to make sure the audience can get a taste of who they actually were without having to fabricate and manipulate them. We want audiences to have the most authentic experience possible. That’s hard to do because sometimes the most authentic experience is not the most fascinating experience, so you want to theatricalize it to make it much more interesting.
One of the things we did was take an ordinary experience and make it theatricalized. For example, in the song “Heebee-Jeebies” when Louis scats, it was the first time scatting was recorded on vinyl, so it was important to showcase that. The truth is he had sheet music, he dropped it, and he just started scatting. That’s a very important part of American history…without announcing it that way. We kept it very mundane and discreet. We’d much rather you do the research later to figure that out. Louis did it because it was instinctual.
Jennie Harney Fleming as Lil Hardin in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Story. (Photo: Jeremy Daniel)
In what fashion do you first remember Louis Armstrong’s music touching your life?
I worked at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola when I was 21, right after college. I was submersed in jazz and really enthusiastic about it, but always saw it from an outsider’s point of view and admired it.
How do you think Louis’ story will influence your career moving forward?
Being able to be a storyteller and knowing my whole journey through this process has changed my life. It gave me a chance to get closer to Louis Armstrong, to be able to read his books, do all of the research, and find a connection with a person who was going through his life and trying to survive through adversity. I feel close to him in that way. There is a connection in being a Black person in America and knowing the many masks we have to wear in order to survive this very difficult industry and world.
Next you’ll be performing in Othello with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Aside from the incredible co-stars, what excited you about working on the play?
It’s my first Broadway play! I’m very enthusiastic about this team because I feel like it’s a world of actors who are mostly in plays and not musicals. On top of that, it’s Shakespeare, which I’ve loved since I was 13 and I studied it at LaGuardia School for the Arts. I love iambic pentameter. It’s my second time working with [director] Kenny Leon because we did Holler if Ya Hear Me many years ago. I’m excited to work with him in this capacity.
When you look to the future, would you like to continue to both direct and perform?
That’s what I want to happen. I think this year is an opportunity to show that anyone can do both. I’m grateful to do Othello starting in January while also having to go by Studio 54 every so often to take notes and join auditions and rehearsals. It just takes a lot of balance and having both worlds understand what you’re doing. I think we have to wear a number of hats to be creative, otherwise you put yourself in a box and the industry automatically sees you that way. As artists we have to allow ourselves to be unsafe. Louis’ life was unsafe, so to be able to try to put that onstage was a very unsafe thing to do and it takes a lot of courage to say, “We are going to put on a production, so come and join us at Studio 54 eight times a week.”
This is the evolution of where our industry is failing right now; our entire team is creative in so many different ways! I think that we as a collective of artists have stories to tell and there’s no hierarchy. It’s just collaboration.
You’re talented in so many ways. Which of your skills would people be most surprised to learn you possess?
I can ride a unicycle! I learned it when I was 13. I was a theater kid growing up in New York City, and in junior high I went to an after-school program that was an art school. I was either doing Shakespeare or clown work. The clown work is where I learned juggling and unicycling. No one has ever asked me to use that talent, but I can still ride it!