Savor the Arts – Glenn Miller Orchestra

Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Monday, October 21st, 2024.

Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.

In part two, today at 430, we're going to talk to some of the contestants and some of

the crown wares of Miss Wisconsin Rapids and Miss Wisconsin Rapids teen looking forward

to that.

But right now, in studio, some of our favorite people, we have Sally Kissner, Executive Director

of the Arts Council with us.

Sally, always good to see you.

Good to see you as well.

And we have with us our good friend, Eric Brittnocker, of the Performing Arts Center.

Eric, thanks for being here.

Thank you.

And joining us on the phone lines, Eric Stabenow, how am I pronouncing that, Eric?

Yep, that's it, Eric Stabenow.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Eric is the Music Director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, who's going to be coming

to town just shortly.

We're going to talk about the show, talk about Eric, get to know Eric a little bit, and

dive into some other fun things.

We'll even play a little bit of a sample of what you are going to be hearing coming up.

But when it comes to that, and Eric, I'm going to put you on the spot.

I mean, ask you questions first, sir.

So we know we have a limited amount of time with you and everything.

But if I could, I'd like to know how you got involved in this.

What is your, if you will, origin story, Eric?

Yeah, sure.

Well, I started playing the saxophone in grade school, like a lot of, a lot of young musicians

do through middle school and high school.

And I always had an interest in jazz music and big band music.

So eventually, I went on to study music in college as well.

And a few years after graduating, I had a friend who was playing in the Glenn Miller Orchestra

at that time.

And he let me know about a tenor saxophone spot that was opening in the band.

So I auditioned and sent in a few recordings and videos and things.

And a few months later, I was touring with a group that was in the summer of 2017, and

I've been on the band ever since.

That's a cool story.

Did you, did you grow up loving this type of music, loving jazz, loving the Glenn Miller

Orchestra?

I did, yeah.

I was always drawn to, yeah, the jazz music, swing music, big band music, all of that.

And of course, I was familiar with Glenn Miller and plenty of the other big bands of that

day, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Helmington, Count Basie, and so forth.

And I was aware that the Glenn Miller Orchestra was still touring, but I had no idea I'd have

this kind of involvement at some point later on.

Man, we don't talk about Count Basie nearly enough.

Any chance to mention that name, I appreciate that, Eric.

That's really interesting.

You know, it speaks to not only where you ended up, but really even picking up the tenor saxophone,

I would think.

Yeah, yeah, it was kind of, I suppose a natural fit for a saxophone player to be drawn

to that kind of music.

So it really was something I've always loved.

When it comes to this music, and I don't know necessarily the proper verb for this, keeping

it fresh, making it new, I'm curious of how you do that.

You and your teammates, if you will, for the audience and for younger members, younger

audience members.

Yeah, I think a big part of the Glenn Miller Orchestra shows is just the opportunity

to see this music performed live.

Now, performing music that's been around for 80 or more years, and I think the only

exposure that folks would have to this stuff is listening to the old recordings of the

original band from the 30s and 40s.

So our goal is to provide a show that's just exciting for the audience members.

And I think there's something for everyone.

You'll see a 15-member band on stage, and there's some instrumentals and there's some vocals

and a whole lot more in the show as well.

So we just try to keep it exciting and keep it fun.

Now, that's how you guys do that for the audience.

What about for yourselves?

You've been listening to this music for a long time, been playing this music for a long

time as well.

Even before you joined the band, I'm sure you were playing some Glenn Miller or some

certain stuff.

How do you keep it fresh and new for yourself as well?

Yeah, it's a good question, and that's a big part of it too, because this band is so

busy.

In a typical year, we might play as many as 200 shows or more in some years.

So there's a lot of shows, and we're lucky that I think we all love this music, so hopefully

we don't get tired of playing in the mood in the night, Saturday, and all that stuff.

But I genuinely like this stuff, and I really enjoy it.

So it's still something I love, and it certainly hasn't gotten that dull or old for me.

Keeps you young, doesn't it?

It really does.

I mean, say like a young guy anyway, but it seems like it keeps you young and invigorated,

engaged still.

There's no doubt yet.

It's a special era of music, and there's a real excitement to it, especially performing

this stuff live, because there's just not that much opportunity to play big band music

or play swing music these days.

So I don't take that for granted, certainly.

We're speaking with Eric Stopano, music director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, is going

to be coming to the Performing Art Center next month in November.

We'll tell you the details and dates on that in just a moment of where you can get tickets.

What does it mean to continue a legacy like this?

I make that reference about people knowing the music or being new to them, but I tested

something out in one of my sketch comedy classes the other day.

I was like, I want to see if the people know this music.

