Missouri Theatre launches Hot Summer Nights series

With the Missouri Theatre closing its doors for renovations at the end of the summer, this year’s Hot Summer Nights concert series anticipates a change in the 79 years of the theater’s history.

“This is the final season before closing the doors for restoration for ten months,” said Kanani May, director of public relations for the Missouri Theatre. “We really wanted to kick this off right.”

The series begins Saturday with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra playing the “King of Swing: A Tribute to Benny Goodman,” featuring guests Bob DeAngelis on clarinet, John MacLeod on trumpet and vocalist Melissa Stylianou. The Pops Series continues with the annual Patriotic Pops concert, The 5th Dimension and ends with Art Garfunkel and the grand finale of the series on July 27.

Hot Summer Nights is made up of four sub-series running throughout the summer. The Pops Series, Classic Series, Family Concerts and Chamber Recitals all feature a variety of musical styles ranging from 1960s hits to opera.

The Missouri Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Kirk Trevor, will be playing at nearly all of the series’ performances with special guests performers joining throughout the summer. Some guests include the Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio; Celtic Spring, which appeared on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”; and world-renowned Chopin pianist Janina Fialkowska.

“It is our great pleasure to host these phenomenal guests artists from around the country and the world in our community,” May said.

Plans call for the Missouri Theatre to reopen in time for the Hot Summer Nights series of 2008.

“We are so excited for the impending restorations, we just wanted to throw a big party.” May said.