Victoria Clark, Claybourne Elder and More Join STRIKE UP THE BAND With MasterVoices At Carnegie Hall

MasterVoices opens its 2024-25 season on Tuesday, October 29 at Carnegie Hall when MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling leads the 120–member MasterVoices Chorus, the MasterVoices Orchestra and guest soloists in a concert staging of Strike Up the Band, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

The performance features Shereen Ahmed, Phillip Attmore, Victoria Clark, Lissa deGuzman, Claybourne Elder, Christopher Fitzgerald, Bryce Pinkham, and David Pittu, with additional casting to be announced. The choreographer is Alison Solomon. The costume design is by Tracy Christensen, lighting design by Shelby Loera, and sound design by Marc Salzberg.

With its soaring melodies, infectious syncopation, and lyrics that both provoke and delight, Strike Up the Band was the first of three political musicals that the Gershwins, George S. Kaufman, and Morrie Ryskind wrote together. MasterVoices has previously performed the other two, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I Sing in 2017, and its sequel, Let ‘Em Eat Cake, in 2019. 

Says Mr. Sperling, “Working with both the Gershwin and Kaufman estates, author Laurence Maslon and I have created a new edition of Strike Up the Band, which contains the best of the 1927 and 1930 versions of the show; I hope this may prove to be the blueprint for future performances of this work. The MasterVoices concert staging will take full advantage of the wonderful dance music that follows so many of the songs, sometimes lyrical, other times comic, or military. We look forward to bringing these moments to life with dancers as we have done with pleasure so many times in our recent history.”

Some of the most famous songs from the show, in addition to its irresistible overture and title song, are The Man I Love, and I've Got a Crush on You.

This MasterVoices performance will be dedicated to the memory of Gershwin family member Michael Strunsky, who would have turned 90 years old the week of our concert. As steward of the Ira Gershwin Musical Estate, Mike was an essential supporter of so many of MasterVoices' projects, including The Firebrand of Florence, Lady in the Dark, Of Thee I Sing, and Let ‘Em Eat Cake. He will be sorely missed.

Tickets, priced from $30, may be purchased online at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or in person at Carnegie Hall's box office at 57th and Seventh Avenue.

About Strike Up the Band

The original 1927 version of Strike Up the Band, with a book by George S. Kaufman, was a biting anti-war satire. It was the Gershwins' first fully integrated score for a book musical, strongly influenced by Gilbert and Sullivan. It closed in Philadelphia, prompting Kaufman's famous remark, “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” At Kaufman's suggestion, the Gershwins turned to Morrie Ryskind to revise it. Songs were cut. New songs were added, with swing rhythms dominating. The politics were replaced by silliness and a happy ending. It opened on Broadway in 1930 and ran for 191 performances.

The basic plot of the show centers on a businessman who offers to sponsor a war with Switzerland if it is named for him. In the 1927 version, the war was about cheese, and in the 1930 version, it was about chocolate. Complications arise involving espionage and star-crossed lovers, but all are resolved by the final number. The show has not been performed in New York since the 1998 Encores! Revival at City Center.

Details of MasterVoices' 2024-25 season can be found at mastervoices.org.