GALVESTON — John Philip Sousa may be universally known as “The March King,” but audiences will be surprised to see how much more there was to this world-famous composer and conductor. “Oh Mr Sousa!” a musical about Sousa’s life from his beginnings as a child prodigy to his years as conductor of the United States Marine Corps Band, will bring folks to their feet when the production comes to The Grand 1894 Opera House on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Ken Malucelli, who wrote, composed, produced, directed and arranged the show, said that he was always a Sousa fan since his childhood. “Once I bought some CDs of Sousa marches and began reading the booklets inside the CDs,” he said, “and it was just fascinating stuff. I told myself that someone needed to write this show. So this became my project.” He said the concept of the show, which is currently touring, is to have a band onstage as the main attraction.

“There is a 22-piece concert band onstage, and they are the stars of the show,” Malucelli said. “There are eight operatically trained actors, all from the San Francisco area, who portray Sousa in various parts of his life. There are 37 characters. “One actor plays Sousa for his entire life, and one woman plays his wife Jennie for her life.

And there are six others who play all the other characters.” Between scenes, there are vignettes of dialogue that help the show move to the next piece of music. “There is a heart-grabber at the end of the show,” Malucelli said. “I won’t say what it is. There will be no tip-off. You just have to come and see it for yourself. But I will say it totally affects everyone. People just come unglued.