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Subject: I want my Swing Cast Album and I want it now!!
Date: December 9, 1999
Author: Paul DiAgostino


Yes, I know they don't start recording it til Dec. 15th, and it'll be a given amount of time after that until it's released. And so please don't cut ahead of me on line at the record store the morning it comes out.

The show itself opens tonight at The St. James Theatre and the reason I want the CD so bad is because the show is so good. Saw it last night on it's final preview. Those of you who saw Civil War there might remember the seats in that theatre. A little tight maybe. Perhaps just a tad too narrow. But very cushy and quite bouncy. Well, let me tell ya. Those seats come in mighty handy in this show. You goin' be boppin' til you droppin' and if I'm lyin', I'm dyin'. You will not stay still in your seat, that is if you stay in your seat to begin with. I mean, sweet mother of God up there in the high heavens above and holy mackerel, Andy! What an evening at the theater!

The Swing movement itself is currently undergoing it's biggest resurgence since it was popular in the forty's. There's been a number of times through the years that it would make a comeback of sorts but this time around it's huge. There are literally hundreds of new "neo-swing" bands on the scene today led by the likes of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and countless others. Then there's the other part of the movement; the dancers. Swing clubs are opening up all over the world. People of all ages are taking Swing lessons in Swing schools that are popping up like dandelions. You gotta see the 14, 15 & 16 year olds doin' steps their grandparents wish they knew how to do in their day.

Well anyway, this show will only serve to add fuel to the fire. Hell, this show's gonna be like depositing a whole freakin' refinery on top of the swing culture. It is so well done it's incredible. You wanna talk about clever? And cute? And funny? And rousing? It's got everything, it really does. The music is both old and new so it doesn't ever get stale, not even once. And the way certain songs are staged is a regular riot, Alice. The band, which is top notch by the way, is on stage throughout just like in Chicago. And they interact with the cast like in Chicago. But unlike Chicago at The Shubert, there is plenty of room left on stage for the cast to do it's thing. And do it's thing they do!

Led by Ann Hampton Callaway, Everett Bradley, and Laura Benanti, (yes the same 20 year old Laura Benanti who just got finished playing Maria in The Sound of Music) the cast, along with this big band led by Casey MacGill, takes you on a ride that leaves you breathless. How they're ever gonna do this 8 performances a week, I'll never know. And if someone doesn't get injured somewhere along the way, it'll be a modern day miracle.

There are just so many wonderful elements in this show: exquisite choreography, smokin' hot music, unbelievable vocals, outrageous costumes, (I want one of those pink or purple zoot suits) brilliantly creative staging, and as if all that wasn't enough, you get a circus too! It's just too bad the damn thing flies by so quickly.

Speaking of Chicago, this show blows Chicago AND Cabaret COMBINED, completely out of the water and takes no prisoners. I've yet to wipe the smile off my face put there by this production. I'm daring one of the so-called professional critics to pan this show in the media tonight or in the papers tomorrow.

Now if I could only find that discount flyer they sent to the house, cause now I know what I'm getting a lot of people on my list for Christmas this year.

Quay


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