5/30: Dean Mora and his Orchestra at LA's Cicada Club

This week Dean and I met up at the Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro, CA, where Museum Director and Curator Steve Nelson took us inside the old fort and supplied us with some handsome uniforms for our Sunday appearance at the Cicada Club downtown. It's an honor to wear this original issue WWII uniform and should add a little extra punch to Irving Berlin's booster song, "Any Bonds Today" and a swell new dance band arrangement of "If I Loved You."


SPECIAL BIG BAND NIGHT

DEAN MORA AND HIS ORCHESTRA

A Tribute to the Men and Women of Our Armed Forces — Past and Present
Sunday, May 30, 2010 

Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club
617 S. Olive Street

Los Angeles, California 90014

Mr. Mora's world famous 20-piece dance orchestra (with strings) presents a tribute to the men and women of the armed forces past and present. The acclaimed dance orchestra will serenade you with big band favorites from the World War II era featuring vocalists Kayre Morrison and Damon Kirsche with special guests The Lindy Sisters. Vintage or contemporary military attire encouraged.
More information and tickets available at clubcicada.com.

"Airhead," an intimate evening of song with Hila Plitmann

I'm currently directing Grammy Award–winning soprano Hila Plitmann's new show "Airhead," which plays at Pasadena's Boston Court Theatre this weekend. The evening features an eclectic mix of new and traditional songs, new arrangements of songs by Bob Dylan, Thomas Dolby, George Harrison and NIN, and works by David Del Tredici, John Corigliano, Paul Cantelon and Eric Whitacre among others; songs of innocence and lost youth, bitter skepticism, wry humor and cosmic wonder.

Boston Court Performing Arts Center

Marjorie Branson Performance Space

presents

Hila Plitmann

"Airhead"

Saturday, May 22 at 8 PM

Sunday, May 23 at 7 PM

For tickets visit bostoncourt.com

with

Tali Tadmor, piano

Johana Krejci, first violin

Victoria Lanier, second violin

Dmitri Kourka, viola

Fang Fang Xu, cello

Amanda McIntosh, clarinet

David Kontesz, percussion

Directed by Damon Kirsche

Films by Omar Crook

Sound Design by Martin Carrillo

Lighting Design by Justin Kief

Production Management by Really Truly Productions

Liza Tognazzini, Producing Director

Brandon Dobbins, Producing Associate

The Avalon Ball on Catalina Island

The Avalon Ball is one of my favorite annual events with Dean Mora's orchestras. It's a twenty-six mile ferry ride from Long Beach, but Catalina Island is a world away. The Avalon Casino (casino in the Italian sense—a "social gathering place"—no gambling, please) is an Art Deco masterwork. French doors ring the ballroom and open onto a balcony walkway framed by Moorish arches (pictured below) for fresh air and moonlit strolls...

The Avalon Ball is presented by The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, with Master of Ceremonies Maxwell Demille. Dean Mora and the Avalon Ball Dance Orchestra, along with fellow featured vocalist Kayre Morrison and me, will present live music from the 1920s and 1930s.

Los Angeles Magazine writes: "Expect plenty of silk, chiffon, and crepe de chine around Santa Catalina this month as the Avalon Ball unfolds in the island’s casino. The cavernous art deco hall was designed to accommodate more than 1,000 energetic jitterbuggers. At the ball its cork-cushioned floor will be packed with Jazz Age enthusiasts in vintage finery showing off their moves to the music of Dean Mora’s 12-piece orchestra. Just don’t let the pre-Depression time warp give you the willies."


The Avalon Ball
May 15, 2010

6:00 - 10:00 PM


Tickets are available for $38 for ADSLA members and $48 for non-members. For tickets and more information visit the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles.