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Back to the "40s in Norristown (2nd review)
Jim Rutter
What can the '40s teach us? Plenty
JIM RUTTER
At the opening curtain, Holiday Show At the Swing Club seems like an exercise without a point, other than nostalgia. New York City’s “Swing Club” on New Year’s Eve, 1943 is the setting. A fairly conservative selection of songs from the period includes not only Gershwin and Porter but also the Andrews Sisters, Irving Berlin and even "As Time Goes By"— tunes most people love and no one hates. It’s a lineup too predictably calculated to sell tickets during the Christmas season.
To be sure, the production itself is first-rate. With the help of some exciting swing and flashy tap choreography (by Joe Cicala), and pianist Sam Heifetz’s superb orchestrations (including a delightfully tucked-away Gershwin parody that amplifies the composer’s self-reference in “By Strauss”), director Matt Decker’s production sets the stage for an evening of exciting performances. Ryanne Nicole Studivant charmed on “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” and Erin Reilly’s smash rendering of "I’ll Be Seeing You" was upstaged only by Rachel Camp’s tap number and her near-seductive transformation of the child’s-play song “A Tisket, A Tasket.” The talented band—especially Josh Anderson’s trumpet solos—by themselves justified the entire evening.
Yet at first I couldn’t help wondering, "So what?” Several current bands and performance acts—from Bryan Setzer to the Brooklyn-based World Inferno— either incorporate or duplicate this theme in an evening’s concert, and they seem far more genuine than a theater group performing a scripted “new work.” From Ted Powell’s half debonair, half sleazy bandleader to the borrowed Henny Youngman jokes, Horizon’s show struck me as a theatrical affectation. Mostly, the production suffered from the lack of a set that would make this show truly appear like a 1940’s nightclub; at the very least, why not put some décor on the walls that conveys the festive New Year’s Eve atmosphere that would be found in a posh ’40s New York night club?
Going off to battle, then and now
Nevertheless, about midway through the show, Horizon’s concept began to take hold and cast its own particular spell. And whether the show’s artistic directors and co-writers (Reilly and Decker) made this choice consciously or not, they presented a bold contrast between a war-consumed America that flourished into a state of virtue, and our own war-mired times that now stagnate in an age of pessimism, rancor and despair.
A mere performance piece by a contemporary band couldn’t have achieved this without the acting, skits and narrative that displayed the hope, optimism and yes, patriotism of those times. At the show’s pivotal moment, the band leader Jimmy Goodshaw (Powell) announces that he’s shipping off to fight in Europe, and the Dec. 31st show will be his last on stage at the Swing Club. While many of us today might pay grudging admiration (if that) to a similarly proud soldier, here the band members stood to salute his bravery, recreating an earnestness little seen amidst the yellow ribbons and conflicting messages today.
Dark times, hopeful songs
Moreover, the joyous sense of life captured perfectly by the acting and this well-researched script recreated an era when Americans winked at divorce and adultery, while at the same time showing the righteous innocence of a young cocktail waitress who could faithfully believe that one kiss on New Year’s Eve could for years sustain a feeing and romance disrupted by the distance and tragedy of war.
The contrast between the Depression and World War II eras and our current war of choice acquires even greater force from the realization that all of these hopeful, joyful old songs were written and recorded into smash hits during some of our country’s darkest hours. How many singers or songwriters today are writing songs aimed at restoring a similar faith in America?
Must we (and every society) always look back to rekindle our spirit? More important, how did the decade of our nation’s greatest optimism slouch into the decade of the post-war playwrights (like Miller and Williams) who preached only disenfranchisement and despair? And why did the intelligentsia and audiences of the time heed the message we still hear today?
Somewhere in the songs of Porter, Gershwin and Berlin lies an inspirational message that united the elements of friendship, optimism, and a faith for the future. On the cusp of the New Year, Theatre Horizon lives up to its name with an earnest and energetic production that just might show the way toward our own era’s redemption.
