Concert honors the Rev. King Jan. 16

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Updated: January 13, 2012 10:29AM

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday will be honored with an all-Duke Ellington concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

The Monday Night Concert Series features the Jeremy Kahn Trio with Ron Friedman and Eric Hochberg playing the timeless music of Duke Ellington.

Celebrated on the third Monday of January, the King holiday is a time when the nation pauses to remember his life and work and to honor his legacy by making the holiday a day of community service.

During the less than 13 years of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality than during the previous 350 years. the Rev. King is widely regarded as America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history.

Duke Ellington called his music “American Music” rather than jazz. A few of his many hits are “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Mood Indigo,” “Solitude,” “In a Mellotone” and “Satin Doll.” As both a composer and a band leader, Ellington’s reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at (708) 386-4040 or visit http://www.oakparkarms.com.

Hear back story of
‘Showboat’ Jan. 17

“The Creation of ‘Show Boat,’ ” a multimedia presentation by Charles Troy on the back story of the classic 1927 musical, will be given at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Open Door Repertory Theatre, 902 S. Ridgeland Ave., in Oak Park. “Show Boat” is being produced by Lyric Opera of Chicago in February.

“Show Boat” has been unanimously acclaimed the first great American musical, so far ahead of its time that there would be no comparable achievement for nearly two decades. Its direct descendents include the works of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe and Stephen Sondheim. Troy’s presentation will reveal how composer Jerome Kern and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II created their monumental masterpiece from Edna Ferber’s sprawling contemporary novel, hoodwinking legendary producer Flo Ziegfeld about the serious nature of their show in the process.

The presentation will also examine early musical comedy and operetta — and not so incidentally, America’s tortured racial history in the 20th century. Visuals will include photos from the original production, plus video clips from the excellent 1936 film version starring Irene Dunne and Paul Robeson and a consideration of the changes wrought in the many revivals over the past 80 years.

Charles Troy is a copywriter and graphic designer who wanted to be a Broadway lyricist. His multimedia presentations on musical theater topics merge his skills and his passion for the subject. Over the last eight years, he has developed more than 45 presentations, seamless 90-minute programs with original graphics, scanned photos, edited audio tracks with the lyrics displayed onscreen, historic video clips and thoroughly researched, scripted narratives that weave the pertinent events into cohesive, dramatic stories.

Troy is based on the North Shore, and has also presented his programs in other cities across the country, the annual Cole Porter Festival in Peru, Ind., and on Silversea cruises. He has now forged a connection with Open Door Repertory Theatre, which is scheduling him for monthly presentations throughout 2012.

Tickets are $10 and are available by calling (708) 342-0810.