 |
| From
left, Linda Sweatt, Amelia Edd, Melissa Peck, Kerry Oxford and Luanne
May perform “Under a Blanket of Blue.” Kathleen Zappelli, not pictured,
also sings with the group during the show. |
Brass reunion
By Chip Dombrowski Entertainment Editor
Director Steve Simpkins bills Little Theatre on the Bay's third-annual Little Ole Big Band show as one of a kind.
Of
all the community theaters in all of the communities across the county
and the world, he says, there isn't another place to see big band music
of the 1920s and '30s performed live. The reason? To have a big band
show, you need a big band. And those are rather hard to come by.
“There
are four or five bands in the United States that play this kind of
music,” Simpkins said, citing examples in Eugene, Southern California,
Cincinnati and somewhere on the East Coast. “We're one of them, and
none of the others do a show,” except when hired for private
engagements. If there are any others, “they're not very visible.”
Simpkins
formed the Little Ole Big Band as a historically authentic nine-piece
band, and he plays a trombone that was made in 1923. The band plays
standard commercial arrangements from the time, which typically fit a
format that seems odd when compared to most modern music.
In
most numbers, singers at the band's “Sweet and Hot” show, which
continues this weekend, sing about a dozen lines and then stop - while
the band plays on for another several minutes, before the singer comes
back for a final chorus.
Simpkins said that singers were not
well known in the '20s, and the form reflects the idea that the singer
was just another member of the band, someone who got no more time in
the spotlight than anyone else.
“The band was the star of the
show,” he said, adding that the instances where he did change original
versions of the songs were to add vocals.
The format, popular
with early radio listeners, presents a challenge in a theatrical
setting, where the audience is accustomed to a singer front and center,
commanding attention from beginning to end.
The long
instrumental sections are handled differently by the dozen singers who
perform with the Little Ole Big Band. Some stand off to the side of the
stage and wait their turn, while others dance or act out scenes
silent-movie style. Simpkins said he encouraged people to bring their
own creativity to their performances, and that accounts for the
difference.
“I'm aiming for variety,” he said, explaining that he's happy whether or not singers come up with routines.
While
emcees Jim Thornton and Connie Nigpen sit on the left side of the
stage, seats at tables on the right side rotate with four to eight
unoccupied performers, who sometimes serve as props during singers'
silent acts.
There are three group dance numbers, but some
dancers also help out with other acts. Dancer Josie Kuehn performs a
scene with singer Randy Snyder during “Mississippi Mud,” a 1927
composition by Harry Barris, in which the two fish off the front of the
stage.
A highlight of the show is Byrell and Cassie Justice's
performance of “Side by Side” by Harry Woods. The 1927 hit breaks the
conventional format, with short vocal and instrumental sections
interspersed, allowing the Justices to integrate singing, dancing and
Charlie Chaplin-style performance throughout the act.
The
Justices, along with Alan Spjut and Renae Iversen, are also half of a
comedy team that adds more variety to the show, with three of the
group's four jokes getting laughs at the opening last Friday. Nigpen
used the lone clunker as occasion to express her preference that the
band play all the time, without other acts.
“The band has to
rest their lips,” Nigpen said, suggesting it was the only reason for
the comedy interludes. “That's why you suffer.”
Though the
show's 27 songs, including compositions by Duke Ellington and Cole
Porter, were written mainly in the '20s and '30s, there is actually a
century between the oldest - “That's A-Plenty” from 1904 - and newest,
the opener that Simpkins wrote for last year's show.
Little Ole
Big Band members include Dustin Dillon, Trevor Edd, Janice Kendall,
Steve Krajcir, Steve Moon, Kurt Schab, Simpkins, Judy Snyder and Josh
Ward.
Remaining performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. All tickets are $10. |
