American Classics’ Songs from After the War

For their 2018-2019 season, American Classics observed the centenary of the end of World War I with Irving Berlin’s World War I soldier show YIP YIP YAPHANK! in November 2018. Next up is SONGS FROM AFTER THE WAR with Bradford Conner, Jean Danton, Michelle DeLuise, Dan Prior, and Benjamin Sears on Friday, February 15 (7:30 pm) at First Parish Church, Bedford, MA. and Sunday, February 17 (3 pm) at Longy School of Music at Bard.

The end of World War 1 created euphoria in the nation which lasted through the “Roaring Twenties.” Songwriters felt it, too, and after four years of war songs now we were getting songs that were cheery, optimistic. Some were about life after the war such as I’ve Got My Captain Working for Me Now and How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree)? Songs like Swanee and I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time were about positive things, not gloom and doom. Just plain silly songs came back in fashion, one of the most famous being Yes! We Have No Bananas. Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern were popular and George Gershwin’s career was beginning. The nation felt good and its songs felt good. The spirit of these songs is needed now, not as a distraction but as a reminder that a spirit of optimism is always timely.

Tickets for all performances are $25 and $20 students and seniors For more information visit www.amclass.org or call American Classics at. 617-254-1125.