Arts Entertainment

Set To Swing

Broadway song-and-dance musical comes to Detroit with new cast, new directors.

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

IV

ith the producers heed-
ing a bit of popular
swing-music-type
advice, "If it ain't broke,
don't fix it," the original Broadway
musical Swing! comes to Detroit's Fox
Theatre for eight performances
Tuesday-Sunday, June 18-23.
Basically, it will be the same show
that was pretty successful on Broadway
three years ago, getting good reviews
and garnering six Tony Award nomi-
nations.
And that's good news for aficionados
of swing music, because it celebrates
the sound and dance phenomenon
that swept the nation in the 1930s and
1940s — and which has returned to
become one of today's popular music
trends.
The multi-dimensional show crosses
ethnic and cultural barriers, highlight-
ing a mix of jive, Latin swing, West
Coast swing, hip-hop swing and
Country Western swing.
With a focus on dancing, the show
features 30 classic and new songs,
including "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,"
"Harlem Nocturne," "It Don't Mean a
Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing),"
"Stompin' at the Savoy," "In the
Mood," "I'll Be Seeing You" and
"Blues in the Night."
While the show is almost the same
as the Broadway version, most orthe
cast of 23 singers and dancers is new
— including four Jewish dancers:
Mark Eckstein of Wartagh, N.Y., a
two-time American Lindy Hop cham-
pion; Aaron Hamilton of Los Angeles;
Ven Daniel of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.;
and Mahri Relin of Brewster, Mass.
Jewish director Lori Steinberg and
choreographer Kim Craven have taken
over from Lynne Taylor-Corbett, who
directed and choreographed the
Broadway show. Craven studied and
danced under Taylor-Corbett, while
Steinberg is a protege of Tony Award-
winning director Jerry Zaks, who was
production supervisor for Swing! on
Broadway.
The production's lead singer is
Clarolyn Maier of Lake Oswego, Ore.;
she has a bachelor's degree in music
from UCLA.

6/14
2002

76

When several Broadway producers
got together in the mid-1990s to
brainstorm ideas for a new musical,
Paul Kelly recommended an entertain-
ment based on swing music. "It's the
one music that appeals to everyone,"
he said. "It's joyful, moves people and
is fun.
"There's something about it that
crosses over generational boundaries.
Just go to a bar mitzvah or wedding,
and watch what happens when the
band plays 'In the Mood.' All of a
sudden, everyone, from 8 to 80, is on
the dance floor."

Gotta Dance

The official swing era had its seeds in
the 1920s, when musicians such as
Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson,
Duke Ellington and Don Redman
infused New Orleans-style jazz into
their own styles of "sweet" music.
At the same time, the swing-style
dance the Lindy hop, named after
famed aviator Charles Lindberg, was
invented by black amateur dancers,
who performed at New York's Savoy
Ballroom, one of the nation's favorite
hot spots for musical trends.
In the early 1930s, the big bands
picked up the sweet sound and joined
the craze, spearheaded by such Jewish

musicians as Benny
Hall), Eastwood Gardens,
Goodman, Artie Shaw,
Jefferson Beach, the
Buddy Rich and Ziggy
Walled Lake Casino,
Ellman, plus Glenn
Inskster's Westwood
Miller, Count Basie,
Gardens and even aboard
Gene Krupa, Lionel
the Bob-Lo boats.
Hampton and Harry
He owns nearly 200
James.
big-band videos; many
The revival of the
old jukebox "soundies,"
swing movement report-
where fans could plunk
edly began in 1989 with
down a quarter and see
a group called the Royal
the band play on a small
Crown Revue in Los
screen as well as hear it;
Angeles. Nearly 200
and hundreds of old 78
swing bands now are
vinyls and 33 1/3 record-
cranking out dance
"Swing!" director
ings. He has eight differ-
music across America.
Lori Steinberg is a
ent versions of Basic's
"The wild beat of
protege of renowned
"One O'Clock Jump."
swing really ignites peo-
director Jerry Zaks.
Lori Steinberg,.director
ple to get up and dance
of Swing's second national
and just participate in this type of
tour, said American swing music
music in general," said Irving Flanders
"actually is a collection of ethnic her-
of Southfield, a local swing music his-
itages, emanating from jazz, blues,
torian.
klezmer and all other ethnic music
"Even the old high-brow society
from across Europe."
orchestras had to switch from the sen-
timental sound and get more upbeat
On The Road
to keep up with the big bands. Bands
played at the downtown Detroit the-
The Swing! tour began in Charlotte,
aters between movies and the audi-
N.C., last Sept. 12, after the Sept. 11
ences were jitterbugging in the aisles."
opening night was postponed follow-
Flanders recalls the one-nighters by
ing the terrorist attacks. "We wanted
the swing bands at such venues as the
SWING! on page 78
Paradise Ballroom (now Orchestra

•

One For The ilepcats

T

he canaries (singers) and the alligators (dancers)
are blip (fabulous), and the jive (music) should go
over, big with the hepcats (members of the swing-
music set).
In other words, Swing! is a swing music-lover's delight,
and, since it's mostly the same show that achieved a good
share of success on Broadway — where I saw it three
years ago -- swing fans should be in for a real treat when
it play's the Fox Theatre June 18-23. Swing! is a vigorous
blend of music, dance and song that jumps, jives and
wails, and is thoroughly entertaining.
The dancing, led by champion Lindy hoppers and jit
terbuggers, is packed with energy and an acrobatic style,
originally choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, the
acclaimed ballet choreographer who switched her talents
to Broadway. There's a mostly new cast for the touring
version, except for a few holdover dancers.
On Broadway, singer Ann Hampton Callaway really
stole the show from the hoofers. Mainly a cabaret singer,

^•:•••,.. Ae

•

her rendition of the Arlen-Mercer classic "Blues in the
Night" was thee best singing I've heard in a long time.
Taking her role at the Fox is Clarolyn Maier, and it
remains to be seen whether she can measure up to Callaway.
"[Clarolyn] has a different persona altogether, and a
great relationship with the audience," said Lori Steinberg,
director of the show's road version.
Its appropriate the show opens with It Don't Mean a
Thing (if It Ain't Got That Swing)" and ends with a montage
of that song, "Swing, Brother, Swing' and "Sing, Sing, Sing!
The latter, written by Louis Prima, is regarded as the
"national anthern" of swing music, debuting in 1938 at a
concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, of all places.
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," In the Mood,"
"Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Cry Me a River," where the
trombone imitates a person's voice, especially kept every-
one moving in their seats.
Here's the skinny (information): Take some scratch
(money), put on some glad rags (clothes) and glide down
to the Fox for a swinging good time. Li

— Bill Carroll

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