|
|
Swing!
By Thomas Burke - December 10, 1999
There's a lot to be said in favor of a musical dance revue with no pretensions, one that only aspires to provide a full evening's worth of world-class entertainment then send the audience home in a charmed, exhilarated, and thoroughly happy mood. Such a rare show is Swing!, which opened last night at the St. James Theatre. Sans plot, storyline, or anything that even looks like any sort of thread constructed to link the various dance and song numbers together, Swing! succeeds brilliantly on its own terms, as a dazzling display of some of the best music and dancing styles to emerge this century, specifically from the 30s and 40s. That this music and these dances have recently come back into fashion, indeed in some circles fairly define the term "trendy," is perhaps no accident. It's all about good, old fashioned fun. No guilt-ridden angst here, Swing! resonates with a joyous confidence in life, love, and the pursuit of happiness via intricate and masterful choreography.
In addition to a group of the best dancers Broadway has to offer, wonderfully directed and choreographed by the amazing Lynne Taylor-Corbett, ample room is made for the wondrous song stylings of Laura Benanti, Everett Bradley, and the reigning goddess of cool cabaret jazz Ann Hampton Callaway, aided and abetted by the glorious Casey MacGill and The Gotham City Gates. In short, an embarrassment of riches.
The exuberantly colorful and at times ambulatory set by Thomas Lynch, sexy, faux period costumes by William Ivey Long, and smoothly subtle lighting by Kenneth Posner all contribute greatly to the general mood of uninhibited enthusiasm.
If you just want to have fun, this is the show to see. It's without question the feel-good musical of the season. And so trendy, too!
