 Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
by Seth Rogovoy
LENOX, Mass., June 6, 1996 -- The National Music Foundation has announced a new round of concerts for the summer, bringing the total to 15 and giving the venue's upcoming season a thematic slant that leans decisively toward "pops" and big-band performers.
Cross-over pop artists Robert Merrill, Victor Borge, Peter Nero and the husband-and-wife duo of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine will be appearing, as will previously announced performers including Paul Anka, Jose Feliciano and the Buckinghams, at the foundation's Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre on Kemble Street. And Grammy- winning gospel singer CeCe Winans will perform on Aug. 9, along with Kelly Williams.
In addition, the center will be hosting a Wednesday night "Salute to the Big Bands" series over five successive weeks featuring swing- era-style big bands.Beginning on July 24 with the Sammy Kaye Orchestra, the series will include the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra on July 31, the Berkshire Big Band in a tribute to Glen Miller on Aug. 7, and the Count Basie Orchestra on Aug. 21. Kaye, Dorsey and Basie are all dead, but so-called ghost bands bearing their banners continue to perform their charts and repertoire.
A previously announced show featuring big-band singer Connie Haines has been rescheduled for Aug. 14 to fit into the Wednesday-night series format. Haines will be joined by Tony Babino and The Chordettes.
Previously announced concerts by pop-rock singer Johnny Rivers, Melba Moore and Lainie Kazan have been cancelled.
"This is a very powerful lineup," said Richard Nader, the concert promoter who is putting together the season for the National Music Foundation. "These are revered people in the music industry who sell millions of records, and they fit the criteria that was given to me to deliver all aspects of the music business."
Nader noted that the box office at the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre opened on Monday and he said that the response, given what he described as minimal advertising, was "healthy and active." He said he would not be revealing any exact sales figures, however.
Nader, who was speaking by phone from his office in Plandome, N.Y., predicted that between two and four more concerts, featuring contemporary and country acts, would be added to BPAT's schedule by mid-June.
Nader said the lineup of performers at BPAT was comparable to those at venues like the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island, N.Y., and at the Valley Forge Music Fair in Valley Forge, Penna., outside of Philadelphia. "These same acts play those venues, which are the premiere summer theaters," said Nader.
A check of the lineups at those venues, however, revealed that of all the musicians announced so far for the Lenox auditorium, only Paul Anka is playing at either Westbury and Valley Forge this summer. Other acts appearing at Westbury and Valley Forge in the coming weeks include Dave Brubeck, Spyro Gyra, Barry White, Huey Lewis, Neil Sedaka, Vince Gill, Tom Jones, Julio Iglesias and George Benson. Tower of Power, the Temptations, Stanley Clarke, The Monkees, Kenny Rogers, Legends of Motown, Billy Ray Cyrus and the Charlie Daniels Band are also playing those venues.
Robert Merrill, one of the few bona-fide opera singers to cross over to popular success on Broadway, TV and in Las Vegas, will appear on July 13 at the 1,100-seat BPAT. Victor Borge, the one-time concert pianist who found his niche in musical humor, will perform on July 27.
Pops pianist Peter Nero, whose repertoire spans Billy Joel, Bernstein and the Beatles, will play on Aug. 17, and as of now, singer Cleo Laine and clarinetist/saxophonist John Dankworth will bring down the curtain on the summer season at the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre on Aug. 31.
As previously announced, Paul Anka will kick off the summer season at the BPAT on July 7. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will perform on Aug. 3, singer-guitarist Jose Feliciano on Aug. 16, the Commodores on Aug. 20 and the Buckinghams on Aug. 24.
Ticket prices for most shows are $25 and $18.Tickets to the big-band performances are $18 or two for $30. Tickets for Anka and Borge are $40, with special gold patron seats for $100 entitling ticketholders to attend after-show receptions with the performers.
For ticket information call the BPAT box office at 413-637-4718.
(This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on June 6, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.)
| Next Article | Previous Article | |
| Back |
