“I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” and other Greatest Generation jukeboxers are brought to Lindy-hopping life at the Count Basie Saturday afternoon.
There’s the Andrews Sisters’ rollicking reveille, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy;” Bing Crosby’s hopped-up “Swingin’ on a Star;” Benny Goodman’s pounding epic “Sing! Sing! Sing!;” and Glenn Miller’s signature slow-dance “Moonlight Serenade.”
While they might date from the era of USO shows, network radio and your great-grandma, they represent the music of youth — the soundtrack for a country tested by the Great Depression and a Second World War but ready to seize its moment on the global stage.
This Saturday afternoon, the songs, steps and styles of the 1940s are brought to Lindy-hopping life by producer-pianist Bud Forrest, his String of Pearls Big Band Orchestra, and an energetic young cast of singers and dancers when the touring production In the Mood returns to the Count Basie Theatre for a single 2 pm performance.
Subtitled “A 1940s Musical Revue,” the matinee is the latest in a string of area appearances for the crowd-pleasing show that recreates the hepped-up, energized pop music that helped win a World War.
It’s a sound “as brassy as Patton, as riveting as Rosie,” according to promos; a sound that introduced the Heartland to the big-city jazz and exotic rhythms — and the world at large to an America that was becoming a cultural phenomenon to be reckoned with.
It’s also a treat for multi-generations of fans who just love to hear a live big band swinging the hits — and tickets ($20 – $45) may be reserved right here.
