FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (4/04)
Contact: Hurley School of Music, 318-869-5235, or Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120

Centenary College's Hurley School of Music Revives Wildly Popular 'Kollege Kapers' from 1930s and '40s in April 16 and 17 Performances

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College's Hurley School of Music is reviving a jazz show that was wildly popular in the 1930s and '40s. Called the Kollege Kapers, the original show featured a jazz band of about a dozen students, several singers, skits, and comedians. The Kapers cast toured North Louisiana and East Texas every spring.

On Friday, April 16 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m., the Jazz Band at Centenary College, under the direction of Dr. Doug Rust, will lead a program that aims to revive the spirit of Kollege Kapers. The program will be in the Anderson Auditorium of the Hurley Music Building. Admission is free.

The program will feature student jazz players, string players, singers from the Opera Workshop, and dancers from Centenary’s Escaped Images Dance Company, the program contains such nostalgic hits as “42nd Street”, “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. Directors collaborating on the show are Laura Crawford, String Chamber Ensemble; Ginger Folmer, Escaped Images Dance Company; Gale Odom, Opera Workshop; and Doug Rust, Jazz Band. Dr. Will K. Andress, director of the Centenary College Choir, will be the emcee.

Jazz Band members are clarinet and alto sax, Cheri Roberts; alto sax and clarinet, David Reiland; tenor sax, Cameron King; trumpets, Jeremy DeLaCerda, Mike Maricelli and Kenneth Portis; mini tuba, Brandon Walker; trombone, Terry Wright; piano, Brian White; drums and glockenspiel, Aaron Butler. String players are violins, Robert Schaumburg, Tim Nicholson and Holly Richardson; viola, Carrie Collins; and cellos, Sarah Kate Ross and David Pennywell.

Singers from the Opera Workshop are “Sentimental Journey,” Jessica Rautio, Rachel Free and Katie Fullbright; “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” Megan Whittaker, Emily Hill and Rachel Scott; “What’ll I Do?” Sarah Kate Ross; “Stardust,” Michael Petty; “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” Heather Bethley, Katie McKee, Codey Whitt and Cory Olson; “Birth of the Blues,” Shelly Walker; “Rodgers/Hart Medley,” Rachel Free, DeAndre Johnson and Megan Whittaker; and “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” Billie Harland and Amy Williams. Additional singers for “Puttin’ on the Ritz” are Nolan Budgewater, Lauren Thrift, Sterling Allen, Mary Greenwood, Nancy Carey, Katy Chapman, Laura Thompson, Amber Daniel and Meaghan Trammel-Kelly.

Escaped Images Dance Company members performing in "42nd Street" are Katie Carpenter, Katie DuPont, Sherricka Fields, Jessica Long, Kristin McCrosky, Megan McCrosky, Renee Nolen, Christina Salter and Jesse Smith. Dancers in "Puttin' on the Ritz" are Rachel Buchanan, Katie Carpenter, Sherricka Fields, Jessica Long, Renee Nolen, Christina Salter and Jesse Smith.

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