By Chip Dombrowski, Entertainment Editor

Little Ole Big Band goes around the world in two hours at LTOB

All aboard!

There’s a musical cruise departing from Little Theatre on the Bay this weekend, with stops in New Orleans, Cape Cod, Paris and China.

It’s the sixth-annual Little Ole Big Band show, “Sentimental Journey,” featuring music with a theme of travel and exotic locales.

It will have a different look and feel than past big band shows, director Linda Sweatt said. Instead of the usual nightclub, the show is set on a cruise ship and will feature more movement on stage, especially during the long instrumental gaps that are characteristic of the music from the era, which spans from the 1910s through the ’50s.

“I think this year is better than ever,” said Sweatt. “We’ve tried to take the music and make it come more alive for the audience.”

There’s also a much larger cast of about two dozen singers, about twice as many as years past.

“They came out of the woodwork,” Sweatt said.

Though Sweatt began working with Charlie Perkins of Florence on musical and vocal arrangements for the show in January, the high turnout meant her work wasn’t done. With a limited amount of time and songs, selections that might have been solos had to be converted to group numbers to accommodate more singers.

Among the new performers are three high school girls, Bay Area Teen Idol veterans Karissa Fults and Amanda Waldrop and Lab Band singer Kathryn Hayes. They will sing “Blue Moon.”

“We were going to have them sing it in pieces,” Sweatt said. “But they were so good, I had to write a special arrangement for them.”

Waldrop tried out because she wanted to perform in a show at LTOB without having to memorize lines, and she likes the style of music.

“It’s too old to be on the radio, so you forget about it,” said Waldrop, 14, who said she last heard it during Teen Idol’s big band week. “It’s good to hear it again.”

The show also includes jokes from the comedy team led by Byrell Justice, always followed by commentary from their nemesis, Connie Nipgen, who emcees along with Jim Thornton.

Band leader Steve Simpkins considers the use of local arrangers one of the most interesting aspects of the show. While Sweatt arranged most of the vocals, Perkins arranged the music for 16 songs, and another local arranger, Dan McGraw, contributed a few more.

“It certainly sets it apart from everything else that’s being done around here,” Simpkins said. “I think either of these guys could be professional arrangers.”

Sweatt likes that there are more large group numbers, including the title song, which will be performed by all the women in the cast.

“There’s so much energy in 14 or 15 women,” she said.

Though she wasn’t expecting so many, Sweatt said it’s not surprising local singers would be interested in singing the big band style of music.

“Jazz requires a certain amount of training to sing it well. Everybody gets a little bit of opportunity to sing a little jazz and to sing with a band,” she said. “That, for a singer, is heavenly.”

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