Designer Double-Dip: "Christmas" Re-Gifting

A close friend and I recently made another sojourn to The Rosemary Clooney House, a museum devoted to the gifted singer and sometimes actress. Hailing from Maysville, Kentucky, Clooney spent her last 20 years stationed in the cozy, nearby town of Augusta in a quaint brick home along the Ohio River. After her passing, the house was reinvented (and saved from condemnation) into a charming museum that has continued to fill up with genuine memorabilia since its founding in 2005. The museum is owned and operated as a non-profit organization by former Ky Lt. Governor Steve Henry and his wife Heather French Henry, who was Miss America 2000. Both have worked tirelessly to build the museum up from its initial set of offerings and new things are coming in frequently. (I might add, the $5.00 admission has never increased in these long and troubled 17 years since the opening - at which, naturally, I was present!)

Miss Heather Renee French-Henry and me on the day The Rosemary Clooney House was dedicated.

Her big night. The first Miss Kentucky ever to win the crown!

I've never been able to get her and the dress on the same day. Sometimes ya gotta improvise!

Mrs. Henry, who was the only Miss America contestant that I ever rooted for who proceeded to actually win, is boundlessly creative and not only sings, paints, designs ornaments, writes and endeavors on the behalf of disabled veterans, but she also, along with her mother, painstakingly recreated Rosemary's dress from the finale of White Christmas (1954), the original not believed to have survived. However, the "Sisters" dresses shown with it at left are the real deal. (I bet ya can tell which one was Vera-Ellen's!) These are only a few of the now many costumes which are found within the museum.

Longtime readers here know that I was at the museum the day that White Christmas dancer George Chakiris was on hand (with pal, former Miss America Lee Meriwether) to help present more memorabilia from that film. And since that, there has been still more recovered, including a green tuxedo like the one he wore and a paler one, worn by John Brascia, who was the featured dancer opposite Vera-Ellen in two numbers. The top photo here was not taken at the museum but rather at an exhibit, but all the clothing shown can be found at the museum now. So all that exposition out of the way, we can now move on to the gist of this post!

White Christmas was a (very) loose remake of an earlier film, Holiday Inn (1942), which starred Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire and also featured music by Irving Berlin. Holiday Inn was a smash hit (number 8 for the year of its release) and introduced the Oscar-winning song "White Christmas" to the world. Astaire chose not to do Christmas and, after Donald O'Connor had to bow out due to illness, Danny Kaye was cast.

During the making of Holiday Inn, the U.S. was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and suddenly the war was on. The movie already had a gallery of holiday-themed numbers, but after we were entered into WWII, the Fourth of July number was expanded.

Note the eagles hovering over the star-spangled stage. 

Next comes a passel of patriotic pretties, all done up in striped skirts and glittery, star-dotted tops.

It would be hard to get any more "1940s" than the gals here with their iconic coiffures.

No, this is not an Ann Miller lookalike contest!

Edith Head was the chief designer at Paramount during this time, but I don't know if she merely oversaw or actually designed these costumes. The perky number is eye-catching, but we don't really get to know exactly what these get-ups would have looked like in color. Until now...

The chorine costumes from Holiday Inn can be seen in my first photo from White Christmas above as well as in this moment with Crosby. Note the red top hanging in the piece of luggage. The costumes are never part of a number or scene in Christmas, but they decorate the set multiple times as Crosby's company of performers rehearse at Dean Jagger's inn.

Here they help provide a backdrop for Crosby and Ms. Clooney.

Perhaps the best chance to lay eyes on them is during this rehearsal sequence. They are on hangers behind the cast and for a brief moment we get to see one of them, full-length and un-obscured but for Vera-Ellen's extended arm. It's a neat, almost secret, sort of connection between the similar, yet not truly connected, movies. Still, this is not the only example of designer double-dipping that I have for you today.

When folks recall White Christmas, so often they think about "Sisters" or the finale with the title number in all its glory. But truly one of its showstoppers is the spectacular production number "Mandy." In it, an impossibly slender Vera-Ellen emerges in a white getup against a striking scarlet set and proceed to dance herself silly.

The other costars are in the number as well and do their part...

...even providing a certain amount of hoofing.

However, in this particular sequence, they know their place.

The splendiferous number provides an explosion of color.

This white costume with removable train is housed at the Clooney Museum and so is one of the female dance ensembles (complete with "tambourine!") It's the dancing girls' getups I want you to take note of.

