Dauri Kennedy – Ted Mills

The "Swing!" cast mixes students from SBCC and UCSB. — The “Swing!” cast mixes students from SBCC and UCSB.

As Duke Ellington once opined some eight decades ago, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” And that holds true with this evening of jumping jive coming to The New Vic. Produced by Dauri Kennedy and directed by Miriam Dance-Leavy, “Swing!” — the 1999 Tony-nominated musical — features singing, dancing and live music straight from the music era that couldn’t keep still.

The 90-minute show features the music of the Duke as well as Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, played by a full swing band led by SBCC’s Chuck “Dr. Jazz” Wood, who was director of bands and jazz studies at the college for 15 years and Music Chair for three.

Hamlet may have died avenging his father’s murder, but he’s spent a bit of time in the afterlife brushing up on his Broadway musical knowledge. That is the admittedly silly thesis that results in a lot of song and dance behind “Ghosts of Broadway,” the first production from Big Stage Productions, the performance arm of Santa Barbara Dance Arts. Kids from ages 8 and up will show their love of musical theater this Monday night.

Big Stage answers what founders Dauri Kennedy, Laezer Schlomkowitz, Steven Lovelace, Alana Tillim and Kathy Kelley saw as a real need in Santa Barbara. With the increasing popularity of “High School Musical,” “Glee” and “American Idol,” as well as a new interest in Broadway through a new decade of classics, a generation of children is coming up desperate for training in the all-singing, all-dancing arts.

Tag: Dauri Kennedy

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