Funded from afar, Cahlua & Cream is bringing up some smooth sounds from the south.

State College resident Henry Parks likes the duo so much, he paid for their trip to perform at 7 p.m. tonight at the The State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave.

Cover duo Cahlua & Cream, named best local talent in southwest Florida by Gulfshore Life Magazine, will have compact discs of its covers and some originals available at the show.

Cahlua & Cream cover an assortment of artists such as Whitney Houston and Donna Summer, said Don Hale, instrumentalist for the act. The group primarily performs music from 10 to 20 years ago, including samplings from Broadway musicals such as Dream Girls and Chicago, he said.

"Some of the people who come to see us say 'Wow, that sounds just as well if not better than the real performers,' " said Lesly Hale, vocalist for the group.

Lesly Hale makes the performance exciting by leaving the stage during the show to interact with the audience, Parks said. Some acts have quality work but lack good stage presence, he said.

"She's got both: a wonderful voice and she's a great performer," Parks said.

Parks is retired and spends three months out of the year in south Florida vacationing. This year, he was at a dinner dance where Cahlua & Cream performed, and he enjoyed the group so much he offered to fund its trip if the group came to State College to perform.

"They said 'yes,' so I thought, 'OK, this might be fun.' I'm retired and I really enjoy music. I just wanted to do something fun," Parks said.

One of the establishments that Parks frequents in Florida has a dinner dance every week, and tickets are usually easy to come by, he said, but tickets for Cahlua & Cream have sold out in 30 minutes.

Both Don and Lesly have performed for nearly 25 years, after meeting at Ithaca College School of Music when each was in a different band, Don Hale said.

Eventually, the two split from their respective groups and united to become Cahlua & Cream.

The name Cahlua & Cream was just something they came up with while the couple was brainstorming different names, Lesly Hale said.

"We decided to name it Cahlua & Cream but decided to spell Kahlua with a 'c' so it would be smooth like the drink Kahlua and Cream -- smooth but with a punch," she said.

Parks said he expects the duo to draw a good crowd.

"When a friend of mine found out they were coming, she got so excited she arranged for 19 people to come," Parks said.