Memorial Opera House Presents
A Summer Soundscape
Midwest Big Band
Featuring: Mary Kay Steele & Jim Bulanda
Saturday, June 17, 2023
8PM
Memorial Opera House
104 Indiana Ave. Valparaiso, Indiana
Big band music of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s has gifted American culture with arguably the greatest love songs on
the charts. Listening to the crooning of “Rat Pack” members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop on the radio was enough to melt any icy heart until it skipped a beat to the thrill of a saxophone. Band leaders like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Millerdrew crowds and bridged racial divides through the love language of swing.
For over four years, this professional quality, historical, 18-piece big band has been thrilling audiences across Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland with their world-class talent. Instrumentalists include the best semiprofessionals in the Region, some of whom have toured professionally with Ray Charles, played freelance in Los Angeles, or taught music at the high school and college levels. Local vocalists Mary Kay Steele from La Porte, who has performed in community theater in Northwest Indiana for many years, along with Jim Bulanda, who is famous for his “Tribute to Frank Sinatra Show,” have joined the band to style the jazz standards.
Tickets
$80 • Loge
$60 • Orchestra
$40 • Main Floor & Balcony