Nearly 70 years later, time has bled some of the red color from the ensemble, but otherwise its condition is remarkable.

Here we see Mr. Chakiris peering at Vera-Ellen. His boyish face and figure are featured throughout the film whenever dancers are required.

Here we see Brascia joining the star for what becomes a highly-energetic and athletic routine. (And again take notice of the dancing girls' clothing.)

For her part, Vera-Ellen is whirled around, stretched apart and hurled all over the place!

The remarkable sequence gets strangely overlooked and is made even more remarkable by the low number of edits in it. This is being performed for the camera in straight takes. (It's also easy, with everything going on, to miss Clooney in the background banging away on her tambourine!)

While Vera-Ellen is being yanked around and twisted like a pretzel...

...Bing, Rosie and Danny have a somewhat easier time of it.

So... the red-hued dancing girls of White Christmas did their part and then hung up their costumes in exchange for the next assignment. Were these confections ever seen again after 1954?

Yes! Ten years later, the outfits were dusted off, stripped of their bows and featured in the Elvis Presley/Barbara Stanwyck film Roustabout (1964.)

The once glitteringly glamorous getups from White Christmas were now morphed into cooch-dance costumes in a carnival! See what difference a few accessories can make?

Babs, at far left, doesn't seem too impressed.

Here's a closer look at the now-familiar pieces.

This is another Paramount/Edith Head production, so the recycling of the costumes makes sense.

The removal of the large bows on the back do leave a few of the gals showing more than had been intended the first time the outfits were filmed. But I guess it suits the "Girlie Show" setting.

See what I mean, Vern?!

So I'd say, all in all, that my dance card was pretty full today! I do have to take a moment here to credit (not to mention thank!) the warmly welcoming Mr. Henry for pointing out these costume overlaps to me. He and his wife's endless search for memorabilia continually provides documentation that leads to fun facts like these.

It fascinates me that Vera-Ellen and George Chakiris were both born in the neighborhood in which I currently reside and later wound up with thriving Hollywood careers. Chakiris had moved away only a few years after his birth, but Vera-Ellen was raised here.

In fact, I am only about two blocks from her childhood home. (It crossed my mind once that I should fudge the details and open up MY house as the "Vera-Ellen House & Museum!" LOL) She and Doris Day (who was only a couple of miles south!) used to carpool to dance class together. It's a remarkable region for those with burgeoning musical talent. (Of course Cincinnati also gave the world Charles Manson... so I'll quite while I'm ahead!)

That's all for this time, folks!

 

11th Anniversary "Celeb"-ration 9, 10 & 11

How's that for a cover picture! Ha ha! 2020 has indeed been the year from hell for me on many levels (as I'm sure it's been for countless others), but we're pressing on... As I chose to do these celeb encounters in basically chronological order, I'm afraid that the ending might be anti-climactic due to the fact that the last two occurred after I'd begun blogging and have already been documented here! :::sigh::: Well, it's too late to do anything about that now. But maybe I can try to tack on a surprise photo or two at the end. As we proceed with Number 8, I still shudder when I think of how my light was kept under a bushel.

My pal Robert purchased tickets in September of 2007 for a new show up in Dayton, Ohio that was being developed by Stephen Schwartz.  You may know Schwartz as the composer of "Godspell", "Pippin", "The Baker's Wife", "Children of Eden", "Prince of Egypt" and a little show called "Wicked," among other things.  He had been putting together a revue of his songs, but in a different way than most others.  Dubbed "a musical scrapbook", it was a show called "Snapshots" and he'd taken a large helping of his music and rewritten about 50% of the lyrics in order to fit it to a story about a mid-forties couple who are on the verge of breakup, but who take time to look through a stack of old pictures, which recall many stages in their life.  A quartet of other performers portrayed the couple in their younger years. (This show took until 2011 before it actually debuted!) My first real show on stage was "Godspell", in which I sang "Light of the World," hence the reference to my light being under a bushel.

Fresh faced for my debut on an area stage. Under the blue-green shirt was the heinous, yet typical, '70s-style carnival clown costume used for the bulk of the show...

Prior to the show, Schwartz held a master class from 3:00 to 5:30 and we attended this.  There was the chance to have a Q&A with him and then a select few - drawn from a box - would get to sing for the man himself and receive feedback and instruction. I had prepared a very brief song from "Prince of Egypt" and had worked and worked it until it was rock solid.  The mere notion of singing before the composer was daunting and yet exhilarating. I had to run to the restroom to check my hair and pee, so Robert put our names into the huge box for those who were willing to put themselves out there.

