''Swing!'' is a musical conceived by Paul Kelly with music by various artists. It celebrates the music of the Swing era of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

(1930s–1946), including many well-known tunes by artists like

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

, William "Count" Basie,

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

and others. It received a nomination for the 2000

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical play, musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The awa ...

and other

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

Productions

''Swing!'' premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on December 9, 1999 and closed on January 14, 2001, running for 461 performances. The director and choreographer was

Lynne Taylor-Corbett Lynne Taylor-Corbett is a choreographer, director, lyricist, and composer. She was born in Denver, Colorado. Life Lynne Taylor-Corbett grew up in the Denver, Colorado area, gaining her first exposure to dance through her mother, a pianist for ball ...

, and the production was supervised by

Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing ''The House of Blue Leaves'', ''Lend Me a Tenor'', and ''Six Degree ...

. Among the cast were

Laura Benanti Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 13, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'', winni ...

Ann Hampton Callaway Ann Hampton Callaway (born May 30, 1958) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actress. She wrote and sang the theme song for the TV series ''The Nanny''. Career A native of Chicago, her father, John Callaway, was a journalist and her mot ...

and Everett Bradley. A US tour began Nov 20, 2000 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.McBride, Murdoc
Swing Closes Jan. 14 on Broadway; Touring Co. Gets Strong Start in L.A.
playbill.com, January 14, 2001 The

Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh CLO) is a nonprofit professional theater company based in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Despite its name, the organization presents musical theatre classics rather than ...

production, directed and choreographed by one of the original cast members, Dana Solimando, ran in June 2009. The original cast album was released by Sony Classical on January 18, 2000. The original cast album was nominated for a Grammy in the "Musical Show" category.

Premise

''Swing!'' combines high energy dancing, singing and acrobatics. There is no dialogue in the show, and the story is told entirely through music and dance. The show tries to recreate the swing style of jazz, which used large bands, fixed musical arrangements and solo-driven improvisations. Together with the development of the music, various forms of swing dancing emerged, varying by geographic regions, such as the

Lindyhop The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...

Jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing dan ...

in Harlem or the Whip in Houston.''Swing!
Rodgers and Hammerstein. Retrieved January 4, 2009 There are also story-driven numbers for example "I'll Be Seeing You", with Scott Fowler and Carol Bentley doing a Gene Kelly kind of ballet. The show includes music and dance styles from early swing, West Coast, to other jazz styles, and even hip-hop (as shown as in an all-male version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"). Some of the individual couples, for example

Ryan Francois Ryan Francois is a swing dancer, choreographer and actor, who played a central part of the revival of the Lindy Hop . Specialising in dances related to the Jazz & Swing era - including the Lindy Hop, Charleston, Tap and Authentic Vernacular Jazz, ...

and Jenny Thomas, perform their own choreography. Francois and Thomas are established stars in the world of swing, having been the Lindy champions in 1997 The American Swing Dance Championships and the U.S. Open Championships.Sommer, Elys
"A CurtainUp Review:Swing!"
curtainup.com, February 3, 1999 Some of the songs have new lyrics, but most are well-known swing-era hits, including "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"; "

Sing, Sing, Sing "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" is a 1936 song, with music and lyrics by Louis Prima, who first recorded it with the New Orleans Gang. Brunswick Records released it on February 28, 1936 on the 78rpm record format, with "It's Been So Long" as th ...

", "Jumpin at the Woodside"; and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B)".

Songs

;Act I * "

It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills. It is now accepted as a jazz standard, and jazz historian Gunther Schuller characterized it as "now legendary" and "a prophe ...

" – Lyrics by

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was an American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal Mills was ...

, Music by Duke Ellington * "Airmail Special" – Music by Benny Goodman, James R. Mundy and

Charles Christian Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

* "Jersey Bounce" – Music by Duke Ellington, B. Feyhe, E. Johnson, T. Bradshaw and B. Plater * " Opus One" – Music by

Don George Don R. George (August 27, 1909 – 1987) was an American lyricist of popular music. His songs include " The Yellow Rose of Texas" " I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues" (1937), "I'm Beginning to See the Light" (1944) and " Everything but You" (1945 ...

Johnny Hodges Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...

and

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

* "

Jumpin' at the Woodside "Jumpin' at the Woodside" is a song first recorded in 1938 by the Count Basie Orchestra, and considered one of the band's signature tunes. When first released it reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' charts and remained on them for four weeks. ...

" – Music by Count Basie * "Bounce Me, Brother (with a Solid Four)" (from ''

Buck Privates ''Buck Privates'' is a 1941 musical military comedy film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies ...

