JONESBOROUGH REPERTORY THEATRE

Performances
Thursday - Saturday: July 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 26 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, July 27 at 6 p.m.
Sunday Matinees: July 20 and 27 at 2 p.m.

Original Concept by Paul Kelly.
Original Direction and Choreography by Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
Directed at the JRT by Jennifer Schmidt and Choreographed by Kristin Smith

Jonesborough Repertory Theatre performed a new jivin’, toe-tappin’, big band playin’ hit - The Original Broadway SWING! Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatricals explain, "Two thirds rhythm and one third soul." That's how Fats Waller defined the uniquely American form of popular music and dance known as "swing." Requiring only joyful enthusiasm and a ready partner, swing exploded out of pre-war Harlem's hotbed of youth culture and swept the world. It shattered ethnic and cultural barriers, generating specialty styles such as Jive, Swing, Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, and Hip-Hop Swing. SWING! Celebrates this remarkable diversity to the beat of the most exhilarating songs of the period. But as this enthralling song-and-dance show makes abundantly clear, swing was never a time or place -- it has always been a state of mind!"

SWING! featured 37 talented singers, dancers, instrumentalists and crew. JRT welcomed to the stage, The Cast: Josh Baldwin, Jesse Barnhill, Bob Browning, Kathleen Buttolph, Stacy Caruthers, Michele Chapman, Bleu Copas, MeLissa Crockett, Mike Elliot, Shannon Frazier, Janette Gaines, Noah Grunzweig, Leslie Hughes, Kim Jones, Kim Lundin, Lisa Messimer, Shelyne Ponder, Jennifer Schmidt, Paul Seay, Dennis Smith, Katelyn Smith, Kristin Smith, Sharon Squibb; The Band: Beth Blevins, Howard Bloom, Josh Kindle, Stacia Brown, Barbara Knisley, Jonathan Reed, Josh Culbert, Lucas Schmidt, Matt Williams; The Crew: Mike Schmidt, Scott Hardy, Landon Simmons; and costumers, Beth Taws and Shirley Stelzer.

"Jonesborough and JRT wanted to do something a little different than the summer 1940s USO Show typically performed over the Jonesborough Days weekend," says JRT Artistic Director, Kathleen Buttolph. "So, we found a show that offers many of those 1930s and 40s favorites with a bigger kick and higher lift. SWING!’s production rights are reserved through Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals. R&H’s SWING! highlights the entire era - the USO, the dance, the scats, not to mention, the SAVOY!! For those of you who will miss the USO Show, don’t worry, it will be back this Christmas (by popular demand)."

SWING! was sponsored by Wellmont Health System and Ken Ross Architects.