By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Coral Gables Art Cinema will spotlight classic Hollywood musical magic on Tuesday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m., when it presents a members-only screening of Strike Up the Band (1940), starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The showing forms part of the theater’s Musicals for Members initiative, which blends cultural preservation with community engagement in ways that speak directly to Coral Gables’ identity as a city of the arts.
A story of youthful ambition
Directed by Busby Berkeley, Strike Up the Band tells the story of Jimmy Connors (Rooney), a teenage drummer who dreams of leading his school orchestra to Chicago for a national competition hosted by real-life bandleader Paul Whiteman. With the support of Mary Holden (Garland), a spirited singer and loyal friend, Jimmy and his classmates stage an ambitious production to raise the $200 needed for the trip. Their optimism is tested when illness threatens to derail their plans, a plotline that both grounds the story and heightens its emotional impact.
Film critic Mattie Lucas of From the Front Row has described the picture as one in which “Rooney and Garland are full of effervescent charm, and Berkeley delivers some of his strongest numbers of his MGM period.” Eight decades later, the combination of youthful energy, inventive choreography, and heartfelt music still resonates with audiences who find in these films a reminder of simpler hopes and enduring friendships.
Musical legacy on the Big Screen
The Garland–Rooney pair remains one of MGM’s most bankable duos of the era, having co-starred in more than a half dozen musicals that married plot-driven wholesomeness with dazzling musical spectacle. Berkeley’s presence behind the camera elevated Strike Up the Band into more than just a studio product—it became a film that captured the wartime spirit of determination, resourcefulness, and joy.
The Art Cinema’s decision to highlight this film in its series underscores the importance of musicals not only as entertainment but also as cultural artifacts that speak to resilience. In 1940, audiences embraced Strike Up the Band as both escapism and inspiration; in 2025, Coral Gables audiences revisit it as a mirror of their own city’s investment in optimism, creativity, and intergenerational dialogue.
Program with purpose
The Musicals for Members initiative is offered free to members who reserve tickets in person, reinforcing the theater’s role as a civic institution rooted in accessibility and gratitude. The program has been described by the cinema as designed to “sing with gratitude and delight” while introducing new audiences to beloved classics.
Funding from the Harry & Mary Perrin Fund and the Slesnick Family Fund of the Coral Gables Community Foundation ensures the series has a community backbone. Former Coral Gables Mayor Don Slesnick serves as host, further linking the program to the city’s civic leadership. His presence highlights how culture in Coral Gables often emerges not only from institutions but also from individuals who view the arts as essential to community life.
A venue for curated film
Coral Gables Art Cinema has steadily built a reputation as one of South Florida’s most important venues for curated film, pairing contemporary world cinema with carefully chosen classics. In recent years, this balancing act has distinguished the theater from others by presenting cinema as both forward-looking and deeply anchored in history.
Musicals occupy a unique space in this ecosystem. They carry nostalgia for older generations who grew up with Garland and Berkeley but also invite discovery by younger audiences, for whom the spectacle and emotional directness of the genre can feel refreshingly new. A screening like Strike Up the Band therefore operates across multiple registers—memory, education, and sheer entertainment.
The timing of this event also carries symbolic weight. Garland and Rooney’s musical optimism arose in an America on the brink of global conflict. Coral Gables audiences today, navigating a different set of uncertainties, find themselves in conversation with that legacy of resilience. The act of gathering together for a joyful story, sung with conviction, underscores how culture offers both escape and perspective.
Local dimension
For Coral Gables, where civic identity has long been intertwined with culture, programs such as Musicals for Members strengthen the ties between residents and institutions. The Art Cinema is not merely presenting a film—it is curating a shared experience rooted in community pride.
In this sense, Strike Up the Band becomes more than a Hollywood classic. It becomes a vehicle through which Coral Gables reaffirms its place as a city committed to the arts, memory, and public celebration. Audiences will not only see Garland and Rooney in their youthful brilliance but will also participate in a local ritual of cultural continuity.
Event details
- What: Strike Up the Band (1940), starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
- Where: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Avenue
- When: Tuesday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m.
- Admission: Free for members with in-person reservation
For more information about the Musicals for Members series, or to learn about membership benefits, visit gablescinema.com.
Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff
Originally established in 1996 and relaunched as a digital publication in February 2025, the Coral Gables Gazette is an independent local news organization dedicated to factual, objective and accountable community journalism. Our newsroom reports on the people, policies, institutions and events shaping Coral Gables, Florida, providing residents with timely, informative coverage of the issues affecting their community. Our reporting includes City Hall, local government, municipal elections, public spending, real estate development, business, education, arts and culture, and neighborhood affairs throughout the City Beautiful. We follow City Commission decisions, examine public records and report on the businesses, organizations and individuals contributing to Coral Gables. We believe informed residents are essential to a healthy, engaged community. Stories published under the Coral Gables Gazette News Staff byline are prepared or compiled by the publication's editorial team. We strive for accuracy, fairness, transparency and clear distinctions between news reporting, opinion and advertising. Readers are encouraged to submit news tips, corrections, editorial inquiries and story suggestions through our Contact page and learn more about our standards through our Editorial Policy.
Thank you for this wonderful article about the Coral Gables Art Cinema! My first memory of going to the movies was with my father in the ‘50s to see the musical “Calamity Jane” – I think that he was a Doris Day fan and, for me, it’s been a love affair with the “big screen” ever since! Fast forward many years and I find myself chair of the Cinema board and it’s the nicest volunteer position that I’ve ever held! Movie fans will sometimes stop me on the street to say “thank you” for the great entertainment that the Cinema has brought to our downtown. We will often show five different films in a single day on our single screen – literally showing “something” for everyone! This is all thanks to an exceptional executive director and her very talented staff who search for the best material available to bring to our screen!
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