[NEohioPAL]Berko review: SWING! (Carousel Dinner Theatre)

[Roy Berko]

CAROUSEL’S ‘Swing!’ Swings Audience

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

“It was worth the drive in from Warren!”  Fill in the
name of the town, but those were excited words of some
audience members as they exited Carousel Dinner
Theatre’s production of ‘SWING.’  

As long as there has been a Broadway, there have been
music and dance revues.  ‘SWING!’ is one of those.   
The show opened on the Great White Way in December of
1999 and ran through mid-January, 2001, a respectable
461 performances.  

As its title indicates, the show centers on swing
music, also known as swing jazz or the big band sound.
 It is a music that was popular during the 1930s and
40s in the United States.  The major dance forms that
went with the music included boogie woogie and the
jitter bug. 

Reviews of the Broadway production stated that is was
exuberant, fun and a sure winner.  It was called “a
show that is one big exclamation point.”

There is no story line, just a series of dance, song,
instrumental solo and group performances.  Some of the
songs included are: “Hit Me with a Hot Note and Watch
Me Bounce,” “G.I. Jive,” “ I'll Be Seeing You, “ “In
the Mood,” “Swing, Brother, Swing,” “Cry Me a River,”
“Blues in the Night,” “All of Me,” and “Stompin' at
the Savoy.”

The Carousel production, under the adept directing of
Marc Robin, features the creative choreography of
Beverly Durand and Mark Stuart Eckstein.  The duo also
dance in the show and provide many of the show’s
highlights.   Eckstein tosses Durand around like a
sack of potatoes.  He sweeps the floor with her body,
tosses her skyward on numerous occasions, twirls and
twists and flips her with ease.  Their versions of
“Show Me What You’ve Got,” and “Boogie-Woogie Country”
were show stoppers.

Other highlights included:  the dynamite “Swing It,
Brother, Swing” and “Don’t Mean a Thing,’ the opening
number; Bli-Bip” which featured the duo singing of
Charles Statham and Kate McCann; “Harlem Nocturn”
which featured Jessica Dillan performing an
interactive sensual dance number with a cello; the
pretty ballad, “I’ll Be Seeing You” sung by Kate
McCann and featuring  the dancing of Joe Komara and
Courtney Combs; the company’s singing and dancing of
“Swing It, Brother, Swing” and “Cry Me A River”
featuring Ashley Hunt and strong trumpet solo; and, a
fine renedition of “Blues in the Night” featuring Kate
McCann, Jessica Dillan and Robert Bottoms.

Steve Parson’s musical direction, Paul Black’s
fantasic lighting concepts, Paul Sannierud’s creative
big band techno set and Dale DiBernardo’s costumes,
all added to the quality of the production.  Another
added feature was the theatre’s new sound system,
which made the vocals and the music crisp and clear.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: If you love swing music, if you
love good dancing, if you love good singing, if you
like musicals that entertain even though they have no
story line, you’ll love Carousel’s ‘SWING!.’

For tickets  call 800-362-4100.  Show times are
Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Friday
and Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday evenings
at 5.  Matinees are on Wednesday and Saturday at 2. 
Dinner is served two hours prior to curtain.  Ticket
prices range from $27 to $47.50.

Carousel’s next production is “I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE
PERFECT, NOW CHANGE” which opens on January 11 and
runs through Feburary 25.  This is to be followed by
“SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS’ from March 1-April 29.

Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


	
		
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