A celebration of America’s Big Band era, In the Mood, will come to the Packard Music Hall in Warren on Tues., Mar. 22. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m.
      In the Mood celebrates America’s greatest generation through the music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Erskine Hawkins, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra and other idols of the 1940s, the last time when Americans listened and danced to the same style of music.
      The show is entering its 22nd season, making it a phenomenon among touring shows, and has played around the world, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands.
      Musical director and pianist for the show is Boardman native, Thomas P. Conroy, whose performing roots began with productions at Boardman High School that were under the direction of the legendary William P. Dykins. He was also was featured in several performances at the Youngstown Playhouse; and served as music director and organist at St. Michael Parish in Canfield and at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown. Conroy also played organ for services at St. Maron Church when he was in high school under the direction of long-time friend and an important musical influence, Denise Abbas, who still teaches music in the Youngstown city schools.
      Conroy is a 1986 graduate of Boardman High School, and his father, John P. Conroy, still lives here on Edenridge Dr.
      Following his graduation from Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music, Conroy moved to New York City, and began working in summer stock, regional theater and in national touring shows.
      He has lived and worked all around America.
      Conroy’s recent shows include: Company at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.; Evita and Little Shop of Horrors at Music Theatre of Connecticut; Xanadu on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; and The Last Five Years at Shadowlands Theatre in the Catskills. He toured (as an actor/singer/dancer) nationally with Grease, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Crazy For You and Cabaret.
      Conroy sang back-up for Bernadette Peters at the Orpheum in San Francisco and toured with the Paris Lido in a specialty act. He earned his doctorate in composition at Rice University and a masters degree in composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He taught harmony, musicianship, and counterpoint at Texas A & M University, the University of Houston, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
      Conroy is a recent graduate of St. John’s College Great Books Masters program and taught introduction to philosophy, philosophy of religion, and introduction to ethics at Ivy Tech Community College. He is a continuing avid student of Homeric and ancient Greek.
      His recent composition performances include his homage to choral music teachers and conductors, This is Why I Sing, which was premiered by the Houston Chamber Choir and has been featured on NPR; and his string quartet, Vespers at Sacré-Couer. The newest works in his catalog include The Brodie Set, a song cycle based on Muriel Spark’s novella, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and a new musical, Bodice.
      “This job has given me the opportunity to play the music my parents loved and taught me: 1940s jazz, the Dorsey bands, Artie Shaw, Glen Miller, the Andrew Sisters, and others... All of it played on our radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Many family stories around our dining table recounted the times my dad heard these bands live, even in some downtown Youngstown venues. I am so proud to bring this show to Warren and to have him and other family and friends in the audience,” Conroy told The Boardman News.
      For tickets, call the Packard box office at 330-841-2931.
      PICTURED:  THOMAS P. CONROY, who grew-up on Edenridge Dr., will be the musical director and pianist for the one-show production of In the Mood, Mar. 22 at the Packard Music Hall in Warren. As a child, he accompanied choral groups at Glenwood Middle under Karen Lyn Fisher and then at Boardman High School under Errol Kherberg. His first piano teacher, still in the area, was Terry Soroka.