As it has for the past couple of years, the Easter weekend will once again be cueing fans of first-rate entertainment for a Tropical Paradise smash presentation, when David Rudder, Black Stalin and Singing Sandra headline a show and dance Saturday evening, April 23 at the Tropical Paradise Ballroom.
“I think we’re establishing a great tradition here,” said Dave Gayle, owner-operator of Tropical Paradise, “where we kick things off after the winter with a bang of a production. This year’s package certainly does that.”
Tropical Paradise has scheduled a series of concert events showcasing some of the leading talents of soca.
Gayle said the booking of Rudder and Stalin, two legendary soca superstars, had been long programmed as the Easter weekend attraction. The inclusion of Singing Sandra, he said, “was a bit of inspired casting. It came about after I saw news reports about 2011 being the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which was celebrated March 8. It occurred to me that womanhood should be represented in the lineup.”
If only on the basis of the powerful material for which she has become known, Singing Sandra, a two-time winner of Trinidad and Tobago’s calypso monarch title, is a formidable choice as the women’s torch-bearer in the cast. Her addition meant that all three headliners have had the distinction of being calypso monarch, Stalin having done so on five occasions, and Rudder, in his limited time as a competitor, winning in his 1986 breakout year with “Bahia Girl” and “The Hammer.”
The artists will be backed by the popular Sunshine Band and the Deejay music by Madman Maddy will round out the entertainment, with Wassy on board as M.C.
Doors open for the Easter Saturday show and dance at 9:00 p.m., with show time scheduled for 11:00 p.m.
Tropical Paradise Ballroom is located at 1367 Utica Avenue (between Foster and Farragut).
