Swing!

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1999 musical by Paul Kelly

title: "Swing!" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1999-musicals", "broadway-musicals"] description: "1999 musical by Paul Kelly" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing!" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1999 musical by Paul Kelly ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Musical"]

FieldValue
nameSwing!
musicVarious
lyricsVarious
bookPaul Kelly
productions1999 Broadway
::

::callout[type=note] the 1999 musical ::

|name= Swing! |subtitle= |image= |caption= |music= Various |lyrics= Various |book= Paul Kelly |basis= |productions= 1999 Broadway |awards= }}

Swing! is a musical conceived by Paul Kelly with music by various artists. It celebrates the music of the Swing era of jazz (1930s–1946), including many well-known tunes by artists like Duke Ellington, William "Count" Basie, Benny Goodman and others. It received a nomination for the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical and other Tony Awards.

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, and the production was supervised by Jerry Zaks. Among the cast were Laura Benanti, Ann Hampton Callaway and Everett Bradley. A US tour began Nov 20, 2000 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera 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 or Jitterbug in Harlem or the Whip in Houston.

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 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.

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

Songs

;Act I

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

::data[format=table]

YearAward CeremonyCategoryNomineeResultRef
2000Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Musical
Outstanding ChoreographyLynne Taylor-Corbett
Outstanding OrchestrationsHarold Wheeler
Theatre World AwardEverett Bradley
Ann Hampton Callaway
Tony AwardBest Musical
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalLaura Benanti
Ann Hampton Callaway
Best Direction of a MusicalLynne Taylor-Corbett
Best Choreography
Best OrchestrationsHarold Wheeler
::

References

References

  1. Brantley, Ben. "Hit the Hot Notes and Watch 'Em Bounce", ''The New York Times'', December 10, 1999, p. E1
  2. McBride, Murdoch.[http://www1.playbill.com/news/article/57878-Swing-Closes-Jan.-14-on-Broadway-Touring-Co.-Gets-Strong-Start-in-L.A. Swing Closes Jan. 14 on Broadway; Touring Co. Gets Strong Start in L.A.] {{Webarchive. link. (February 1, 2013 playbill.com, January 14, 2001)
  3. Carter, Alice.[http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/theater/s_629337.html "Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's new show's got 'Swing!'] {{Webarchive. link. (June 18, 2009 ''[[Pittsburgh Tribune Review]]'', June 13, 2009)
  4. "Swing!".
  5. "43rd Annual Grammy Awards Nominations Coverage (2001)".
  6. (June 2018)
  7. Ostlere, Hilary.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_11_73/ai_57512722/ "Swinging On Broadway. – Brief Article – Review – dance reviews"], ''Dance Magazine'', November 1999
  8. Sommer, Elyse.[http://www.curtainup.com/swing.html "A CurtainUp Review:Swing!"], Curtainup.com, February 3, 1999
  9. "Swing - Musical Dance Revue - The Guide to Musical Theatre".
  10. [http://www.dramadesk.com/1999_2000dd.html Drama Desk Awards and nominations, 1999–2000] {{Webarchive. link. (December 15, 2010 , Dramadesk.com. Retrieved January 4, 2009)
  11. [http://www.theatreworldawards.org/award.html Theatre World winners], Theatreworldawards.org. Retrieved January 4, 2009
  12. [http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search Tony Awards and niminations, 2000] {{Webarchive. link. (August 31, 2016 tonyawards.com. Retrieved January 4, 2009)
  13. Pogrbin, Robin. "Tony Nominations Mirror a Small World", ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 9, 2000, p. E1

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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