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Arts & Entertainment

American Songbook, The Music of World War II

American Songbook, the Music of World War II opens July 29th at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny Park and continues thru August 13th.  Conceived and directed by Rich Mancini, the original musical revue, in many ways also a theatrical, à la military, review of World War II songs, celebrates in song the music and popular culture of the American home front.  For tickets, please call (203) 966-7371 or go to info@tpnc.org.

  New Canaan actor/singer Tom Butterworth, seen as Niels Bohr in Copenhagen and who brought down the house as the dame Clarissa in Snow White, when he sang “People,” remarks, “Songbook’s music selections are fun and straight-forward.  The lyrics are meant to be heard, unlike some contemporary songs, and they reflect "traditional" values: romance, duty, camaraderie, and unapologetic love for country and the cause.”

  New Canaan parents and students, who know Lauren Nicole Sherwood as the director of the 7th and 8th grade musical at Saxe and also the costume designer for both the 5th & 6th and 7th& 8th grade musicals, will have the opportunity to see this talented actor/singer on stage since she will be portraying a member of the Greatest Generation in her prime. Ms. Sherwood also directed The Wizard of Oz at New Canaan high school two years ago.

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            A Stamford native, Rich Mancini has been a collector and student of the home front culture since his teens.  He has been thinking about this show for 30 years and also dreams of founding a home front museum somewhere in Fairfield County.   He hopes that American Songbook, The Music of World War II captures the spirit of the times, recalling that “the last time we declared war was December 8, 1941 and there were more fatalities in the war plants than soldiers killed in action. Our country has not experienced such an all encompassing effort since.” 

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            Commenting on the show’s 49 songs, Mancini said, “The songs are a lot of fun to sing. Sometimes quaint and whimsical, several are topical--so much of their time--and hold up only in context.”  The musical outpouring of 65 composers and lyricists from Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Ira Gershwin to many lesser known songsmiths, the original musical revue showcases well-known standards from “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” to “Sentimental Journey,” along with seldom-heard gems such as “Obey Your Air Raid Warden,”  “Little Bo Peep Has Lost Her Jeep” and “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet.” 

            Phil Moore composed the Act I show stopper “There’ll Be A Jubilee” and was for many years the accompanist and arranger for Dorothy Dandridge and Lena Horne, as well as an arranger for the Tommy Dorsey and Harry James bands.  Rosalind P. Walter, who "came from old money and worked on the night shift building the F4U Corsair fighter," was Redd Evans’ and John Jacob Loeb’s inspiration for their hit “Rosie the Riveter.” Ms. Walter eventually became a WNET board member and a long-time supporter of the “Charlie Rose Show.”

            Performing under the musical direction of Stan Wietrzychowski, the cast will be backed up by a band comprised of piano, trumpet, keyboard, drums and sax. Tom Butterworth of New Canaan, Terry LeBel of Huntington, and Marion Richard of Trumbull will appear as baby boomers.  Bill Adams of West Haven, Daniel Bayer of Wilton, Lisa Dahlstrom of Fairfield, Amanda Goodman and Lauren Nicole Sherwood of Stamford, and David Sylvia of Stratford will portray greatest generation characters in their 20s, while Lester Colodny of Fairfield, the only member of the cast to have served in World War II, will make a cameo appearance, singing, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

            For the fourth summer the Town Players is supporting the New Canaan Food Pantry. Summer is a hard time for food pantries.  Many people go away, but the need for food doesn’t!  The Town Players asks the audience to put non-perishables in the wicker basket by the box office window when they come to the theatre.  

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