SPOILER ALERT: This is NOT a tribute group.
Exceptionally talented performance artists Lance Bernard Bryant, Omar Ross, Jovian K. Ford, and Candace C. Culcleasure lend their sharp velvety smooth voices immersed in carefully honed vocal skills to perform as one of the many voices under the one name, The Platters®. With their well-synced, intricately polished, smooth harmonic stylings, this group performs with Music Director Michael Larson presenting the classic evergreen sounds of The Platters in their original elegance, taking the audience on an interactive musical journey back in time with original music and forward into the future visiting the sounds of vocal groups influenced by The Platters through the decades with a performance designed to amaze and delight people of all ages. In 1952-53, bass singer Herb Reed founded and named The Platters, later becoming a Rock n' Roll, Vocal, and GRAMMY® Halls of Fame artist. It is the first black group to be overwhelmingly accepted on the world stage and the first to reach international superstardom (www.theplatters.com). He was the only performing vocalist who performed with the group from its inception until his death in June 2012 and who appeared on all 400+ recordings making him the only group member who performed with The Platters continuously until he died in 2012. Seventy years after the group’s founding, The Platters live on through Reed’s legacy under the auspices of Frederick J. Balboni Jr. Reed's hand-picked successor despite a tumultuous history spanning decades of racism and unscrupulous identity thieves in the United States and abroad that have attempted to steal its distinctiveness and make it there own. To understand The Platters is to appreciate its rich history. At 15, Herb Reed ran away from a physically and emotionally abusive home in Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California. After meeting friends, "couch surfing," and eventually settling into a stable foster home, he enlisted for a brief stint with the United States Army. Once discharged, he quickly reconnected with old friends, made new ones, and found himself "singing under the lamplight" on street corners with talented vocalists, including Alex Hodge, Joe Jefferson, and Cornell Gunter, the first members he recruited to sing in his vocal group. Ralph Bass of Federal Records wanted to record the group but still needed an official name. Sitting around a kitchen table, Reed thought about the "platter" commonly known as a record player's turntable that spins vinyl discs. Hence, The Platters’ name was born! Bass decided to use a tune penned by his friend Buck Ram called Only You (and You Alone), but the label would later deem it "unreleasable," so he asked Ram to take the group under his wing and coach them to success. The vocal lineup continued to change. Before starting The Coasters, Gunter left The Platters to join The Flairs. Tony Williams replaced Hodge, and
