‘In the Mood’ Swings, Swings, Swings
Johnson County Community College
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In the Mood – A Swing Show! is a toe-tapping nostalgic trip to the 1940s. Much more than a concert, this 1940s musical revue features the big band String of Pearls Orchestra and In the Mood Singers & Dancers at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College.
The music, arrangements, choreography and costumes are authentic to the ’40s, a time when the combination of up-tempo big-band instrumentals and intimate, romantic ballads set the mood for a future filled with promise, hope and prosperity. This was a time when music moved the nation’s spirit.
Much more than a concert, In the Mood takes a retro look at the life and times of America’s greatest generation in the 1940s. Through radio, theaters and ballrooms, the big bands were drawing record crowds to music by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Erskin Hawkins, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra and more. Vocal groups and soloists sang a repertory of great songs, and, for the last time in the 20th century, the entire country shared a common popular music. This body of song did much to sustain national morale during World War II.
The National Archives in Washington, D.C., brought In the Mood to audiences as part of their commemoration of the 50th anniversary of World War II, and the response was extraordinary, with crowds lining up for hours before curtain time. In 1993, the Archives presented a repeat performance, out-of-doors on Constitution Avenue. Thousands attended, and many stayed to dance the night away. As a result, In the Mood, in affiliation with the USO (United Service Organizations), began a series of tours which played to audiences across the United States during the 50th Commemoration of World War II. The show's association with the National Archives and the USO was altogether appropriate, for much of the underpinning research was drawn from resources of these organizations.
Bud Forrest, In the Mood producer and music director, is a former Juilliard student who earned his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College, New York, and did graduate work in music at Catholic University, Washington, D.C. He was accompanist to the world famous “Singing Sergeants,” the official chorus of the U.S. Air Force. Throughout his 30 years in Washington, D.C., Forrest has been pianist for many of the capitol’s political events including performances at the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Smithsonian Institution. Forrest and his String of Pearls Orchestra were featured at an Inaugural Ball for President and Mrs. Clinton.
Vic Schoen, In the Mood arranger, arranged and scored music as well as conducted for some of the greatest names in show business including Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Patti Page, Andy Williams, Ethel Merman, Shirley MacLaine, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jolson, Mary Martin, Maurice Chevalier and Perry Como, to name just a few. He was music director-inresidence for Decca, Kapp, RCA, Liberty and Mainstream Records. In addition, Schoen was musical director for Universal Pictures for three years, Paramount Pictures for four years and scored two films for Walt Disney Productions. All the above was accomplished after being the arranger and conductor for 20 years for all of the music of the Andrews Sisters. In the Mood is dedicated to Schoen who passed away in January 2000.
As the Glenn Miller song says, “don’t keep me waitin’ when I’m in the mood.” Tickets are $35 and $25, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445, or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.
