The Women of Tin Pan Alley: A musical revue

The Women of Tin Pan Alley is a one-act, one-woman revue of popular songs from the first half of the Twentieth Century, with a twist:  They're all written in whole or in part by women.  Joanne Schmoll, familiar to TACT audiences as Venus in One Touch of Venus and a soloist in Call Me Mister, has assembled a wonderfully diverse group of standards, comic songs, ballads, and new finds.

"Popular music was heavily dominated by men during this period," says TACT Resident Musical Director Tom Fuller.  "Too often we forget that women, while less visible, made critical contributions to the repertoire of American standards from this period."  Schmoll agrees wholeheartedly.  "Let's not forgot that Dorothy Fields wrote the lyrics for 'I'm in the Mood for Love', 'I Won't Dance', and many other hits. Others, like Doris Fisher, Ann Ronnell, Kay Swift, and Dana Suesse, worked side by side with the men, earning respect for the terrific songs they wrote."  With songs like 'Willow, Weep For Me', 'How High the Moon', and 'What a Diff'rence a Day Made' you will come away surprised at how many songs you already know were written by women.

The revue is embellished with quotations from the composers themselves and from those who knew them and their work. Reenie Codelka is the musical accompanist to Schmoll. The Women of Tin Pan Alley is presented during the run of Drama Under the Influence, TACT's evening of one-act plays written by women during the same years. 

The Women of Tin Pan Alley will be performed at Theater II, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang Street, Arlington, Virginia 22206. Shows are March 13, 19, 20 at 8 PM, and 5:15 PM matinee on March 24. Ticket price is $10 ($8 for students and seniors). Admission is free to subscribers of American Century Theater. As a special discount offer, bring a ticket stub from Drama Under the Influence and receive the ticket price of $5. Purchase of a full price adult ticket entitles free admission to one child under 18.

Call 703-553-8782 or visit www.americancentury.org for reservations. The American Century Theater is a 501(c)(3) professional nonprofit theater company dedicated to producing great, important and neglected 20^th Century American plays and playwrights. TACT is funded in part by Arlington County