Gaines Hall Jr. performs “The Loves of My Life,” featuring music of the Thilo Wolf Big Band.
Gaines Hall Jr. returns for a concert benefiting the Landmark Preservation Fund of the B. Harley Bradley House – Frank Lloyd Wright’s First Prairie Style, operated by Wright in Kankakee – on Saturday, August 19, at 6 p.m., at Kankakee Country Club, 2011 Cobb Boulevard in Kankakee. This is his fifth performance in Kankakee, the last being in 2018. Gaines is the son of Kankakee residents and restorers of the B. Harley Bradley House Gaines and Sharon Hall.
Experience a fascinating mix of fast-paced song and tap dance, amusing stories, and romantic ballads, combined from the biggest hits of the American Song Book of jazz, swing, and musicals. All of this is presented by a performing artist who embodies all of these genres, Gaines Hall Jr.
Gaines Hall Jr. graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in performing arts and quickly made his way to Europe with a Broadway touring company. This year, he celebrates his 30th year living and performing in Germany. In those 30 years, he has become one of the most renowned and sought-after musical theatre performers, directors, and choreographers in the German-speaking theatre landscape.
To commemorate this special anniversary, Gaines teamed with the famous Thilo Wolf Big Band, the only German swing band to have been inducted into the American Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and also celebrating their 30-year anniversary, with a very special show and accompanying CD. Their show just enjoyed a four-night sold out engagement and harvested rave reviews.
Gaines couldn’t bring the Thilo Wolf Big Band to Kankakee, but he has the original band recordings in his suitcase and will excite and inspire his audience in this one-night-only, one-man-show. Look forward to exciting and moving stories with music loved around the world in which Gaines sings and dances and tells of the things, people, and places he loves, including the American South, the South Seas, his chosen home of Berlin, and living life with a positive attitude.
Tickets are available through the Wright in Kankakee website at www.wright1900.org and are $50 for the performance only, or $80 for the performance plus V.I.P reception at the Bradley House, 701 S. Harrison, following performance. For more information, call 815-936-9630.