Show guide
Swing!
Swing! is a 1999 Broadway dance revue built mostly from swing-era standards, performed with no spoken dialogue and no overarching plot. Paul Kelly conceived it, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett directed and choreographed the show.
- Broadway premiere
- 1999
- Music by
- Various Artists
- Genre
- Jukebox
- Setting
- 1930s
Swing!: quick answers
What is Swing! about?
- Swing! is a song-and-dance revue celebrating the music of the swing era, with no spoken dialogue: its singers and dancers tell their stories entirely through music and dance, including partner styles such as the Lindy Hop.
When did Swing! open on Broadway?
- Swing! opened on Broadway on December 9, 1999, at the St. James Theatre and played 461 performances before closing on January 14, 2001.
Is Swing! a jukebox musical?
- Yes, largely. Swing! is a revue built mostly from swing-era hits associated with artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman, alongside some new songs, and it has no spoken dialogue.
Where and when is Swing! set?
- Swing! has no fixed setting; its songs and dances evoke the swing era of jazz, from the 1930s to 1946.
What Swing! is
Swing! has no spoken dialogue and no central characters. Instead, a large company of singers and dancers performs a nonstop sequence of numbers built around the sound of the swing era, from the big-band sophistication of the 1930s and 1940s through the partner-dancing crazes that grew up alongside it. The show is structured more like a concert than a traditional musical, with each number working as its own self-contained showcase for a different singer, band style, or dance specialty.
Most of the songs are well-known swing-era hits rather than an original score, among them In the Mood, Jumpin' at the Woodside, and Stompin' at the Savoy, though a handful of new numbers, such as Rhythm and Kitchen Mechanics' Night Out, were written for the show. Athletic partner dancing is the show's main attraction, with the company performing the lifts, spins, and aerials of the Lindy Hop and jitterbug alongside West Coast, country-western, and Latin swing styles. Because there is no overarching plot to follow, the appeal is almost entirely musical and physical.
The music and the makers
Swing! draws most of its songbook from real artists of the swing era rather than a single composer, pulling numbers associated with bandleaders and performers such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. Paul Kelly conceived the show as a tribute to that music and the dance culture built up around it, assembling an evening-length program instead of writing a book musical with a plot and characters of its own.
Direction and choreography came from Lynne Taylor-Corbett, with Jerry Zaks supervising the production, though some featured couples, including 1997 Lindy Hop champions Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas, performed their own choreography. Harold Wheeler provided the orchestrations for the show's onstage band, Casey MacGill and the Gotham City Gates. That combination of a curated songbook and dance-driven staging, rather than a script, defines the show's identity.
Swing! on Broadway
Swing! opened on Broadway on December 9, 1999, at the St. James Theatre, after previews that began in early November, with Jerry Zaks supervising the production. The original company starred Laura Benanti, Ann Hampton Callaway, and Everett Bradley, leading a large ensemble of singers and dancers through the swing-era songbook. The production ran for 461 performances before closing on January 14, 2001.
At the 2000 Tony Awards, Swing! received six nominations, including best musical, direction and choreography for Lynne Taylor-Corbett, orchestrations for Harold Wheeler, and featured actress nods for Laura Benanti and Ann Hampton Callaway, but it won none of them; Contact took the Tony for best musical that year. A US national tour opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on November 20, 2000, while the Broadway production was still running.
Swing!: frequently asked questions
When did Swing! open on Broadway?
Swing! opened on Broadway on December 9, 1999, at the St. James Theatre.
Who created Swing!?
Swing! was conceived by Paul Kelly and directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, with a score drawn mostly from swing-era standards by artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman rather than from a single composer.
What is Swing! about?
It has no overarching plot; the revue is a nonstop concert of singing and dancing built around swing-era jazz and dance styles like the Lindy Hop and jitterbug.
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