As we settled in and listened to Schwartz speak and answer questions, there was a sense of anticipation in the room, knowing that out of 150 people, about 100 of them wanted to sing, but only 10 probably would.  The first singer was chosen, a guy in his late 20's or so, and he sang a song from "Parade".  He did it once, pretty well, and then did it two more times, with noticeable improvement thanks to the suggestions Schwartz made.  Then they drew the second name:  Robert!!  Lucky DOG!  He trotted down the steps, tossing me his camera, and went over to the accompanist to go over the music.  Three or four minutes later, he was finally ready to begin "This is the Moment".  He chose to sing the very end and so it started with a lot of verve and passion right off the bat (he was being considerate in not singing the entire piece - something a lot of others did do, sadly, but it also limited how much he could vary the emotions of it.)  He gets miffed when I say this, but he was also a little dry in the throat and scratchy at first.  But who wouldn't be?!?  Schwartz gave him some ideas to kick around and asked him to do it again, adding different layers to it and approaching it with more variety and it was indeed improved the second time.  (Schwartz did say that things are always better the second time regardless, but you could also see that his changes and remarks enhanced almost everyone's songs on the next attempt.) 

Then there was a parade of other singers, some good, some so-so and some DREADFUL.  A girl I'll call Brittney Flick was a real stand-out.  This chick HAD IT.  She went up to sing a song from "Children of Eden" and the pianist couldn't master the tempo of it.  He tried three times and finally Schwartz threw his stuff down and said, "You know what...  I'll play it!"  I thought the girl was going to drop from shock as all of us would have.  To sing a song for a successful composer and have him PLAYING it for you, too?  She was exceptional.  She really did well.  Unfortunately, I think the name is going to be a problem.  The YMCA has "Fun & Flick" water classes and they had to change a sign once when I was there because the lettering they used made it look like something else!  "FUN & FLICK".  Can you imagine the horror?  "BRITTNEY FLICK IN SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS"  (The font may not allow this to make much sense, but just think about it!)

As the master class continued, the person drawing names kept picking females. Finally, Schwartz said he wanted another male to sing and not to choose another female until a male sang. Four names in a row were pulled, all girls, and still nothing. I waited with bated breath to hear my name called. Nope... The last singer was a totally untalented (and unaware of such) guy who wasted everyone's time. I never did get to sing for him, which was disappointing. (And all the way home I accused Robert of failing to put my name in the box and putting his own in twice! Ha ha!) But I got to meet Stephen and later ask him a question when the show was over. 

It was still quite a thrill because not only had my first real show been "Godspell" but I was a devoted fan of Pocahontas (1995) as well. A year later, both Robert and I appeared in a sterling and celebrated production of "Children of Eden" which won scads of awards and was completely sold out for every performance. He was able to claim that he'd sung for the show's composer, but I had to settle for having only met the man...

You can spot Robert as "Father" at the top. Four spaces to the right is my bovine self, appropriately relegated to playing Noah's eldest son. LOL

In my prior post, I relayed how Miss America 2000 Heather French Henry had played a part in further adventures of mine. I'm not counting this next experience as one of my encounters because all I got was within airspace of the celebs. No meeting... But it was still quite a night! George Clooney had directed and starred in the 2008 film Leatherheads, all about the early days of football, and chose to have its premiere in li'l ol' Maysville, Kentucky, where his famous family hailed from. In fact, the Maysville Opera House had long ago played host for the premiere of Aunt Rosie's 1953 film The Stars are Singing, a now-obscure musical. Naturally, Ms. French-Henry was there and had to endure me once again.

Heather be thy name... No restraining order has been issued by her. Yet...

I also was on-hand to observe the utter pandemonium when Mr. Clooney and his costar Renee Zellweger pulled up and walked the red carpet. The man was completely swamped. Like scary swamped. He was semi-protected behind a flimsy white picket partition, but in 2008 he was close to the height of his fame, so people were going gaga. 

Lost in, literally, a sea of teeming fans.

He very patiently made his way down the carpet, signing all sorts of memorabilia and occasionally waving to all the folks who were braving the brisk March evening. He seemed painfully thin to me at the time, not only accounting for Hollywood standards. I felt that directing, acting and playing football (!) endlessly had likely worn him down to a spindle. 

