Strike Up The Band (Concert Version)

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Concord Theatricals

Strike Up The Band (Concert Version)

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Cast Size

3w, 6m, 1any gender (adult) plus ensemble
Duration

105 Minutes
Target Audience

Adult

Also Available

Strike Up The Band

Details

Summary

A concert adaptation of the hit Broadway musical!

In this zany political and social satire, an American tariff against Swiss cheese elicits such an angry response from Switzerland that Horace J. Fletcher, owner of the American Cheese Co., pushes the U.S. to declare war. Despite the brewing political turmoil, several romances bloom at Fletcher’s company, including the innocent courtship of youngsters Timothy and Anne, a passionate romance between pacifist Jim and Fletcher’s daughter, Joan, and the aggressive pursuit of Fletcher himself by Anne’s strong-willed mother, Mrs. Draper.

History

Strike Up the Band premiered on Broadway at the Times Square Theatre on 14 January 1930. Directed by Alexander Leftwich, the production featured Doris Carson, Jerry Goff, Margaret Schilling and Gordon Smith.

Keywords

Performing Groups

Time Period 1930s
Setting The Horace J . Fletcher American Cheese Co. in Hurray, CT, and Switzerland. 1930.
Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes, Period Costumes
Duration 105 Minutes

Media

“Lively entertainment… goofy political chicanery [and] some of Broadway’s greatest songs.” – Variety

“Great fun… completely bonkers – but quite enjoyably so... the story certainly strikes a chord in 2019… [it’s] a show about America’s lust for war and obsession with putting its own interests first.” – Theatre Things

“Cheerily absurd… [this] cheese-war satire roasts the American whey.” – The Guardian

“Gorgeous Gershwin… songs ranging from playful Gilbert and Sullivan pastiches to heart-clutching ballads (most notably ‘The Man I Love’) woven into a goofy plot loaded with blatant anti-war, big-business satire.” – Backstage

Music

Musical Style Classic Broadway

Licensing & Materials

Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

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Ticketing

Authors

George Gershwin

George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898, and began his musical training when he was 13. At 16, he quit high school to work as a "song plugger" for a music publisher, and soon he was writing songs himself. "Swanee," as introduced by Al Jolson, brought George ...

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Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin, the first songwriter to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, was born in New York City on December 6, 1896. In 1917 The Evening Sun published his first song (“You May Throw All The Rice You Desire But Please, Friends, Throw No Shoes”). Four years later, Ira enjoyed hi ...

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George S. Kaufman

George S. Kaufman was born in Pittsburgh in 1889. During his early career as a reporter and drama critic , he began to write for the theatre. For 40 years, beginning in 1921 with the production of Dulcy, there was rarely a year without a Kaufman play — usually written in coll ...

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Strike Up The Band (Concert Version)