Come give your happy feet a chance and jump, jive and wail at Pittsburgh CLO's production of Swing!, playing June 20 through 26 at the Benedum Center in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
Featuring the unforgettable sounds of the 1930s and 40s, including The
Glenn Miller Band, the Andrew Sisters and
Duke Ellington, Swing! is a feel-good celebration of the best of the Big Bands! Mix a little Lindy Hop with a bit of the jitterbug and a whole lot of swing and one thing becomes perfectly clear - swing was never a time or place; it was always a state of mind! The show's infectious score features more than 30 dance hall hits including "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "I'll Be Seeing You," "In the Mood" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."
Alan H. Green (Male Diva #1) last appeared on the
Pittsburgh CLO stage in Miss Saigon. He has guest starred in "30 Rock," "Law & Order: SVU" and held a recurring role on "The Guiding Light." He has performed on Broadway in Play On! and in the National Tours of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Swing! and Smokey Joe's Café.
Kate Loprest (Female Diva #2) is making her
Pittsburgh CLO debut. Her Broadway credits include Hairspray, Xanadu and The Drowsy Chaperone. Ms. Loprest has performed in the National Tour of
Wicked and
Happy Days: A New Musical for
Paper Mill Playhouse.
Deb Lyons (Female Diva #1) also returns to
Pittsburgh CLO after previously appearing in last season's Smokey Joe's Café. Ms. Lyons has performed in Smokey Joe's Café on Broadway and in the original London cast. She also played Lucy on the National Tour of Jekyll & Hyde. Her regional credits include Hairspray, Side By Side By Sondheim, Ring of Fire and Pumpboys & Dinettes. Ms. Lyons toured the world in the mid '90s with "The Mamas & The Papas."
Matthew Scott (Male Diva #2) returns to
Pittsburgh CLO after previously appearing in 1776 and the National Tour of Dr. Dolittle. A Carnegie Mellon alumnus, he has also starred in
Jersey Boys on Broadway and several Off-Broadway productions, including
West Side Story, Guys and Dolls,
A Catered Affair, Ragtime,
South Pacific and Tick, Tick...BOOM!.
Dana Solimando (Director/Choreographer) performed the role of Tiger Lily with
Cathy Rigby on the Broadway and National Tours of Peter Pan as well as in the A&E video. She has choreographed and directed several productions of Swing! (2004 and 2006 Ovation awards - Best Choreography). She also choreographed Peter Pan in 2008 for
Pittsburgh CLO and was a cast member in the original Broadway production of Swing!.
Craig Barna (Music Director) has conducted on Broadway, in Los Angeles and for prominent regional theaters across the country. Mr. Barna was musical director for
Pittsburgh CLO's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this season and for Peter Pan and Smokey Joe's Café in 2008. He conducted the National Tours of Grease, Singin' in the Rain and Cats, and the touring and Broadway companies of Jesus Christ Superstar and Peter Pan. Other career highlights include TV appearances on the "Today Show", "CBS This Morning" and the 1999 Tony® Awards.
Swing! was first produced on Broadway at the S
T. James Theatre on December 9, 1999, receiving critical acclaim for its music, dance and style. It was conceived by
Paul Kelly, who pitched the idea of a Broadway show that would focus on swing dance and music to producer
Marc Routh. The production, which doesn't have dialogue, is a true musical with only song lyrics and dance steps to move the story forward. The musicians are no ordinary pit band, but a central part of the show. The band is centered on stage and performs in dance numbers.
The Swing Era typically refers to the time period between 1935-1946, however the swing style of jazz has been around since the 1920s. As the Great Depression loomed, swing was both a method of escapism and a symbol of hope through those dark years. The musical recreates the swing style of jazz, which was charactized by large bands, fixed musical arrangements and solo-driven improvisations. Along with the music, a variety of swing dancing emerged during that time. The dance styles varied by geographic regions and included the Lindyhop or Jitterbug in Harlem or the Whip in Houston. The swing revival began in 1989 in Los Angeles and San Francisco clubs, enhanced by the cult-classic film "Swingers" in 1996, the return of the "cocktail" culture and a high-flying Gap khaki ad set to the tune of "Jump, Jive an' Wail." Hitting Broadway at the peak of this resurgence, Swing! was nominated for six Tony® Awards, including Best Musical and Best Choreography. It closed on January 14, 2001, after 461 performances.
Paul Kelly (Original Concept) was the conceiver of the Broadway musical Swing!, which received six Tony® Award nominations, including Best Musical, and was nominated for a 2001 Grammy® Award for its cast album. He has worked as a director, producer, writer and performer on more than 50 productions in theatre, film, television and online new-media. M
R. Kelly has worked in New York, across the United States, in England, Scotland, Mexico, and the Bahamas, on a wide range of productions, including projects for PAX Television, Lifetime, Major League Baseball, Broadway, Off-Broadway and Regional Theatre. He has a degree in Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and studied for five years at the
Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
Jerry Zaks (Production Supervisor) is a film, TV and theater director originally from Germany. He has received four Tony® Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, an Obie Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination. He served as resident director at
Lincoln Center Theater from 1986-1990, is a founding member of the
Ensemble Studio Theatre and has directed more than 30 New York productions. Mr. Zaks also directed the award-winning film "Marvin's Room" and episodes of the long-running sitcoms "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Frasier." He received the
George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 1994 and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth in 1999.
Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Director/Choreographer) is a writer, director and choreographer of both ballet and modern dance for musical theater and film. Ms. Taylor-Corbett directed the original production of Swing!. Her commissions include Great Galloping Gottschalk and Estuary for the
American Ballet Theatre, Mercury and Chiaroscuro for New York City Ballet's Diamond Project, In a Word for Ohio Ballet, Appearances for Atlanta Ballet and works for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company and Pennsylvania Ballet among others. Ms. Taylor-Corbett's film credits include Footloose, My Blue Heaven and Bewitched. She was also nominated for Best Director and Best Choreographer Tony® Awards for Swing!.
Tickets for Swing! start at just $18.50 and are available online at pittsburghCLO.org, by calling 412-456-6666 or at the Box Office at Theater Square. Groups of 10 or more may call 412-325-1582.
Swing! is sponsored by BNY Mellon.
Pittsburgh CLO gratefully acknowledges the generosity of our Season Sponsors: American Airlines, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and WTAE-TV.
Photos are courtesy of
Matt Polk
Matthew Scott, Kate Loprest, Deb Lyons and Alan H. Green
Kate Loprest
Dana Solimando
