Since I started the story about the Jack Gregory and the Speech Department at Muskogee Central High School last week I guess it would be good to finish it. Although all of Jack Gregory's years at Central were filled with accomplishments I think the first musical play production for the school was his biggest challenge. It was a sheer miracle with what he had to work with and treading in totally unknown territory that it turned out so well.
The speech and drama department put on a Sophomore and Junior Play every year. The last production of the year was called the All-School Play. Some years it was a play, some years a series of skits and some years a combination of both. In February of 1965 Jack Gregory announced that the All-School Play would be the musical comedy, Bye, Bye Birdie.
Bye, Bye Birdie is satire on American society set in 1958. It was inspired by songs of Elvis and his draft notice into the army. The original Broadway show opened in 1960 and the movie was produced in 1963. It has won a Tony award for best musical, had many revivals in New York and is a popular choice for high school and college productions. The stage and the movie versions differ dramatically but both are light hearted and fun.
First order of business was to let all the prospective cast members get an idea of what the play was all about. The film version was rented and one night after the local theater closed a screening of Bye, Bye Birdie was shown several times into the wee hours of the morning. Being a lover of musical productions I had already seen the movie - maybe a couple of times. It was a great excuse to stay out half the night since Jack Gregory was pretty good at keeping people in line. Bleary eyed we left the theater with a good idea of how all the characters and costumes should look.
The big surprise came when the actual play arrived and everyone realized the movie and play differed a great deal. Not only the actual character parts themselves were different but there were five additional songs to be learned for a total of sixteen for both the cast and the Central High Ensemble to learn. I wonder how many times everyone really wondered if we could pull this off. If Jack Gregory was ever in doubt, no one would have ever guessed.
Students in the play made up one of the largest groups for a production that Central had ever had before. In total there were seventy-two cast and Central High Ensemble members. There were a few roles with only one student playing them but most were double or triple cast so that every one had a chance to shine. This meant that everyone need to be at every rehearsal whether they were in the afternoon or the evening. The local dance instructor in town provided the choreography for six dance routines for people who had never danced before. The Stagecraft class built the sets and helped in the set changes.
The twenty members of the Ensemble were pretty well behaved but can you imagine the other fifty-two students behaving when they were waiting for their turn to practice? There was one time when the ornery seniors in the cast got a little out of hand at a practice and we got to witness Jack Gregory more than a little upset. I think we were seriously threatened with cancelling the whole production. That was enough to put every one on their best behavior. No one wanted to see Jack Gregory mad again but no one also wanted to be a disappointment to him. We all realized what experience and fun he was providing for us.
Lin Moore and I got to share the part of Rosie. That part included six songs, three dance numbers and four costume changes. I panicked and went back to dance class that I had quit in the ninth grade. I bought the sound track albums and practiced singing to them at home when no one else was there. My next door neighbor, Pat Mackey, had a wonderful Mom who made three of the dresses for me for the play and Mom took me to Tulsa to rent one dress. Pat told me recently that after her Mom passed away she found a thank you note I had written to thank her for all she had done for me. Wow! I actually had some manners back then.
It would have been fun if the play had been filmed - no video stuff back then. I just think it would be nice to see if it was the rousing success that everyone said it was. I don't think any of the cast members were propelled onto Broadway, television or movies but I do know that many of them continued on in little theaters and other productions all over the country. For me it led me on to some interesting projects, some I might just as soon forget but it also helped me in doing a lot of talent shows and plays with children through the years as well as a few other fun entertainment ventures I may tell about later.
From a Muskogee Phoenix newspaper article after the play:
"This is the hardest I've worked on something in my eleven years of teaching." reflected Jack Gregory, thinking over the hours he and his students have spent preparing for the All School Play, "Bye, Bye Birdie".
For the first time in Central's history, a play has been a complete sell out days prior to the opening performance. The demand for tickets became so great that Mr. Gregory had to call New York to secure permission to do a matinee from the publishing company that handles "Birdie's" royalties. Another first for "Bye, Bye Birdie is that it is the only play in Central's history that has a packed house for every performance with over 1600 tickets sold. "Bye, Bye Birdie has set a precedence that will be hard for plays and play casts to come".
I told my two boys when they complained about school being boring that school was a blast if you participated in the activities whether it was band, sports, theater or something else you found fun and interesting. Later in life you may not remember the difference between Hawthorn's heroines or the square route of some number but you will remember the things you participated in and had fun doing. You might not remember who sat next to you in Chemistry but you will remember some silly event at a football game or a play and the friends you were with at that moment.
School is much more than just going to class and doing homework. All that is important now and was perhaps more important to all of us baby boomers. With all the fun and silliness I have written about high school so far there really was a serious side to it. In our senior year we had to think about what came next. If it was to be continuing on in school there was a lot to think about and to do. SAT's, ACT's and college applications had to be squeezed in among everything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment