School Musicals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKMWvJwegVY

1956 - Brigadoon

1957 - The King & I

1958 - Allegro

1959 - Annie Get You Gun

1960 - The King & I

1961 - Oklahoma

1962 - Brigadoon

1963 - South Pacific

1964 - The Music Man

1965 - The Sound of Music

1966 - My Fair Lady

1967 - The Unsinkable Molly Brown

1968 - Camelot

1969 - Finian's Rainbow

 I have listed the ones that were offered during my school days as best that I can recall and find in old yearbooks,  the first one was in 1956.  These were extremely well done for student productions,  with enough of a budget so that the production design was top notch.  They opened with an afternoon matinee for students and then gave several evening performances for the general public.  I believe that the first one I attended was "Oklahoma" when I was in fifth grade; I recall actual specifics from that performance and have no such recollections for the 1959 and 1960 productions.   I believe that my parents took me to one in the late 50's,  that would have been a regular evening performance rather than a student matinee.  

I had been unimpressed by the "Music Man" film and passed on attending the stage production in 8th grade,  as I recall students had to purchase tickets if they wanted to attend,  if you didn't go you marked time in study hall.   Most kids went and it says something about my willful 8th grade personality that I chose not to attend.

The tradition continues in 2015 with another production of "The Sound of Music", forty years after the one I attended.  But this will be the last time on the stage of McDowell Auditorium as the building will be closed and demolished this summer.  As a fanatical preservationist I find the rush to tear down rather than re-purpose to be the daily message a flawed society sends to its citizens that their existence is of no significance.

Our family's tiny LP collection included the Broadway version of "My Fair Lady".  For many years I have stumbled across the same album at garage and estate sales.  It appears that at least 50% of baby boomer families owned a copy.

18 January 2016

My Fair Lady

Mad Cow Disease continues to erode away my brain cells,  I rushed around this morning getting packages ready for the mailman only to realize in mid-afternoon that it is a postal holiday.  One of the items was this "My Fair Lady" soundtrack album which was purchased from me today.  It was one of the earliest remaining from my original record collection.  A bit of irony as I purchased it in 1966 - a few months before we left Ashland,  and I sold it a few months after returning to Ashland - 50 years later.  My Fair Lady was the Ashland High School musical during my Sophomore year and I was apparently impressed enough to purchase the LP shortly after seeing the live performance. 

Melanie Schussler,  the older sister of a friend and the town's resident singing prodigy,  really nailed it as Eliza Doolittle.  Perhaps the best stage performance in the history of Ashland.  Of course Eliza is a dream role with lots of cute songs and subtle comedy, yet she is not so totally the focus of the story that you grow weary of her on the stage.  Eddie Highman was also excellent as her comical father.   Saturday's paper said they were about to begin demo on the old Junior High School building,  including McDowell Auditorium where all the past high school musicals were presented.