Directed by John Wilkerson
Music Director - Richard Gwozdz
Choreographer - Linda Leonard
Set Design - Jason Leyva and John Wilkerson
Costume Design - Nita Cadenhead
Lighting Design - Jason Leyva

CAST for Saturday, January 9th matinee

Michael Pandolfo
Kelsey Heine
Andre Perkins
Rebecca Siggers
Hannah Lumpkin
Ryan Wheeler
Amanda Butcher
Daniel Moore
Gina Gwozdz
Eddie Floresca
Jennifer Leyva
Alan Fowlds

MUSICIANS:

Richard Gwozdz - keyboard
Jared Asher - trumpet
Kurtis Muller - trombone
Jason Lellison - flute, saxophone
Lancer Hardy - bass
Rod Kile - drums

*REVIEWED 01-09-10 PERFORMANCE.

Reviewed by Mary L Clark, Associate Theatre Critic for
John Garcia's THE COLUMN

_____________________________SWING!_____________________________

Dance, in its many forms, seems all the rage these days. TV shows like So You
Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars have garnered huge fan bases
while amateur dance classes are springing up everywhere. In their wisdom and
with good timing instincts, Artisan Center Theater chose Swing! as part of this
year's production lineup.

Swing! is a musical revue whose story is told through music and dance with no
actual dialogue. Though the story is thin, it does take the audience through a
time line from the 1930's through 1946, the jazz era. Thanks to my parents, I am
very familiar with the big band sounds of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn
Miller, Benny Goodman and the one and only Cab Calloway.

The dancers in Swing! are identified as East Coast or West Coast Swing, Latin
and Western Swing. I love to dance but am not a professional by any stretch of
the imagination so I turned to my trusty computer for a quick lesson. What I
learned is that East Coast

Swing is "a more standardized form of dance developed for instructional purposes
by Arthur Murray for his studios". West Coast Swing, mainly from California, is
a "partner dance derived from the Lindy Hop with a distinctive elastic look and
danced in slotted areas of the dance floor" (probably to keep from injuring the
other dancers with all the flips and lifts!). Western Swing was also "popular
on the west coast and later was renamed rock 'n' roll in 1958". While I did not
find information on Latin Swing per se, I feel certain it derived from Cuban and
Puerto Rican dance styles with a decided east coast twist.

Artisan Center is a theatre in the round. They ingeniously use three of the four
back walls as set backdrops, painting them for each production. Painted posters
of the big bands and their leaders, a nightclub table and chairs and dance hall
seating make up the set and they have a live six piece band. They performed
over 30 great songs like "Swing It, Brother Swing", "Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy"
and "I'll Be Seeing You". The song order chronologically begins in the 30's with
wild rhythms in which to escape right into WWII and those patriotic and
heart-yearning songs and then to the later years of the blues and western/rock
'n' roll tunes. The last songs catapult us all the way back to where we started
with the pounding beat of "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Sing, Sing, Sing".

The cast of Swing! consists of four singers and eight dancers and the theatre
has their own swing shift with duo casting. According to bios, there were
experienced dancers and singers and some for whom this was their first encounter
onstage. For the most part, this was a youthful cast who, obviously, did not
live in that era but, I don't believe, were told why this type of dance came
into being. Swing dance was freedom; it was the total opposite of what people
had to deal with - the depression and then World War II. It was escapism and
abandonment where truly anything went as noted by all the slides, flips, lifts
and hurling one self across the dance floor.

The dancers I saw the day I reviewed the show were, with the exception
of a few, tentative and hesitant. There was a lot of looking down at the floor
and counting steps in their heads which showed up in their faces. I absolutely
let some of that go to opening week jitters and settling into the show. I also
give choreographer Linda Leonard huge kudos for taking each dancer's ability and
showing them off beautifully.

Hannah Lumpkin and, especially, Ryan Wheeler stood out as the most athletic and
technically competent swing couple but Ms. Leonard allowed all the couples'
talents to shine. Jennifer Leyva and Alan Fowlds used comedy to great physical
effect. I was surprised though to read that Fowlds is involved with a swing
dance organization yet showed very little of his ability. Actually, several
dancers' bios indicated they were experienced in swing dance but it did not come
across onstage and that was confusing.

In contrast, the four singers each had a wonderful individual quality that held
the audience's attention yet they blended well together and were a delight to
listen to and watch. Michael Pandolfo took first solo and, at only fifteen
years of age, was astonishingly cool and suave though I didn't realize until
reading the playbill at home that he was supposed to be the band leader (age
thing maybe!).

Just as cool with a little bit of sweet talk was Andre Perkins. His duets with
Rebecca Siggers were sharp and perfect because they both understood the mood of
the songs. I loved Kelsey Heine's angelic soprano voice and I'm sure she has
been compared to Kristin Chenoweth many times but it is a compliment well
deserved.

Here I want to note the hauntingly beautiful duet between Ms. Heine and the
band's trombone player, Kurtis Muller. They sang and played Cry Me a River with
style and with the passion that song needs. The trombone "singing" back its
response to her words and then both leaning their heads together was beautifully
directed and beautifully performed. For me, however, the before mentioned
Rebecca Siggers is a stand out singer of tremendous talent.

Still in college, she understands "The Blues in the Night" and the sweet give
and take of "All of Me/I Won't Dance" with the maturity of a much older person.
With maturity also comes more confidence and all I can tell Ms. Siggers is to
stand tall and know you have more than what it takes to steal the show so go for
it!

Swing! had wonderful musicians with that big band sound though, on occasion, too
loud for the singers. They certainly kept your feet tapping and body swaying but
I missed some of the big band bravado and horn section orchestrated movement.

Costumer Nita Cadenhead dressed the women singers in beautiful gowns, the men in
fashionable zoot-type suits and the dancers in those short, flouncy skirts,
fitted palazzo pants, white sailor and khaki army uniforms so right for the
period. Lilly Stapp's floor and wall paintings were bright and as upbeat as the
music.

Swing! is fast, full of energy and fun. Artisan Center Theater prides itself on
being for the whole family and Swing! is a production that today's youth and
those who lived that era will both enjoy. And for all of those hip cats out
there who are in the know - it don't mean a thing. . . . .!

Reviewed by Mary L Clark, Associate Theatre Critic for
John Garcia's THE COLUMN

__________________________________________________________

SWING!
Artisan Center Theater
420 E. Pipeline Road

Hurst, TX 76053
Through January 30, 2010

Note: Swing will be interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing on Tuesday,
January 12.

Performances are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and
Saturday matinee at 3:00 pm.

Tickets on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are $12 for ages 13 and above and $7
for ages 12 and under.

Tickets on Fridays and Saturdays are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and
students and $9 for children. Group ticket prices are available. For information
and reservations call 1-817-284-1200 or go to www.artisanct.com.