'') – Music and Lyrics by Don Raye and Hughie Prince * "Two and Four" – Music by

* "Hit Me with a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce" – Lyrics by Don George, Music by Duke Ellington * "Rhythm" – Music by Casey MacGill * "Throw That Girl Around" – Music and Lyrics by Everett Bradley, Ilene Reid and Michael Heitzman * "Show Me What You Got" – Music by Jonathan Smith and Everett Bradley * "Bli-Blip" (from '' Jump for Joy'') – Lyrics by Sid Kuller, Music by Duke Ellington * "Billy-A-Dick" – Paul Francis Webster and Additional lyrics by Seán Martin Hingston, Music by Hoagy Carmichael * "

Harlem Nocturne "Harlem Nocturne" is a jazz standard written by Earle Hagen (music) and Dick Rogers (lyrics) in 1939 for the Ray Noble orchestra, of which they were members. The song was chosen by the big-band leader Randy Brooks the next year as his theme song. ...

" – Music by

Earle Hagen Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created music for movies and television. His best-known TV themes include those for ''Make Room for Daddy'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''I Spy'', ''That Girl'' and ...

and

Dick Rogers Dick Rogers (1912—1970) was a singer, comedian, songwriter and pianist, who wrote the lyrics for "Harlem Nocturne". He was a member of the Ray Noble orchestra and the Will Osborne band. Rogers was associated with Will Osborne, a "star croo ...

* "Kitchen Mechanics' Night Out" – Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Smith, Paul Kelly, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Casey MacGill * "Shout and Feel It" – Music by Count Basie * "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B)" (from ''

'') – Music and Lyrics by Don Raye and Hughie Prince * "G.I. Jive" – Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer * "A String of Pearls" – Lyrics by Eddie de Lange, Music by Jerry Gray * "I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" – Lyrics by Mack Gordon, Music by Harry Warren * "Candy" – Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Joan Whitney and Alex J. Kramer * "I'm Gonna Love You Tonight" – Lyrics by Jack Murphy, Music by Casey MacGill * " I'll Be Seeing You" (from ''

Right This Way ''Right This Way'' is a Broadway production that opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 5, 1938, and ran for fifteen performances. It was categorized as an original musical comedy and was set in Paris and Boston. It starred Joe E. Lewis as ...

'') – Lyrics by Irving Kahal, Music by Sammy Fain * "

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by E ...

" – Lyrics by Andy Razaf, Music by Joe Garland * "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" – Music and Lyrics by Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept and Charlie Tobias ;Act II * "Swing! Brother, Swing!" – Music and Lyrics by Walter Bishop, Sr., Lewis Raymond and Clarence Williams * "Caravan" – Lyrics by Irving Mills, Music by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington * "Dancers in Love" – Music by Duke Ellington * "Cry Me a River" – Music and Lyrics by Arthur Hamilton * "Blues in the Night" – Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Music by Harold Arlen * "

Take Me Back To Tulsa "Take Me Back to Tulsa" is a Western swing standard song. Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan added words and music to the melody of the traditional fiddle tune "Walkin' Georgia Rose" in 1940. The song is one of eight country music performances selected fo ...

Stay A Little Longer "Stay a Little Longer" is a Western swing dance tune written by Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan. The title comes from a refrain in the chorus: The song consists of a number of unrelated verses, one of which (verse three) comes from an old folk song"S ...

" – Music by Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan * "Boogie Woogie Country" – Music by Jack Murphy and Jonathan Smith * "All of Me" – Lyrics by Seymour Simons, Music by Gerald Marks * "I Won't Dance" (from ''

Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...

'') – Dorothy Fields and Additional lyrics by Ann Hampton Callaway, Music by Jerome Kern * "Bill's Bounce" – Music by Bill Elliott * "Stompin' at the Savoy" – Additional lyrics by Ann Hampton Callaway and Andy Razaf, Music by Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson and Chick Webb * "Swing, Brother, Swing" (Reprise) – Music and Lyrics by Walter Bishop, Lewis Raymond and Clarence Williams * "Sing, Sing, Sing" – Music and Lyrics by Louis Prima, Andy Razaf and Leon Berry * "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (Reprise) – Lyrics by Irving Mills, Music by Duke Ellingtonhttp://guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/swing.htm''Swing!'' guidetomusicaltheatre.com, retrieved January 4, 2009

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

External links

*
Swing study guide from TUTSSwing song lyrics
{{Authority control 1999 musicals Broadway musicals