The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra closes its 2020-21 season with a tribute to three iconic crooner-entertainers of the 1950s-80s — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. As one of the very few orchestras nationwide to perform a complete in-person season, the KSO made use of unconventional and outdoor venues to adhere to safety protocols since July 2020.
For its 29th season finale, the KSO takes the newly renovated Newport Car Barn (former Greenline Trolley and Bus depot) for a test spin. The block-long historic building in SW Newport will provide plenty of safe distancing and a peek at one of NKY’s newest event spaces.
(Photo from KSO)
In 1953, actress Lauren Bacall returned to her Holmby Hills, CA home to find her husband (Humphrey Bogart) with a drunk and disheveled group of friends including Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Cary Grant and others. She dubbed them a “Rat Pack.” After Bogart’s death in 1957, Sinatra became the defacto leader of the gang that would add Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and others. Though Frank eschewed Bacall’s label, the media kept the Rat Pack monicker alive. The Pack went on to make the original Ocean’s 11 film (1960), and the Vegas glitz and glamor portrayed by these singer, actors and entertainers became synonymous with The Strip.
The 1950s and 60s were a heyday for songwriters, arrangers and singers up until the British Invasion, but the swing and swagger of the Rat Pack sustained loyal following for another decade and more. The KSO’s “Reboot” features three local singer-entertainers that can be heard with groups around town — Dan Radank (Frank Sinatra), Mickey James (Dean Martin) and Corey Tucker (Sammy Davis, Jr.) The big band with strings will be playing many of the originally recorded arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Marty Paich and Quincy Jones, along with some adaptations of other originals by long-time KSO arranger and orchestrator Terry LaBolt.
Come fly with the KSO and the universal nostalgic tunes of the Rat Pack at a new Northern KY venue — The Newport Car Barn — 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15. Tickets are $35 to experience the region’s great musicians, guest artists and innovative programming unique to our region. For those who must stay home, the KSO is live streaming the concert (with multiple cameras) for ‘at home access’ for the price of a single ticket. Three hundred in-person tickets are available online at kyso.org, or by phone 859-431-6216
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Kentucky Symphony Orchestra
