Information

Show Credits: Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Music by George Gershwin
Book by George S. Kaufman

Description: Horace J. Fletcher, proud owner of the Fletcher American Cheese Co., outraged when Switzerland protests a tariff on imported cheese, convinces the U.S. government to declare a war, financed by himself and dubbed "The Horace J. Fletcher Memorial War." When his daughter announces her love for Jim Townsend, a newspaperman who has publicly criticized both the war and the quality of milk going into his cheese, Fletcher drafts Townsend and sends him off to war - room and board provided by the Swiss Hotel Owners Association at a modest rate. Everything ends in patriotic triumph with the lovers reunited, Townsend a hero and a new war brewing with Russia over a tariff on caviar!

Pointed and uncompromising, this inspired lunacy is as relevant today as when it opened. The glorious score by George
and Ira Gershwin includes the classic "The Man I Love" and makes STRIKE UP THE BAND a great choice for the concert hall as well!