DC Copeland's award-winning dancical Jitterbug! has been in rewrites since it's 3/23 reading in the New Works Festival in NYC. The three-act is now a two-act with the addition of new historical characters and one new/old song. Legendary bad girl Madame Stephanie St. Clair and her faithful henchman "Bumpy" Johnson have been added. The song is Irving Berlin's 1936 hit "Let's Face the Music and Dance."
Ella Fitzgerald "Flipping channels brought me to an episode of the Great American Songbook on PBS where I rediscovered Irving Berlin's Let's Face the Music and Dance," Copeland said. "I was looking for inspiration for the final scene in the first act and this song put it all together for me. The lyrics and the mood of the piece mirrored what I had written so it was a no-brainer. The fact that it was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald was chocolate icing on the cake. It was one thing to have been recorded during the dancical's time period (a must for me), but it also had to reflect one of the play's themes, i.e., the uniquely American collaboration of black and white creatives. Stumbling upon this program last week was serendipitous to say the least."
You can learn more about the process at the dancical's website. Copeland has also updated the dancical's music list which includes YouTube links to the music and some facts about the songs and the songwriters.
Jaz Dorsey
Jaz Dorsey
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