I got a bunch of 1920 year olds here and stuff, and so I just did a sketch kind of like

flirting with the tone, the beats of it, and I'm not a musical talented guy.

So I probably was a fairer me to do this to them, but they like immediately knew right

what I was talking about.

Some of the students weren't able to name the band or the song or anything, but they knew

the beat, they knew what I was referring to.

This music is timeless, and with that, I would imagine comes a feeling of responsibility.

What does it feel for you, for your team, to be able to perform this music, to keep this

going?

Yeah, it's really an incredible legacy that this music in this band has in particular.

I've mentioned in the 1930s and 40s, that's when Glenn Miller led his orchestra, and the

band's been touring almost nonstop ever since.

There's been a few short periods when the band's done off the road, but it's almost been

80 years nonstop, and it's amazing that folks still know this music and recognize this

music and want to hear this performed live, so I suppose there's a certain responsibility

to pay tribute to the original band and perform this stuff as they may have, but I mentioned

as well, you know, a big part of it is just keeping it entertaining and keeping it fun

and providing a show that's enjoyable for the audience as well.

Eric, and my homework, I was doing a little homework on you and everything, and from what

I saw, I don't know if you were or still are, you're also along with all these responsibilities

and playing and everything, you're an assistant road manager.

Is that correct?

Yeah, that was a responsibility I had at one point, I've moved on from that stage, but

yeah, you touched on something as well that, you know, this band tours so extensively

that a lot of folks in the group have other responsibilities as well on the music director.

We have a tour manager, an assistant tour manager, and merchandise folks, and, you know,

we all keep it in-house.

We don't travel with like a tech crew or with, you know, stage hands.

We really do all this stuff ourselves.

And it comes to that, whether the logistics of that, I'm always curious about, and one

of the things that I love asking musicians that are touring is how you get a chance to

rehearse and how often you get a chance to rehearse in the touring process.

Do you guys, you know, usually it's a fascinating question to me when you're talking about a

couple of people, like there's three or four band members or something, we're talking about

a whole orchestra here.

How often do you guys get a chance to rehearse?

Do you get a chance to rehearse?

Yeah, the answer is not too often.

You don't rehearse very often.

What we do have is a sound check prior to every show, and we usually schedule about an hour

for that.

So that gives us a chance to, you know, set the microphones in here, the auditorium that

we're playing in.

But if we need to rehearse something, that's the opportunity, and luckily, we are all

familiar with this music and to play this stuff enough that the rehearsals, when needed,

are pretty short, and we can get through these pretty quickly.

But the answer is, yeah, we don't really get together to rehearse outside of a sound

check, really at all.

Which I want the audience when they're taken in the show, and we're going to give you a

packed house over at the Performing Arts Center, make sure you get a good crowd.

To take that in, to take that into consideration when you're watching these amazing talented musicians

and their performance, there's so much that goes into this, and so much of it, you're

seeing happen organically.

You're seeing happen right there on stage, which is only live entertainment can give

that you're that.

You know, you can, especially with a band like the Glenn Miller Orchestra, this stuff

is timeless.

You can pull up a song on any computer or anything like that, but you can't get this.

This you can only get real.

There's no repeats in live music.

This is a one time you can catch it, how kind of thing, and see some of what Eric and

I are talking about here, encourage you to do that.

And when it comes to what the audience can expect, Eric, what kind of show, what are some

of the things they can expect from this show and you guys come to town?

Yes, sure.

We've got about a two hour show and it includes all of Glenn Miller's biggest hits.

He had a bunch of number one hits back in the 30s and 40s.

So if some people recognize songs like Moonlight, Serenade, Indomoo, Chattanooga, Chuchu, you'll

hear all the big hits, but we also include just a lot of other music from the Glenn Miller

song book.

There's a lot of beautiful music, some great vocals, and you'll hear some instrumentals.

You'll hear some vocals.

We also have a vocal group with the band, and there's a bit of history I see the show

so between songs.

You'll get just a bit of background information as in the history of the music.

That's a cool part of this.

I noticed that when I was watching some of your footage on YouTube and your website,

and I'll mention those references in a second, you guys do a nice job of kind of giving

some history with this too.

Yeah, I think that that really puts the music in context because it is such a fascinating

history and fascinating legacy.

I think it hopefully enhances the audience experience and just gives them a little background

on what we're doing on the stage.

Eric, this has been great.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Rest up.

I hope you're doing well and have a good run here, leading up to this show.

When you get here in November, we're going to make Darn chair.

We got a good crowd for you over at the Performing Arts Center, okay?

I appreciate that.

We're looking forward to it.

Thanks a lot for joining us here.

Eric, you have a great day.

Thank you, too.

