Spring Break
Alumni return for vintage show
Group will take students on tour
Kathlyn Hotynski
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Campus News
Editor's note: A version of this story appeared in the Leader-Telegram. It is reprinted with permission.
Five By Design doesn't just tour. It travels through time.
In any given show, the quintet could be paying homage to the swing era or the post-World War II heyday of radio.
The group is coming to The State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. tonight to present "Stay Tuned," a tribute to television variety shows of the '50s and '60s.
Even though Perry Como and Dinah Shore went off the air long before most of today's college students were born, junior John Raymond said Five By Design's stage performance makes "Stay Tuned" well worth checking out.
"I think it's just music that's fun to listen to," he said.
The show marks the group's return to its birthplace as an ensemble of UW-Eau Claire students. The troupe features four Blugold alumni - and when they leave, they'll be bringing eight Eau Claire musicians on tour with them.
The students will play with Five By Design for about two weeks in Wisconsin and Minnesota, recording with the quintet in Grand Rapids, Minn., on May 19, said Raymond, who will play trumpet in the show. The students met Wednesday for their first rehearsal.
"(Director of jazz studies Robert Baca) trains us so that if we get in a position like this, where we're on the spot, we can get the job done right away," Raymond said.
"Stay Tuned" features songs such as The Chords' "Sh-Boom" and The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." There's also a medley of commercial jingles for audience members to guess.
"There are some skits, there are some comedy bits, and we try to bring them together with the thread of being a variety show," said bass and baritone singer Terrence Niska during a telephone interview from New Bedford, Mass.
Five By Design started as a trio of UW-Eau Claire students called Hot Jazz. In 1990, Niska joined Michael Swedberg, Lorie Carpenter-Niska and Kurt Niska. Sheridan Zuther, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joined the group shortly thereafter.
Five By Design doesn't just tour. It travels through time.
In any given show, the quintet could be paying homage to the swing era or the post-World War II heyday of radio.
The group is coming to The State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. tonight to present "Stay Tuned," a tribute to television variety shows of the '50s and '60s.
Even though Perry Como and Dinah Shore went off the air long before most of today's college students were born, junior John Raymond said Five By Design's stage performance makes "Stay Tuned" well worth checking out.
"I think it's just music that's fun to listen to," he said.
The show marks the group's return to its birthplace as an ensemble of UW-Eau Claire students. The troupe features four Blugold alumni - and when they leave, they'll be bringing eight Eau Claire musicians on tour with them.
The students will play with Five By Design for about two weeks in Wisconsin and Minnesota, recording with the quintet in Grand Rapids, Minn., on May 19, said Raymond, who will play trumpet in the show. The students met Wednesday for their first rehearsal.
"(Director of jazz studies Robert Baca) trains us so that if we get in a position like this, where we're on the spot, we can get the job done right away," Raymond said.
"Stay Tuned" features songs such as The Chords' "Sh-Boom" and The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." There's also a medley of commercial jingles for audience members to guess.
"There are some skits, there are some comedy bits, and we try to bring them together with the thread of being a variety show," said bass and baritone singer Terrence Niska during a telephone interview from New Bedford, Mass.
Five By Design started as a trio of UW-Eau Claire students called Hot Jazz. In 1990, Niska joined Michael Swedberg, Lorie Carpenter-Niska and Kurt Niska. Sheridan Zuther, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joined the group shortly thereafter.
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