Stewart to perform at Italian-American Club
Local singing favorite Terry Stewart will channel Frank Sinatra on Oct. 19, at the Italian-American Club, 4725 Vincennes Blvd., Cape Coral.
The performance, Music, Martinis, & More, benefits the Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida.
The Chorale’s Artistic Director Tim McDonnell will provide the piano accompaniment. WINK-TV reporter Rachael Rafanelli will emcee.
Although often heard singing the National Anthem at community events, Stewart also knows his way around the pops repertoire. He felt Sinatra’s songs were the perfect choice for the Italian-American Club.
“I always include them in my act,” Stewart said in a prepared statement. “I like ‘One for My Baby’ and ‘Misty.’ But a more obscure one called ‘Yesterday’ is a particular favorite. Very mellow.”
McDonnell, who also heads the music department at Ave Maria University, is more comfortable nowadays with classical masterworks. That wasn’t always the case.
“One of my first jobs as a teenager was playing dinner music at a restaurant that was on a boat,” he confessed.
Stewart, currently Town Manager of Fort Myers Beach and formerly City Manager of Cape Coral, became a member of the board of directors of the Chorale earlier this year. His daughter Veronica sang with the group until she departed recently for college.
In addition, Stewart was the male winner of an opportunity to sing with Broadway’s longest running Phantom of the Opera, Franc D’Ambrosio, in a concert at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall last fall sponsored by the Chorale.
D’Ambrosio will make a return appearance at a Hollywood Red Carpet Gala Benefit for the Chorale at the Sidney and Berne Davis Center on Feb. 28, 2014.
Music, Martinis & More will be a recreation of the heyday of the Las Vegas Strip.
Audience members may dress in ’60s Rat Pack chic or the glitz of their choice.
Doors open at 5:30 for socializing over a specialty martini and bidding on silent auction items. Dinner just like Mamma used to make will be served at 6:30. The tuneful crooning begins at 8 p.m.
The event is part of an ambitious fund-raising initiative by the Chorale, the Gift to the Community Campaign.
“Our dream for the future is to be able to offer our concerts to the community with no required admission charge,” said Rana Moeggenberg, the chair of the event.
To be able to realize the dream, the Chorale is aiming to create an endowment fund of $150,000. The Chorale is a 501 (c) (3) not-for profit organization. More information may be found at www.symphonicchorale.org.
Tickets are $50 per person or $350 for a table of eight. Seats are limited; a similar fundraiser at the venue in the spring sold out.
To make a reservation, please call 239-560-5695 or visit www.ticketriver.com and search Music, Martinis, & More.