The Band of Long Island will perform a number of classics on July 4 at the Steppingstone Waterside Theatre in Kings Point, with numbers ranging from “The Star-Spangled Banner” to Johann Strauss.
Michael Flamhaft, the music director of the Band of Long Island, said the percussion-rich show is meant to be in the spirit of Independence Day.
“It’s an Independence Day concert featuring America’s favorite band music,” Flamhaft, who is from Great Neck, said in an interview. “And so in addition to a couple of patriotic numbers, there will be some things from the classics.”
According to the program, in addition to the national anthem the band will play “Hail to the Spirit of Liberty,” “The William Tell Overture,” pieces from the musical “South Pacific” and ragtime hits. It will also perform “Waltz Time with Johann Strauss,” a tribute to famed composer Irving Berlin and compositions from John Williams.
After an intermission, the band will play “Bell of the Ball,” highlights from “Hello, Dolly!” four songs from entertainer George M. Cohan – who, Flamhaft noted, once lived near where the band will be performing – and conclude with “America, The Beautiful” and “Stars & Stripes Forever.”
Jason Whitfield, a baritone, will also perform “My Boy Bill,” a soliloquy from “Carousel,” a Broadway musical revolving around Billy Bigelow, who participates in a robbery to try providing for his wife and unborn child.
“It’s a great, fun concert for the whole family, grandparents and grandchildren combined,” Flamhaft said. “There’s something for everyone.”
The show also kicks off a long line of concerts at the Steppingstone Waterside Theatre, which will last until Sunday, Sept. 2, and feature more than a dozen acts, each starting at 8 p.m.
“It’s the opening night of our concert series,” Dana Baldwin, a recreation aide at the Great Neck Park District, said.
The day before, on July 3, the Village of Great Neck Plaza will host the third show of its concert series taking place at Jonathan L. Ielpi Firefighters’ Park on Grace Avenue, featuring the return of folk group Nina Et Cetera, a veteran of the village’s summer concert series. The group’s show this year will be called “Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout: Music of the Heartland.”
The band offers renditions of musical titans like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and others.
