© The Hollywood Reporter
Dec. 10, 1999


Swing!
By Frank Scheck

The latest in what seems like an annual exercise in attempting a dance-oriented musical revue on Broadway, Swing! succeeds better than most, thanks to its relentless energy, sexiness and welcome refusal to take itself seriously. Featuring a truly swell cast of attractive and talented dancers, this paean to the glories of swing in all its forms may not be the most substantial offering on Broadway, but it's certainly one of the most fun.

Directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett and "supervised" by director Jerry Zaks, the show is a compendium of more than 30 dance routines performed to swing songs both old and new. The music is provided by the Gotham City Gates, a new swing band led by the zoot suit-clad Casey MacGill, with jazz singer Ann Hampton Callaway as the featured vocalist.

Swing! takes care to include as many swing dance styles as possible, from traditional to Latin to country. Corbett-Taylor's choreography is consistently fun and inventive, and well shows off the stunning athleticism of the dancers. In particular, Beverly Durand, in the fabulous "Throw That Girl Around"/"Show Me What You Got," manages to propel her body around the stage like she was made of rubber, to dazzling effect. In "Hit Me With a Hot Note," the absolutely luscious Laura Benanti -- I hereby declaim all professional objectivity and state my willingness to make a deep, permanent commitment to her -- makes a stunningly sexy transformation. Benanti, in the number "Cry Me a River," also makes the convincing if unlikely case for the trombone as the most erotic of musical instruments, although there is tough competition from the stand-up bass, with which Caitlin Carter has a sensual duet in "Harlem Nocturne."

A recurring and amusing device is the employment of scat singing as dialogue, beautifully handled by Callaway and the charismatic Everett Bradley in "Bli-Blip." One of the most crowd-pleasing segments is the original song "Bill's Bounce," featuring a high-flying duet between two male dancers (Aldrin Gonzalez, Scott Fowler) and the bungee-cord wearing Beverly Durand and Carol Bentley.

Besides the perfectly fine original numbers to be heard, the show features a cornucopia of swing classics, such as the highly effective opening number, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)", as well as "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "G.I. Jive" and the ubiquitous "Sing, Sing, Sing." Callaway displays her beautiful voice and expert swinging style in such numbers as "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "I'll Be Seeing You."

The fast-paced evening comes in at less than two hours, one of the rare current examples of a show knowing enough not to wear out its welcome. Swing! -- either in its conception or execution -- doesn't exactly break any new stylistic ground, but if you don't find yourself bouncing in your seat with joyful enthusiasm you're obviously suffering from a vitamin deficiency.

SWING!
Presented by Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Steven Baruch, Tom Viertel, Lorie Cowen/Stanley Shopkorn and Jujamcyn Theaters in association with BB Promotion, Dede Harris/Jeslo Prods., Libby Adler Mages/Mari Glick, Douglas L. Meyer/James D. Stern and PACE Theatrical Group/SFX
Director-choreographer: Lynne Taylor-Corbett
Production supervisor: Jerry Zaks
Scenic design: Thomas Lynch
Costume design: William Ivey Long
Lighting design: Kenneth Posner
Sound design: Peter Fitzgerald

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