My musings of summer return me to a memorable Danville Public Schools summer musical of 1991 (there you go, Spiro T. Agnew).
Our production was Oliver! held in the auditorium of Bonner Middle School under the direction of Marcia Dalton. Danny Davis had put together an orchestra; and he was our music director.
Marcia diligently worked with us, as did Danny. In fact, Danny became somewhat frustrated with the chorus for cutting off the “s” sound at the end of the word “fuss” in the song, “Consider Yourself!” Members of church choirs and other choruses know how difficult it is to get the choristers to cut off the “s” sound simultaneously, in order that words ending with “s” don’t generate a sound similar to the “hissing” of a den of snakes (paraphrase: “I will put enmity between the choir director and the ending letter “s”).
We were having so much trouble cutting off that “s” together that Danny felt compelled to stand on top of one of the auditorium seats jump down from that seat as a signal to cut off the word “fuss!”(during a rehearsal, not performance). You might say this particular cut-off was “gravity driven.”
And in addition to the word “fuss” ending with double “s”, that double “s” makes up half of the word “fuss,” aggravating things, and possibly calling for drastic measures of direction.
Our whole family participated in Oliver! , late wife Diane, daughter Rachel, son Jeremy, and me.
The production was a fine one, doing an excellent job of telling Oliver’s plight through the “underworld” of Victorian England and his quest for security and love. The cast and chorus were excellent, including the flat-capped children as “Fagan’s gang!”
And at that time and place, Danville, Virginia became the epicenter (besides London) of Cockney accents!
But this is not the main subject about which I now write.
During the scene where Patti (the portrayer of Nancy) beautifully sang “As Long as He Needs Me,” some of us guys were to have our heads down, “in our cups” (figuratively) on a pub table during the song.
I decided to change things up a bit!
An amiable bunch was assembled at that pub table, especially my buddy, Jim, whom I especially think of as a “mirth-filled soul.” So, I figured I would bring a few “jolly” props to the table so to speak.
Patti was performing her song just a few yards behind us, and at a higher, OVERLOOKING level! So, I had to be careful that none of my shenanigans would interfere with Patti singing her song and draw her attention TO ME!
In a sense, the table was “my stage”, so, during each night of the last week of rehearsals, and even the performance, I had one of these items secretly in one of my pants pockets, ready to ascend to the “stage” (and now, I’m thinking of the man-powered elevators raising the lions up to the floor of the ancient Roman colosseum).
Once in place, each “performer” would act out upon the stage (hmm, maybe “act out” is the appropriate term).
The first thing out of my pants (gosh! I need to be more careful with my wording) was one of those big Mac Happy Meal Transformer toys. I slowly moved it to the middle of the table and let it (soak in) before I “transformed” it. You know that sound made when someone stifles a sneeze? Well, a stifled laugh sounds similar.
The next was one of those Hallmark climbing spider pins. Its “debut” was greeted similarly, but I hadn’t thought about the teeny tiny (or itsy-bitsy) bit of “clockwork” noise the ascending spider made. But most of all, Patti didn’t hear it!
On the next night two “performers” made their debut. The first was a placid, plastic Brontosaurus (technically, Apatosaurus), shortly followed by a hungry, plastic T-Rex (a “plasti-vore”). They “battled” in the center of the table, resulting in the poor Brontosaurus lying vanquished. It was as in The Land Before Time and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth! At this point, Jim’s laughter seemed to be in danger of overcoming his squelching of it, but he held on.
The next to “appear” was a sock puppet of Jeremy’s. I don’t know what species of fauna it was supposed to represent. It looked kind of like an eel, but I guess there’s a built-in resemblance to an eel in every sock puppet, since it extends up the arm. It was purple, with two big eyes (no, not the “Purple People Eater”), and with yellow stripes. I worked it with my hand to make it appear as if it were the source of the singing of “As Long as He Needs Me.” During this, I almost “lost it” myself, although Jim still held on (barely). I did wonder if his “laugh-squelching” efforts were causing him any internal damage, and if I would be held accountable. And I was especially glad that Patti did not glance over and see the puppet “singing” her song.
The final “creature” to emerge from below (sounds like the title of a 50s’ sci-fi film) was none other than “the Noid.” And on that night, the cast had pizza afterwards. “Pizza night!” You remember the Noid from Domino’s? It wasn’t dangerous, like “Chuckie.” It was plastic, made of flexible arms and legs, and white-gloved like Mickey Mouse. I maneuvered the Noid so that its white-gloved hand was the first part of its body to appear just over the table’s rim. The whole body then “appeared,” and did sort of a two-step. At that time, I heard the sounds of several laughs being “swallowed” at the table, but not even a murmur from Jim.
Jim later told me when he saw that white-gloved hand appear, he said to himself, “Oh my!” and lowered his head so as to not see any sort of antics the Noid might do, for he knew then he would have finally lost it!
I must now admit that Jim did say “Oh,” but the word following it was not the word “my!” (protective “writer’s license”).
Jump to the present, or rather, recent past: on April 8th, the Danville Choral Arts Society (DACAS) gave its spring concert at Saint Luke’s Methodist Church. The concert consisted of tunes from famous musicals. When we sang “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” I got to wear a flat cap and do my Cockney impression that starts with “Because I was afraid to speak when I was just a lad….”
Patti is a member of the DACAS Bell Ringers, who also performed during that April 8th concert.
When we were turning in our music, and in reference to my Cockney, I said to Patti, “Well, I learned something from Oliver!.
And we laughed,
BOTH of us.
Fortunately!