To read another review by Steve Cohen, click here.
To read a response, click here.
JIM RUTTER
At the opening curtain, Holiday Show At the Swing Club seems like an exercise without a point, other than nostalgia. New York City’s “Swing Club” on New Year’s Eve, 1943 is the setting. A fairly conservative selection of songs from the period includes not only Gershwin and Porter but also the Andrews Sisters, Irving Berlin and even "As Time Goes By"— tunes most people love and no one hates. It’s a lineup too predictably calculated to sell tickets during the Christmas season.
To be sure, the production itself is first-rate. With the help of some exciting swing and flashy tap choreography (by Joe Cicala), and pianist Sam Heifetz’s superb orchestrations (including a delightfully tucked-away Gershwin parody that amplifies the composer’s self-reference in “By Strauss”), director Matt Decker’s production sets the stage for an evening of exciting performances. Ryanne Nicole Studivant charmed on “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” and Erin Reilly’s smash rendering of "I’ll Be Seeing You" was upstaged only by Rachel Camp’s tap number and her near-seductive transformation of the child’s-play song “A Tisket, A Tasket.” The talented band—especially Josh Anderson’s trumpet solos—by themselves justified the entire evening.
Yet at first I couldn’t help wondering, "So what?” Several current bands and performance acts—from Bryan Setzer to the Brooklyn-based World Inferno— either incorporate or duplicate this theme in an evening’s concert, and they seem far more genuine than a theater group performing a scripted “new work.” From Ted Powell’s half debonair, half sleazy bandleader to the borrowed Henny Youngman jokes, Horizon’s show struck me as a theatrical affectation. Mostly, the production suffered from the lack of a set that would make this show truly appear like a 1940’s nightclub; at the very least, why not put some décor on the walls that conveys the festive New Year’s Eve atmosphere that would be found in a posh ’40s New York night club?
Going off to battle, then and now
Nevertheless, about midway through the show, Horizon’s concept began to take hold and cast its own particular spell. And whether the show’s artistic directors and co-writers (Reilly and Decker) made this choice consciously or not, they presented a bold contrast between a war-consumed America that flourished into a state of virtue, and our own war-mired times that now stagnate in an age of pessimism, rancor and despair.
A mere performance piece by a contemporary band couldn’t have achieved this without the acting, skits and narrative that displayed the hope, optimism and yes, patriotism of those times. At the show’s pivotal moment, the band leader Jimmy Goodshaw (Powell) announces that he’s shipping off to fight in Europe, and the Dec. 31st show will be his last on stage at the Swing Club. While many of us today might pay grudging admiration (if that) to a similarly proud soldier, here the band members stood to salute his bravery, recreating an earnestness little seen amidst the yellow ribbons and conflicting messages today.
Dark times, hopeful songs
Moreover, the joyous sense of life captured perfectly by the acting and this well-researched script recreated an era when Americans winked at divorce and adultery, while at the same time showing the righteous innocence of a young cocktail waitress who could faithfully believe that one kiss on New Year’s Eve could for years sustain a feeing and romance disrupted by the distance and tragedy of war.
The contrast between the Depression and World War II eras and our current war of choice acquires even greater force from the realization that all of these hopeful, joyful old songs were written and recorded into smash hits during some of our country’s darkest hours. How many singers or songwriters today are writing songs aimed at restoring a similar faith in America?
Must we (and every society) always look back to rekindle our spirit? More important, how did the decade of our nation’s greatest optimism slouch into the decade of the post-war playwrights (like Miller and Williams) who preached only disenfranchisement and despair? And why did the intelligentsia and audiences of the time heed the message we still hear today?
Somewhere in the songs of Porter, Gershwin and Berlin lies an inspirational message that united the elements of friendship, optimism, and a faith for the future. On the cusp of the New Year, Theatre Horizon lives up to its name with an earnest and energetic production that just might show the way toward our own era’s redemption.
To read another review by Steve Cohen, click here.
To read a response, click here.
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