Eric, stop now.

Music director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra joining us right there, greatly appreciate

that.

Right now, as we segue going into talking with Sally and Eric, we're going to play

just a little bit of the Glenn Miller Orchestra for you right here.

Just timeless.

I cannot get enough of that music.

I've got Chattanooga Chuchu in my head.

It's going to be their all day.

It might be their all week.

I'm not sure.

Sally, Eric, I've just got a couple of questions about the band coming to town here, the

Glenn Miller Orchestra.

When it comes to a performance like this.

I know I ask to you this every time you're in, Eric, what do you got to do different this

time or some of those things?

I don't know how many times I get to ask you that when there's an orchestra coming in.

Do you know how big of how many members there are and I'm not asking for a specific number,

but for you and your team, do you guys have a ballpark idea of how much space you need

in everything for this?

He said 16 people and the stage block kind of confirms that, you know, there's two horn

sections, drums, bass, the grand piano will be out on stage.

Even a lot of things are kind of dictated by the size of the piano and then the drums

next to that.

Then you have a riser with horns.

It all comes together.

We don't necessarily know how much space we need, but we kind of get things set generally

where they need to be before the show or before the group arrives, but inevitably they always

move things around.

We don't get too particular about making sure things are just right because oftentimes

they move around just a little bit.

We kind of get things roughed in, if you will, and then, you know, we make the final

adjustments when they get on stage.

Very interesting.

Sally, what were, how did it go behind the scenes, bringing these guys to town setting

this up on the schedule?

I actually saw this group about five years ago, it was before COVID, so I actually wanted

to get them in a little bit sooner than we ended up doing, but I'm really glad that

we were able to do so.

And like he said, all of the band members have other jobs.

So one of the orchestra members, Joe Young, is the person that I worked with.

He's in the group.

And so I worked with him, got some tickets down in the delts and went down to see him,

and the rest is history.

We kept in contact.

I'm so glad you did, too.

It's a big get to be able to bring to the community, to bring to town here.

And it's also something you and I have talked about on air, off air, it can never be easy

to like, well, how do I find something that fits everybody?

You know, especially when it comes to music.

One of the things that we're so personal about, everybody's playlist is going to look different.

So that can be a tough one.

When you find an act like this, I could see why you're going to hang on to that one.

Like, I want to bring this one in for sure, because this really does touch on so many

different genres, so many different people have grown up and loved this style of music.

And there's so many younger people out there that have gotten into this style of music

and really brought it back, which is really cool to see.

When you see on TikTok, people like playing these classic songs and everything, or even

just modern artists kind of taking them and sampling them or modernizing them or whatever,

it shows how timeless this stuff is.

Right.

I was excited to work with DC Everest High School.

They're bringing a group of about 45 students from there for this, from their band.

So I'm like, yes, it's definitely timeless music.

You do a fantastic job of the tie-ins, whether it is something like that, or there is a class

afterwards, a workshop afterwards, sometimes.

And certainly there is one of the go-tos in life, dinner in a show.

It's one of the go-tos.

It's one of the better combinations you could ask for, and you got a nice one with this,

too.

We do.

And you only have until this Thursday to reserve your spot.

It's at Lake Air.

The cost is $40 for the meal.

You get your choice of three entrees, which you have to order when you get your tickets.

Just a really nice event.

And you know you're going to be done in time for the show, because everybody's there for

the same reason.

Right.

That's a very good point, actually.

And shout out to Lake Air for that wonderful place to go.

Any chance you get, a wonderful place.

You can't have a glass of water there and not have a good time.

It's a wonderful place.

It's also a nice thing for people to be able to go into and kind of, you know, you're

really actually taking care of your audience here in some ways.

We all know what it's like when you have plans and you want to get to them or whatever,

but you know, I ain't got time for this or I don't have time for dinner.

You incorporate it in there and you know you're going to have an audience of full bellies.

Which is nice.

It's nice.

One less thing to worry about.

And it is a great way of tying in another local business.

It is a local helping local.

There is always that aspect of this that I just can't help but really admire and love,

whenever we get a chance to support each other in these things.

What about the details, Sally?

What is this one?

What are some of the details of this show?

Tickets for the show are $54 for adults, $10 for students.

The show is at 730 on Thursday, November 7.

You can get tickets through the Arts Council's website, saverthearts.com 24-7.

Give us a call at 715-424-2787 or stop by NCS at 1048 Street, South, Sweet 101 in Wisconsin

Rapids.

And as Sally said, make sure to sign up for that dinner soon.

Right, by Thursday.

And Sally, people can also stop in if they want to over to the Arts Council to pick up tickets

or any of these things.

We'll give you those details up before wrap up as well.

