Neatly hooking chapters to visits with contemporary figures (musicians, musicologists, inventors, instrument repairmen), Segell follows the sax through black-and-white jazz bands of the 1920s ...

And unlike at the Big Top, an orchestra ticket seats you mere feet away. White Gold Through Dec. 30 at Stage 42 presented by the New Victory Theater, Manhattan; newvictory.org. Running time: 1 hour.