Swing

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Do not stop at “Go.” Drop everything, and make your reservations now. Country Dinner Playhouse’s production of the Big Band Musical Swing will make you wish, want and dream the big bands would return in force.

Jeffrey Roark, Mercedes Perez and General McArthur Hambrick; front, Shannon Steele, star in the Country Dinner Playhouse Production of Swing!

With Mitch Samu heading up the five-piece band, filling the theatre with a very big band sound refusing anyone to sit still in their seats for one minute, with Kitty Skillman Hilsabeck pulling out all the stops with the choreography, having dancers flip and swing defying gravity, and producer and assistant director Paul Dwyer implanting his unique brand of comedy that always lives with honesty and perfect timing onto a cast of extraordinary talented artists who live the energy with full blown exuberance defying all levels of limitation, Swing takes Country Dinner Playhouse through the roof.

Paul Kelly ingeniously came up with the original concept, and for an Australian, he turned it into a truly American musical extravaganza.

A cast of 16 amazing dancers, singers and actors tackle the score from the first soulful notes when Jeffrey Roark appears on the descending stage and Mercedes Perez, Shannon Steele and General McArthur Hambrick join him for a sensational arrangement of “Swing It, Brother, Swing.” And they do.

Loosely connected concepts tie the songs together, the beat rattles the rafters, and it doesn’t quit until the show is over. Even during Intermission the energy created by the cast reverberates between the walls. With lively fun thrilling songs to poignant moments of reflection and wonderment, to fun playfulness, to perspective insight, to a moment in history that is truly American. Another time, another era that in today’s world frequently gets shoved into the background. In reality it wasn’t that long ago, a time when unification was taken for granted, a time before Korea and Vietnam and protests and defiance, and political disarray, when the globe seemed very big, when people fell in love overnight with soldier boys leaving for strange and distant places with a premonition they might not come home and love and being loved stood as more important than anything else, of leaving and saying goodbye, a time for “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B,” and “I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo.”

Through the maze of energetic movement, the chemistry between the cast members wraps everyone together with an unseen force. This particularly stands out with Mercedez and the General playing with Bli-Blip, a piece defying memorization with its syncopated scat as they mock a conversation in a bar. What’s ingenious behind this piece, with their moves, expressions, and intonations you know exactly what they are saying, and not saying as the case may be. It is a bar scene played out a zillion times a night.

Behind Samu, in the band are Dan Levitt on the trumpet, Danielle Chollet on the trombone, Harry Grainger on reeds and woodwinds, and Tag Worley on percussion. Their sound so exciting, one would like to hear them over and over again. Their instruments don’t just play; they stand up with a song and dance of their very own. When Mercedes and Danielle team up for a vocal conversation between voice and trombone on “Cry Me A River,” the heart nearly stops.

Cutting through cultural and ethnic barriers, it’s slick, sexy, jazz, blues, hip hop, tap, swing, country western, jitterbugging, Lindy hop, and Latin rhythm flying, tied together with vignettes, music between the notes, chemistry, and non-stop exuberance with flash, style, grace, and artistic expertise. Kitty defies gravity with her flips, swings, twirls, following through with moves the body never knew it could do. Shannon’s plaintiff Skylark as a waitress finding a rose on a table will take your breath away, returning it in time for Alann Estes, Travis Magee, and Stephen Bertles to blow you away with “Harlem Nocturne.”

Opening on Broadway November 2, 1999, Swing closed after 43 previews and 461 performances. Nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Director, Best Choreography, Best Orchestration, and two nominations for Best Featured Actress. It is difficult to imagine Broadway’s smash hit could feature a cast any better than Country Dinner’s. A bold statement for certain, but a bold statement enveloped in truth. A celebration of music that turned the country upside down during the 30s and 40s returns nearly in a vengeance surrounded by show stopping, eye-popping, breath-grabbing magnificence.

Additional cast members include Juliana Black, Fafa Blagogee, Adam Estes, Robert Hoppe, Margaret Skokan, Tracy Taylor, Martha Urquidi, and Victor Ward. Each one of these dancers will knock you out with their punctuated humor, by their high-stepping rhythm, and their knockout performance.

Swing is more than enough to absorb in one night, but Swing isn’t the only eye-catching show. The Barnstormers, those talented young performers who wait on the tables, deserve some special attention. Their pre-show performance, under the direction of Dwyer, deserve their own accolades. Their fun, frivolity, and talent move up several notches with a new twist provided by Samu. They are: Betsy Taylor, Brian Mallgrave, Patrick Sawyer, Jennifer Ehrle, Steven Cogswell, Markus Warren, Clarissa Hope Stranske, Salli Melti, Charlie Schmidt, and Chaundra Nelms. This is one time you wish their moment under the lights lasted longer than 15 minutes.

The English language runs out of spectacular words to capture and define Swing. It has to be experienced to be absorbed. Just go, and ask questions later. It will blow your mind, provide a feast for your eyes, and feed your soul. And leave you wondering with a smile “how do they do that?” How doesn’t matter. What matters is Country Dinner and this incredible cast provides a magical night of sheer total unadulterated entertainment.