SHARON, Conn. – Swingtime Canteen will go out with a bang after the Fourth of July, with the Sharon Playhouse’s patriotic season opener set to close Sunday, July 5. With a handful of shows remaining, the all-female cast reflected on the importance of centering women in a WWII story, their favorite moments in the production, and their go-to local haunts while staying in the Northwest Corner.
Sitting on the vibrant stage bedecked with stars, stripes and life-sized WWII-era posters, the cast took turns talking about the relevance of the show as the country prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
“What’s so cool about Swingtime Canteen is the way it features women,” said Claire Marie Spencer, who plays Topeka Abotelli, the Rosie the Riveter-inspired character. “I think that the show does an incredible job of featuring the enormous shift in history that happened during WWII when, in a lot of ways, women came to the forefront in a beautiful team effort.”
The show’s fading Hollywood starlet and band leader Marian Ames, played by Margaret Dudasik, brings a group of instrument-playing women to London, providing her with a meaningful second act as a performer for American troops stationed abroad.
“It was a period of time when probably everyone you knew was serving,” Dudasik said. “A husband, a high school sweetheart, a neighbor. It really shows that you never know what someone’s going through or dealing with.”
Michelle Lemon, who returns to Sharon after years of performing and choreographing at the Playhouse, enjoys significant stage time as she jams on the saxophone, guitar, banjo and piano throughout the show. But for her, it’s a moment of collaboration with the audience – one of many – that causes her to choke up during every performance.
“We invite the audience to sing with us, and to see people sing the lyrics back…I kind of have to disassociate because it’s so beautiful.”
Spencer echoed the sentiment, saying it’s a song called “Pack Up Your Troubles” that brings her to tears each night.
“The idea of 18-year-old boys singing such a happy, upbeat song in the midst of such evil and darkness is powerful,” she said, alluding to a parallel between the song’s history and how it was performed by the women during the show amidst a dark moment.
Still, the show is chock-full of lighter moments and familiar tunes. Lauren Seery, who plays Lt. Jeannie Pielmeier and serves as an integral member of the band, enjoys the first moment when the cast breaks the fourth wall with style – and sweets.
“There’s a break in the middle of the song ‘Hollywood Canteen’ where the band gets to jam out over some really fun changes, and Lucy, Michelle and Margaret’s characters go into the audience and serve real donuts and coffee to the audience as if they were the troops,” Seery said.
The show features 30 different songs from the 1930s and 1940s in a fast-paced, upbeat production that brings audience interaction into the spotlight.
Originally hailing from six different states across the country, the cast currently resides in Manhattan or Brooklyn but has found a handful of local favorite spots during the show’s run.
The cast said they’ve gone as a group to Grassland Dessert Cafe in Lakeville for ice cream more than once. Lucy Rhoades – who shines this year as Katie Gammersflugel after her breakout Sharon Playhouse debut as Dyannne in Million Dollar Quartet last summer – said her first job in New York City was working at an Irving Farm so she stops in for coffee in Millerton often. Others have enjoyed antiquing in the area, stopping at On the Run for a breakfast sandwich, and hiking in Kent State Park and enjoying views of the 250-foot waterfall.
Tickets for Swingtime Canteen are still available at sharonplayhouse.org, including a special holiday afternoon performance at 4 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback 
