Ambassador Satch: The Life and Times of Louis Armstrong

The White Plains Performing Arts Center presents Ambassador Satch: The Life and Times of Louis Armstrong, a new musical production celebrating the life and times of an American icon.

Written by James Mirrione and André De Shields, the show tells the exciting story of a jazz pioneer – his triumphs, his heartaches – and how he changed the world of music forever. Starring Broadway’s André De Shields as Louis Armstrong and Stacie Precia as the women in his life, with choreography by Mercedes Ellington and musical direction by Terry Waldo, Ambassador Satch will include many of Armstrong’s signature hits and feature a live five-piece jazz band.

In his six decades of entertainment, Armstrong’s achievements are remarkable as a singer, composer, instrumentalist, actor and author. Born in a poor section of New Orleans known as “the Battlefield” in 1901, Louis Armstrong, the man known around the world as Satchmo, is widely recognized as a founding father of jazz – a uniquely American art form. Through the years, Louis entertained millions, from heads of state and royalty to the kids on his stoop in Corona. With an average of 300 concerts a year and with his frequent tours to all parts of the world, he earned the nickname of Ambassador Satch. Despite his fame, he lived a simple life in a working-class neighborhood, but his influence, as an artist and cultural icon, is universal, unmatched, and very much alive today.