The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra is bringing its The Kings of Swing concert spectacular to Rotorua.
The show, featuring 25 musicians, singers and dancers, presents swing music and dance from the 1940s. The orchestra will tour New Zealand for the first time in July and August, opening with a show in Rotorua on Thursday, July 10, at the Civic Theatre. The tour will feature The Swing Sisters and singer Bryan Anthony.
The concert will be a musical journey down memory lane, with arrangements of Dorsey hits such as I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, Opus No1, Bugle Call Rag, Song of India as well as many of the vintage Sinatra classics - This Love of Mine, I'll Never Smile Again and Blue Skies. The Swing Sisters will perform the hits of The Andrews Sisters. An added attraction will be the swing dance group The Hollywood Jive Dancers.
Tommy Dorsey became one of the greatest big band leaders of that era and was honoured with Grammy awards for I'll Never Smile Again and his theme song I'm Getting Sentimental Over You.
Band leader Terry Myers said the players and singers thrilled audiences with their performance. "I jokingly say my job is to set the tempo and 'get out of the way'. My main task, though, is to set the programme in such a manner as to keep the interest of the audience at a high level."
