On Friday, March 26, the Swing Street Band will be the centerpiece of a sparking evening of entertainment in Pinehurst. ”An Affair of the Arts” is a dinner, dance, and cabaret show that is an officially sanctioned, feature event of the new Palustris Arts Festival of Moore County, NC.
We are producing the event and wanted to create a sparkling, dress-up evening reminiscent of an old-fashioned cabaret night-on-the-town like you would have experienced in New York City back in the 30s or 40s.
To help create that atmosphere, we have developed a cabaret show that includes some well-known Sandhills figures featured in music and dance performances that might not normally be associated with their names. The show will include Glenda Clendenin, Moore County Director of Elections, who will be singing two swing numbers with the band. Alexander Brower, publisher of Sanford’s HomeTown News, and President of the Lee County Chapter of the NAACP will also sing two numbers with the band, and will then join Clendenin and your’s truly, singing drummer Tom Bernett, in a stirring patriotic finale to the first half of the evening.
In addition, Patrick Coughlin, President and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce, will exhibit his dancing abilities as he accompanies professional dancer and dance teacher Diana Turner-Forte, who is Artist-In-Residence at the Carolina Performing Arts Center. Both Diana and Patrick participated in two separate performances at the recent Dancing With The Sandhills Stars event, which raised over $100,000 for local youth programs.
Other acts include a charming new senior citizen tap dance troupe, Alive and Clickin’ (taught by my wife Mary Lou), as well as a comedy dance routine performed by the tongue-in-cheek Knollwood Sisters. And finally, members of the Swing Street Band will also perform specialty numbers, including a popular impersonation of the great Louis Armstrong by Ramon Kenan, one of our trumpet players from Raleigh who’s one-man show “Satchmo Live” has been well-received by audiences all over the eastern seaboard. We’ll also feature saxophonist Tim Smith’s silky smooth voice on a special number.
Along with the cabaret show, An Affair of the Arts is offering a deluxe, three-course, sit-down dinner with a special Palustris menu created by my friend Chef Donnie Wicker, formerly the Executive Chef at Pine Needles Resort and now owner of 360 Catering Management and the Cafe 360 Restaurant. Donnie is also the Culinary Arts Instructor at the Sandhills Community College. A cash bar will benefit the Carolina Performing Arts Center in Southern Pines.
Tickets for the gala are priced at a remarkably low $25 per person, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, which include: the Village of Pinehurst Department of Parks and Recreation; WIOZ 550-AM; Star 102.5-FM; Pinehurst Area Realty; Menendez and Ritter Retirement Group; Heavenly Pines Jewelry and Gifts; and BAS Audio and Light.
An Affair of the Arts takes place on Friday, March, 26 at the Pinehurst Fair Barn. Doors open at 5:30 pm for cocktail hour, with dinner at 6:30 pm, and cabaret and dancing beginning at 7:15 pm. Black tie is optional. For more information, see www.AffairOfTheArts.net or call us at 910-692-8839. We must have a concept that is striking a positive note with people, because we already have about 40% of our tickets spoken for just by word of mouth, so anyone who wants tickets should probably get them soon.
I hope we’ll see you there!!
Tom Bernett