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November 9, 2009

Band brings back music of Paramount’s heyday

McWilliams toured with Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

By Rodney Richey, Herald Bulletin Feature Writer

ANDERSON, Ind. — Those planning to stage an authentic big-band concert would need to look no further for a conductor than Larry McWilliams, professor emeritus of Ball State University’s School of Music.

McWilliams will be part of the second in the Paramount Theatre’s “More Sounds of Indiana” series, as he leads the Back to the Big Bands Orchestra beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, on stage in the theater.

“It’s going to be a real ‘back to the big bands,’” McWilliams said. “We’ve got (music from) Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, all that good stuff.

“We really want the public to come out for it.”

McWilliams said that standards to be performed Thursday would include Miller’s “In the Mood,” Ellington’s “Take the A Train,” Basie’s “April in Paris” and Dorsey’s “Opus One.”

Ann Harmeson Hardacre, longtime dance instructor in Anderson, is the chairwoman for the series.

“I had met (McWilliams) and heard him play,” she said. “We went to a show in Muncie where his big band played, and they were wonderful.”

Hardacre, who has an extensive history with Paramount, said the show would harken back to the music played there during the mid-20th century.

“This is really the old type of show that they did at the Paramount years ago,” Hardacre said. “We’ll hear the music of many of the big bands that traveled through this part of the country.”

McWilliams not only knows enough about the Big Band Era to teach classes in the subject; he also has plenty of practical, hands-on experience.

In the late 1960s, McWilliams toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the legacy of the band leader, who died in 1956.

“I was in New York for a while, playing,” McWilliams said. “And some point, I went back to school.”

The “school” was Northwestern University in Chicago. From there, McWilliams heard about a job opening at a modest college in east central Indiana.

McWilliams retired from Ball State two years ago. Since then, he’s taught the occasional adjunct class at Ball State and toured the region with the orchestra. The group recently performed with Guy and Ralna from “The Lawrence Welk Show” in shows at Bear Creek Farms in Bryant.

So when he says, “We really want the public to come out for it,” fans of big-band music can believe him.

“It’ll be things that a crowd of a certain age will recognize and like,” McWilliams said. “It won’t be any wild, crazy stuff from today.”

And he is no stranger to the Paramount.

“I’ve played there in some of those Sunday afternoon dances upstairs, and I’ve done a few concerts on stage,” he said.

“So we hope we can get a crowd that we can entertain. I certainly want to see that Paramount Theatre be successful. I certainly want to see it stay open. It’s a beautiful hall.”

Contact Rodney Richey: 640-4861, rodney.richey@heraldbulletin.com.



‘Back to the Big Bands’

What: Concert featuring music from the big-band era, part of the “More Music of Indiana” series

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12

Where: Paramount Theatre, 1124 Meridian Plaza, Anderson

Tickets: $17.50

Information: 642-1234, andersonparamount.org



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