Vegas! Matinee Magic concert by Canberra Symphony Orchestra at Llewellyn Hall

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra under Luke Spicer will be bringing a touch of Las Vegas to the national capital in its Matinee Magic concert on Saturday. The orchestra will be augmented with more trumpets, more trombones, and a big saxophone section and guest artists Andy Seymour and Rhonda Burchmore will be belting out hits from the 1950s, '60s and '70s from artists associated with Nevada's entertainment, as well as gambling, hub.

Seymour says, "The theme of this concert is an evening in Las Vegas - it encompasses everything, not just the old-school Rat Pack - we've got some Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin songs, my sort of thing, Tom Jones, Engelbert [Humperdinck], big powerhouse numbers."

He'll be performing such songs as I've Got You Under My Skin, Sway, and "a wonderful version of King of the Road by Roger Miller - an extraordinary arrangement with big orchestral body to it".

Stage and cabaret star Burchmore, a frequent visitor to Canberra, especially at the late lamented Teatro Vivaldi, says she's never worked with Seymour before and they have a few duets to learn as well as performing solo sets.

"It'll be right on the night," she says.

Among the duets she'll perform with Seymour will be Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Seymour's father was a Pentecostal pastor and as a child the budding performer travelled on the road a lot listening to country AM radio.

"I grew up on Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell, Dean Martin songs and Frank Sinatra."

He performs everything from gospel to soul to rock as well as swing. An actor as well as a singer, Seymour performed in Las Vegas, in the Elvis Gospel Show, during a three-year period when he lived and worked in the US and took advantage of his proximity to the big names to go see a lot of shows.

"I never, ever get sick of listening to Tom Jones - he's one of the most amazing singers and perfomers> I've seen Tom Jones perform six times."

That includes experiencing the Welsh legend here in Australia as well as in Las Vegas - "To my utter delight we were three rows in".

He's a number of the big Las Vegas stars, including Engelbert Humperdinck - "not in Vegas. in Adelaide: incredible" and Wayne Newton ("wonderful") - entertainers who give their all to the audience, going all out to ensure people have a good time at their shows and leave feeling entertained and uplifted.

Seymour thinks one of the reasons crooner Michael Buble, from a younger generation of entertainers, has been so successful is that he's been mentored by veteran singer-songwriter Paul Anka and taken on board the lessons of showmanship of the old school.

Seymour says, "I'm thrilled to be working with Rhonda - I think she's absolutely amazing, I really do."

Although he's been on the same bill as her before they've never shared the stage. before

This will be Burchmore's first time performing with the CSO and she's thrilled at the prospect of a big orchestral sound welling up behind her on stage as she sings.

Burchmore says, "I'm really excited about that."

She says that while a lot of people who perform songs such as those by Cole Porter indulge in a lot of "verbal acrobatics", she prefers to sing them in the style in which they were written.

"I like to sing them how they used to be; that's always been my bag. There's nothing like a good lyric."

Noting the upcoming third tour of Mamma Mia! is soon to premiere in Canberra, Burchmore notes she has been performing in her own Abba-themed show, Abba-solutely Fabulous, which she hopes to bring to Canberra at some point.

But for now, her musical focus is on the US rather than Sweden as she prepares to make her CSO debut.