Streamliners (The R.C.A.F. Streamliners Dance Band 1941-46) by Andy Sparling and James White

An unknown WW2 Canadian Air Force swing band, comprised of small-town musicians who had at first enlisted as aircraft maintenance trainees, was later described by Glenn Miller himself as “the best band in Europe – next to mine.” Post-war, Streamliner alumni played with Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Stephane Grappelli, and even the Beatles. The unifying theme is a band member’s modern-day son searching for why his father rarely spoke of this wildly successful, “Glenn Miller-approved” big band.

Keywords: history, music, World War Two, jazz, dance, survivors' guilt

Produced by Goderich Little Theatre, Goderich ON, October 2024

Genre: Drama, Historical, Play with Music
Acts: 2
Run time: 120 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Content notes: Triggering possible: A scene at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Several double-entendre, in-context and humorous references to male genitalia.

Cast size: 9 actors
Male roles: 7
Female roles: 2
Other roles: 2
Casting notes: Four main male characters are in their early to mid-twenties. Three roles require voice actors only, with some doubling possible.