Our Big Show – A Great Tradition

As we get ready for our annual show, I came across a book jacket description of one of my barbershop books. “Long before television captivated us with its magic phosphorescent images, and not so long before the good old days of radio, there was a grand old time of theater entertainment with stage plays, variety shows, and song-and-dance men, vaudeville! It was the theater’s heyday, bringing show-goers the delight and excitement of live performances: Singers, hoofers, piano layers, magicians, animal acts. The lights dimmed. The curtain parted. And another performance was on!”

“But before you lament the passing of that fine old show business tradition, look again. Those good old days live on! Throughout the United States and Canada, in cities, towns, and hamlets, you can find a barbershop show. With chorus and quartet performances, the charm of turn-of-the-century stage productions is preserved but packaged and presented in a completely contemporary way. The barbershop show is one of the last remaining forms of family entertainment. A local production with local talent but often with imported barbershop favorites, it is song and banter, harmony and laughter, and amateur show presented in a most professional way.”

We should be proud of the great entertainment our chorus is presenting to the community this Saturday. We must all join in thanks to John Hill and his team for their tireless hours putting together one of these great traditions of theater entertainment. Thanks John and may we all have a great performance!