Always like to shout out our sponsors for these events.

We can't do it without them.

A big, big, big thank you to some wonderful organizations out there.

I mean, and really a radio station that really stands out.

They seem like really good people over there.

I'll start with them, radio station WFHR is a sponsor as well as WSAW Channel 7, Mead

Witter Foundation, Faye Printing, Herman Taylor Funeral Home, and Point and Plover Publication.

Eric, like myself, you work with a lot of younger people and have a chance to kind of sometimes,

you know, I don't want to say get a vibe or get an idea.

But you kind of have a little bit more understanding, I think, than some might, when it comes to,

they like this, they like that or what have you.

And at the same time, not knowing any of that.

All granted, not nobody's tested, you hear anything like that.

But I'm curious with the students, with a band like this, do you encourage them to kind

of check it, you know, hey, check out the show or something like that, or just maybe even

knowing it even in the process of, you know, setting this up or getting and learning about

it?

So, you know, I obviously have technicians that I work with that are working the show

and that help set the things up and that get to experience the show, you know, oftentimes,

you know, sometimes it can be five people, sometimes it can be six, sometimes it's a little

bit fewer than that.

A lot of things, you know, really are driven by the classroom instructor and their interest

in the program and what's going on.

And so, I don't really have that connection in the classroom, like I help out with the

theater tech stuff, but I don't have a curriculum like, you know, I'm not a licensed teacher.

But I've learned that I think a lot of, you know, student interest is driven by the instructor

and saying, and putting it in front of them and saying, we're going to do this as a group,

you know, what have you.

And so, I don't have as much influence as perhaps I'd like to.

However, you know, you mentioned, it was said before that these band members also have

different jobs aside from being a musician, you know, one's the marketing manager, one's

the stage manager, two manager, et cetera.

And I think it's really important that, you know, I'm teaching the music business because,

you know, for every actor that's on stage, there's ten people behind the scenes who are

in all kinds of things, whether it's, you know, the costuming makeup and those are, you

know, directly associated, but there's the lawyers, the attorneys, the same thing.

But, you know, the financial people, you know, all of those sorts of things that tie into

this and then the technical expertise in order to share, you know, this sort of thing with

large audiences of people because we can't do it acoustically.

So you look at the broad scope of this and it's not just music, it's sports entertainment

because you see this same kind of entertainment at sporting type events.

So it's all interconnected and related and so I think it's, you know, really providing

the opportunity that this does for kids to be involved and, you know, you can lead a horse

to water, right?

You can tell anybody anything about any of these events, but, you know, they have to be

willing to walk through the door and experience it and have an open ear and open, you know,

just be curious about music and like, what is this stuff from a hundred years ago and

what's it all about?

And so I try, you know, to encourage kids to come, but it's one of those things.

Eric can take a bad question and give a great answer.

I love that.

Thank you so much, man.

Great answer.

I appreciate that.

And it's some great notes.

It actually reminds me of some of the work that I do with teaching just in how every

student I have, every entertainer I have, I come in and I talk to, I, for one of the

first things I tell them, work backstage, get a job backstage, you know, being on stage

is great.

It feels really good and everything.

You are going to be so much better of a performer on stage if you understand a little

bit more of what they're working and how hard they're doing things backstage and also

brings up how many artists, while we see a lot of artists on the top of their game or

the top level and everything, so many that are grinding and working at this, where multiple

hats and have to spin multiple plates and it kind of reminds us of that as well.

Great stuff, Eric.

Thank you for that.

And I think the variety of things you can learn in theater and live production are, you

can't describe them.

You learn all kinds of trades, you learn all kinds of things working with your hands,

being involved, creating problems, solving, and it just, it helps to, I don't know, build

a workforce that is capable of doing a variety of different things and solving problems.

In the mood of the Glen Miller Orchestra coming to town, November 7th, Thursday, November

7th at 7.30 to the performing arts center, right here in Wisconsin Rapids, Sally, can people

get tickets again?

Give us a call, 715-424-2787, stop by and see us at 1040, 8th Street, South, and Wisconsin

Rapids.

Our office hours are Monday through Thursday at 10 to 2.30, or your best bet is probably

the website, saverthearts.com.

And if you'd like a preview, you can check out more of the, of, of, of Eric in the

beginning at the Glen Miller Orchestra, Glen Miller Orchestra dot com, Glen Miller

Orchestra dot com.

And again, the, the website, Sally mentioned there, saverthearts dot com.

Thank you so much for setting this up, Sally, and for a great half an hour.

This was a lot of fun, you guys.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm pleasure.

We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up for you right here at 97.5 FM 13.28 AM,

WFHR.

We are locally grown radio.