"In the Mood," a revue that celebrates big-band sounds through song and dance, is the soundtrack of a postwar generation.

"The show has gone well beyond my expectations," said Bud Forrest, its originator, producer and musical director, who has taken the production across the United States and Canada.

"I've traveled left, right, top, bottom — all over the country ... and it's been a sell-out everywhere."

"In the Mood" opens a three-show run tonight at the Hawai'i Theatre and ends with a Sunday matinee.

It pays tribute to a precious time — the 1940s — that celebrates swing, big-band sounds, romance and folks who served the country in the military.

The show isn't just for older folks.

"Kids are enjoying swing dancing, too. They love the music played by the String of Pearls Orchestra," said band leader Forrest, 57.

"It's kind of a puzzlement. We did six performances in San Bernardino, in a hall that seats 1,600, and we sold out all shows. When you think about it, these are not the songs you hear on the radio now; these lyrics and these tunes are part of our culture, however."

Forrest was somewhere in Arizona, speaking on a cell phone at a bus stop, en route to Albuquerque, while his 23-member troupe (19 performers and four techies) was shopping at a Wal-Mart.

"The music is what's working for this show," he said. "So many memories ... and while the base audience is older, those who lived the music, the children of these people are coming, too."

The genesis of the production was a 1988 show that Forrest put together in Washington, D.C., focusing on the music of The Andrews Sisters. "We got together three ladies, with me on piano, and we added a trumpet player — and eventually, this grew to a nine-piece band."

When a performance on the steps of the National Archives attracted 5,000 people in 1993, Forrest knew he was on to something hot. "And folks from the USO saw us and asked us to tour."

Forrest, a former Juilliard student, has been a pianist for numerous D.C. events, such as political programs in the U.S. Senate and House. In 1997, his String of Pearls Orchestra was featured at the inaugural ball for President Bill Clinton.

"What's really the key to the show are the original arrangements by Vic Schoen, who arranged and conducted for The Andrews Sisters throughout their career. Schoen, who since has died, was musical director at Universal and Paramount Pictures and worked on the 'Road' movies starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

"People don't know his name, but they sure know his music. And that's what I wanted to accomplish with this show — get into the mood (of the music), the style, the look of the period."

The score is rich with classics from Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Dorsey and more. The hit parade includes "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Star Dust," "In the Mood" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

"Essentially, we're doing music from a period that was the last time all America was listening and dancing to at the same time. ... (Afterward) rock, folk, country and soul (and more contemporary genres such as hip-hop and rap) ... separated the listeners by age groups."

"In the Mood" is "as authentic as it gets," said Burton White, general manager and artistic director of the Hawai'i Theatre, who booked the production.

With musical salutes to specific branches of the military, and veterans and current enlistees who might be in the house, the show suits the theater's Military Appreciation Month observance now under way.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.