Sharon Playhouse Opens Summer Season With “Swingtime Canteen”
FROM BERKSHIRE ON STAGE
The Sharon Playhouse, in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner, proudly opens its 2026 MainStage Season with the beloved musical Swingtime Canteen, a rousing celebration of the songs, spirit, and resilience of World War II. Timed to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary and the Fourth of July holiday, this exhilarating production runs June 19 Through July 5, with a special 4:00 PM Performance On Independence Day. Filled with unforgettable music and all-American charm, Swingtime Canteen promises to be one of the summer’s most joyful theatrical events.
Created by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci and Charles Busch, the production features a cavalcade of popular hit songs from the 1940’s and is directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Carl Andress (Annie, The Prom at the Playhouse), with choreography by Krystyna Resavy (Annie, The Prom at the Playhouse) and music direction by Eric Thomas Johnson (Playhouse season music director since 2024).
Swingtime Canteen is a joyful salute to the women who lifted soldiers’ spirits during World War II, featuring an extraordinary all-female cast of performers who sing, dance, act—and play the instruments too!
Audiences will be transported back to 1944 to join MGM star Marian Ames and her all-girl band for the rip-roaringest USO-style canteen show of them all. The glamorous movie legend has gathered her instrument-playing gal pals from the Hollywood Canteen and headed to London, the first stop on their tour of front-line bases, to entertain American troops stationed abroad. Joining her are Jo Sterling, her drum-playing Hollywood stand-in; her skittish niece Katie Gammersflugel; solid-as-a-rock, piano-playing riveter Topeka Abotelli; and leggy chorine Lilly McBain.
With more than 30 beloved songs from the war years, Swingtime Canteen promises an unforgettable evening of music, laughter, nostalgia, and heart. Laughs, tears, emotional fireworks, air raids, and a stirring celebration of courage and friendship are woven throughout this hilarious and heartwarming story.
Audiences will delight in timeless favorites including “Don’t Fence Me In,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Sing, Sing, Sing,” “How High The Moon,” “I Don’t Want To Walk Without You,” “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square,” “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” “Sentimental Journey,” “Apple Blossom Time,” and a fast-paced, 14-song Andrews Sisters medley—plus many more unforgettable classics.
