The Glenn Miller Orchestra: Honouring The Centenary Of ANZAC – Adelaide Cabaret Festival Review

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, Fri 19 Jun

The Festival Theatre’s lavish red curtain goes up and, as the strains of Moonlight Serenade fill the air, the audience is spirited away to 1940. The 17-piece Glenn Miller Orchestra faithfully recreates the sound of the Big Band Era, looking the part in matching black tuxedos. The ensemble features a rhythm section of drums, double bass and piano and boasts 14 horns, comprising trumpet, saxophone, trombone and the occasional clarinet. Two vocalists, Wendy Smith and Mark Kopitzki, impressively complete the musical line-up. Sydney’s Broadway Swing Dancers are also a significant and memorable part of the afternoon’s entertainment, providing colourful and vibrant movement at various times.

Band leader and trombonist Rick Gerber, bucking the on-stage trend by sporting a white jacket, is relaxed and in good spirits as he introduces the songs. All the numbers that are commonly associated with Miller are present, including spot-on arrangements of Chattanooga Choo-Choo, In The Mood, Tuxedo Junction, String Of Pearls, Little Brown Jug, Pennsylvania 6-5000 and American Patrol. The band is seriously good, both collectively and individually. Occasionally, some of the soloing transcends the Big Band sound and ventures into territory that would have be-bop beatniks snapping their fingers in appreciation.

The second-half of the show features sublime versions of Perfidia and My Buddy, as well as a short tribute to some well-known songs from the First and Second World Wars. Smith’s vocals shine in I Get A Kick Out Of You and ‘S Wonderful, while Kopitzki does a great job with Nelson Riddle’s arrangement of All Or Nothing At All, made famous by Frank Sinatra.

Gerber introduces the members of the orchestra before bidding the crowd farewell with a fabulous full rendition of Miller’s signature tune, the timeless Moonlight Serenade. A jazzed-up arrangement of Waltzing Matilda is served as an encore, providing some light-hearted but probably unnecessary novelty.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has delivered a fabulous concert to an appreciative audience, and has demonstrated that good music is good music forever.

David Robinson

Setlist

Part One

1. Moonlight Serenade (edit)
2. I Hear You Screaming
3. String Of Pearls
4. American Patrol
5. Rhapsody In Blue
6. You’re Gonna Hear From Me – Wendy Smith (vocal)
7. I Know Why – Wendy Smith (vocal)
8. Tuxedo Junction
9. Stardust
10. Pennsylvania 6-5000
11. The Song Is You – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
12. At Last – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
13. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
14. Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) – Wendy Smith and Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
15. In the Mood

Part Two

1. Flying Home
2. Stealin’ Apples
3. I Get a Kick Out Of You – Wendy Smith (vocal)
4. ‘S Wonderful – Wendy Smith (vocal)
5. Perfidia
6. Little Brown Jug
7. Chattanooga Choo-Choo – Wendy Smith and Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
8. All Or Nothing At All – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
9. My Buddy
10. Johnson Rag
11. Roses Of Picardy – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
12. Medley: It’s a Long Way To Tipperary/How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down On the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree?)/ Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag – Wendy Smith and Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
13. (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover – Mark Kopitzki (vocal)
14. Moonlight Serenade
15. Waltzing Matilda