Let’s try a quiz.
Hold up your hand if you know these names: Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey.
Hand still up?
Lower it if you can’t name one song that each made famous.
Yes, these are the “golden oldies” of the big band era – back in the 1940s and ’50s. Tomorrow, June 21, right here in Merced at the Merced Theatre, you can get a taste of the big band era with “Summer Solstice Swing with the Preservation Big Band.”
Celebrate the best of jazz with the Preservation Big Band, joined by talented vocalists Michelle Allison, Cheryl Lockett, Eric Stephen Bocks, Kandyce Drake-Maldonado, and Lisa Davila and local favorites including Greg Christiansen, Jon Schmid, Mikey Vasquez, Ken Taylor, Rob Hillhouse, Joe Onzo, Matthew Christiansen, Julie Morimoto, & Brian Toel.
Tickets are $25 at the box office or online at mercedtheatre.org. The show starts at 7 p.m.
Texas Tenors
The following Saturday, June 29, return to the Merced Theatre to see another great group, The Texas Tenors.”
This year, The Texas Tenors will celebrate 10 years together by launching their “10th Anniversary Tour”. They are honored to be included among the top 50 acts in the world and take pride in remaining the same self-managed and self-produced “three friends with a dream”. They have won 3 Emmy awards and were Billboard magazine’s #10 Best Crossover artist of the year in 2017. Showtime 8 p.m. with ticket prices ranging from $31 to $55.
Support Playhouse
I’m sure you will see many fireworks stands are popping up – with everyone getting ready for our annual 4th of July celebration. If you decide to buy some SAFE and SANE fireworks, please consider supporting the Arts in the process. Playhouse Merced will have their booth at the Raley’s Parking lot. Tip: If the firework can leave the ground or explode in the air, it is illegal. Possession of even one illegal firework is a misdemeanor and punishable by fine or imprisonment.
Fireworks at McClure
Consider taking a drive to Lake McClure on Saturday, Jun 29, with fireworks starting at 9 p.m. But wait, some of us are going to see the Texas Tenors that night …
Big Screen
Then on June 30, continue re-living some old classics by going to the movies. $5 movies. National Treasure, at the Merced Theatre, 3 p.m. Here’s the narrative: Since childhood, Benjamin Franklin Gates has known that he is descended from a long line of people whose job is to guard a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers, who hid clues to its whereabouts in the country’s currency and on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
Mamma Mia! Finally save the date for Mamma Mia, presented by the Phoenix Creative Collective from July 12-14. At the MAC, this $15 show was totally sold out it’s first weekend (June 14-16) and received total raves on Facebook and other social media. It’s a no brainer – go!
Between now and the end of July, attend two more of this summer’s trio of Phoenix Collective productions at the MAC, called Phoenixphest 2019 — “She kills Monsters,” June 21-23 and July 19-21; and “Murder on the Orient Express,” June 28-30 or July 26-28.