Show History

History

Inspiration

The All Night Strut! is a revue of American music of the 1930s and 1940s. Fran Charnas, a veteran theatre director, saw the enigmatic state of the country near the end of the 1970s and wanted to harken back to a time when the United States was also in a mood of uncertainty. As a residual effect, she would hope that bringing this music to the American stage once again would both inspire nostalgia amongst the older generations and educate the younger generations about this certain style. The music was rearranged slightly to accommodate four-part harmony for a rounder sound.

Productions

The All Night Strut! premiered in a peanut shells-on-the-floor joint on the banks of the infamous Cuyahoga River in the industrial flats of Cleveland, Ohio. The club was named Pickle Bill's and its owner was a wild and crazy, generous and wonderful Irishman, Jerry Powell. The previous tenants were an improvisational show and some Irish rovers. Next, the show was whisked uptown to the grandeur of the art deco muraled State Theatre of Playhouse Square. This revue played to over 100,000 people in less than eight months.

Since that engagement, The All Night Strut! has played to great critical acclaim in theatres, concert halls and cabarets across the United States, Canada and Europe, including critical raves in Los Angeles, the record-breaking run at the Gem Theatre in Detroit and the boffo engagement at the Cabaret of the Casino De Monte Carlo. The All Night Strut! has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and The Inkspots and performed with The Boston Pops. The show was also nationally broadcast on PBS in 1988.

Trivia

• After seeing The All Night Strut! in Toronto, Ella Fitzgerald burst into the dressing room, scatting "It Don t Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing". The cast didn t skip a beat, joining her in an improvised jam.