It's 1947 in post-war Southern California and big-band swing music is all the rage. Best friends, Gifford Williams and Nolan Edwards dream of expanding their combo, The Jammin' Pajama Men, into a big swing band at their school, Castle High. They convince one of their teachers, Herb Miller, to lead them, recruit a few more talented guys and gals, and form the band, The Knights of Swing. Gifford and Nolan's dream is that The Knights of Swing will become so good by the end of the school year they'll win the California Battle of the Bands. When the 3B's, a girls' vocal trio, begin singing with them, they're well on their way. But they begin encountering obstacles and racially motivated road blocks when a parent, Melba Barlutski, for her own seemingly irrational reasons, tries to sabotage them. However, Lou Arthur, principal of the Castle and a former jazz pianist, loves the band and all that it does for the kids, and puts his job on the line, sometimes us
The Knights of Swing, LLC and E3 Music Productions have announced the March 25 Vimeo On Demand release of 'Knights of Swing,' a feature length film powered by an incredible cast and crew of dreamers and believers.
Where: Hurst Theatre, Rio Grande Park
When: Through July 22
Tickets: theatreaspen.org
Few industries have been harder hit by the pandemic than the performing arts, and none more so than the theater. Theater needs a live audience for survival the way a deep-sea diver needs an oxygen tank. So when the curtain went up Thursday night on “Chicago: the Musical” launching Theatre Aspen’s 38th season it was as if 15 months of bottled-up talent, passion and longing all came rushing out in one big jubilant wave. For the next 100 minutes (the show runs sans intermission) a rapt, audibly gleeful audience was swept aloft by this air-tight production of Broadway’s iconic, Tony Award-winning musical.