In late November, 1939 an intriguing musical opened at the Center Theatre in New York. Billed as a swing version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night's Dream (1594-6), Swingin" The Dream was set in New Orleans in 1890 and featured a cast of 150, mostly African American actors, singers, and musicians, including Louis Armstrong as Bottom, Maxine Sullivan as Titania, Butterfly McQueen as Puck, and Moms Mabley as Quince. Agnes de Mille staged the dances, Walt Disney designed the sets, and there were two jazz bands in side boxes of the house - Benny Goodman's sextet and Bud Freeman's Summa Cum Laude Orchestra, with a full pit orchestra in the middle conducted by Don Voorhees.
Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange created 7 songs for the show (including the one that became a big hit, "Darn That Dream"), brought in elements of Felix Mendelssohn's 1842 Midsummer Night's Dream (most notably his famous "Wedding March"), and threw in a bunch of hot swing numbers of the day, including Count Basie's "Jumpin' At The Woodside", Goodman's "Flying Home" and 14-odd other numbers ranging from "Saint Louis Blues", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and “Dinah” to "Ain't Misbehavin'" “Moonglow”, and "Jeepers Creepers". What a line-up! !
Ken Peplowski opens his 4th festival as jazz director with an evening that pulls together all of the original Van Heusen / DeLange songs from the Swingin' The Dream as well as selection from the rest for one hot evening of swing at its best!
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| Event Personnel |
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Shirley Andress, vocalsClairdee, vocalsMichael Stone, vocalsIan Whitcomb, vocalsJesse Cloninger, reedsSmith Derek, pianoJason Palmer, drumsSandke Randy, trumpetChuck Redd, vibes, drums |
| |  | Flying Home (1939) Sid Robin (w) Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman (m) |
| | There's Gotta Be A Wedding |