A holiday show featuring the offspring of a legend is coming to Crystal Lake.
“For Kids From 1 to 92? features traditional holiday music suited “for kids from 1 to 92? and stars Steve March-Tormé, son of Mel Tormé, as well as singer and bassist Michael Bailey. It is at 1 p.m. Dec. 23 at the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake.
There are 13 people in the group known collectively onstage as STEEM, Bailey said. They have three horn players, two violin players and six singers singing lead.
“I wanted to put something together with the best players. We have … ridiculous violin players; they’re so good,” he said. “It’s certainly not a wimpy show, by any means, but at the same time, our saying for this show is, ‘Music that’s not in your face, but it will warm your soul.'”
He put the show together thinking about what he himself desired as a patron during the Christmas season. They use Tormé’s songs and his arrangements and sprinkle plenty of history throughout, he said.
“Steve … is a Russian-Jewish person … but we tell the audience, ‘My favorite chicken noodle soup has no chicken in it; it has broth. Jack Daniels is brewed in a dry county. And almost all the popular Christmas songs of all time — Kenny G., Sammy Cahn, Mel Torme, Irving Berlin — they’re all (written by) Jewish people,'” Bailey said.
They talk about many of the classic Christmas songs written during the 1940s, like “Let It Snow” and “White Christmas.”
“It’s really good, down-home entertainment,” he said. “We’re not trying to be Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We tour with a 10-million-selling song … that everybody and his brother knows.”
In addition to that song — “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells on a hot Los Angeles July day; audiences will hear “Baby Please Come Home,” “Merry Christmas Baby,” “What Child is This,” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Little Drummer Boy” (with 14 drums) to name a few.
“We always end the night with Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s ‘I Believe in Father Christmas,'” he said. “It’s really cool. I think it’s the quality that people don’t expect. We put a lot of money and time into our production.”
Audiences will get more than they bargained for at this show, he said.
“People like that. When they get more than what they paid for, people like that a lot,” he said. “We’re approachable, we’re fun people. Have you ever watched a band and all they do is look at the floor? It drives me nuts. We make good music for good audiences.”
This is the last show of the year for him and he’s excited about coming to the Raue. He visited Crystal Lake in May and fell in love with the town, he said.
“I loved Crystal Lake. It makes me think of a great town I want to play for during the holidays. It’s like, wow, look at this place,” he said. “I love that fact that they wanted to do a matinee. I think it’s going to be one of the best shows. We are going to bring our A-game.”
‘For Kids From 1 to 92’
When: 1 p.m. Dec. 23
Where: Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake
Tickets: $10-$40
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Information: 815-356-9212; rauecenter.org
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.