At one point, he did respond to a yelp from me and I took this photo. He's looking at me. My camera was above my head in extended arms, the only way to get a clear shot, trust me! I think I was back four or five rows deep in the crowd with no chance to get any closer. 

Renee seemed something of a gangling, unkempt mess to me. Hair all askew and sporting the usual "grapefruit" face that she so often seemed to be sporting for whatever reason. But she was nice enough (and patient) and she realized that in truth the bulk of the crowd was there to swamp see George. 

There were two showings of the film. The early showing was strictly VIP and by invitation only. The second was for 200 people to be drawn from a lottery of tickets that were being handed out. Knowing my luck with any sort of drawing, I was skeptical to say the least. I had to stand there and stand there as close to 100 ticket numbers were called out from the balcony of the opera house. (Each winner could bring one person in with him.) Believe it or not, my number was called! So my accompanying friend and I were admitted to the showing, which was introduced by George, Renee and George's father Nick! My elation at being chosen did result in a reporter interviewing me for the local paper upon winning. The front three rows of the theater were reserved for the state basketball champs, but I was in the fourth! 

Mr. C. was always with a self-deprecating joke and kept his friends, family and the audience in good spirits throughout.

 

The 10th celebrity encounter in my list of 11 was a doozy as far as I'm concerned. I wrote all about it at the time it happened in December of 2011.  It was the two-day occasion in which West Side Story's (1961) George Chakiris came back to Norwood, Ohio, the place of his birth, to be honored by the mayor and citizens. This was followed by a traipse down to the inevitable Rosemary Clooney Museum the next day at which he was to be on hand for the presentation of the gloves she wore in White Christmas (1954.) This was one of a few a movies in which he was a featured dancer. He was joined in this effort by friend and stage cohort (and former Miss America) Lee Meriwether.

Naturally, I was all in the thick of things causing a ruckus. Poor Heather French was once again besieged by me, both at George Chakiris Day and then down at the museum dedication. But I kept her and the waiting crowd amused while Chakiris and Meriwether's car was delayed in arriving at the appointed time. Remember me saying how I always seemed to meet celebrities when I was at my own personal low point? I was really heavy and not particularly healthy physically when I connected with these two friendly, appealing people, but I wasn't going to miss my chance with them.

I'd shaved my goatee off from the day before which was probably not the greatest plan... But I think you can see that Ms. Meriwether was tickled by me and my inherent lunacy! If you read my original account of that day, you'll understand how I wound up in such a nondescript sweater that day. 

In a hilarious connection to my earlier story about threatening to open my own house as the Vera Ellen Museum, Chakiris and Meriwether actually went to Vera's childhood home and posed on the front porch. And it is literally half a mile from my front door! Vera Ellen's mother used to take her daughter and one Doris Day (who lived several miles further south in Evanston) to dance classes! We did somehow spring some real talent onto the show business map from this area...

I also have posted in detail about the 11th celebrity encounter being listed for this anniversary series. It was close to two years ago when I got the chance to see Maureen McGovern, who make "The Morning After" (the theme song of The Poseidon Adventure, 1972) famous. She had also been the vocalist on several other TV and movie songs that I enjoy. I mean, it was a no-brainer that I was going to be sure to see (and meet!) her given the opportunity. D'ja ever notice how bemused these poor people look once they've been exposed to me? LOL

* * * Bonus Pics * * *

Now that we've reached the end of this series, I have a couple of other brushes with quasi-fame to mention. Anyone recall the show Clean House, in which utterly filthy, cluttered and junk-filled homes were cleared out by a team, who then sold many of the items at a large yard sale for money to help fix the place back up? Hosted for most of its run by Niecy Nash (who recently made headlines after divorcing her second husband and marrying a woman), it also counted among its crew Matt Iseman for 5 seasons. They also did a yearly search for the messiest house in America and, wouldn't you know, they found one in Cincinnati (we adore making national news for all the wrong reasons! LOL) 

I bought nothing at the yard sale, but I did pick something else out!

The day of the gargantuan yard sale, I was back in action to spot me a star. You may have seen Iseman in stand-up comedy or on The New Celebrity Apprentice (which he won) or American Ninja Warrior. Right before I got to him (after having stood outside forevah!), a little girl posed with him and said, "Daddy, I wanna hug him!" Naturally, I stepped up and said, "Daddy, I wanna hug him, too!" and I did! He really didn't seem to mind... and I did not let go until my turn was up. Ha ha!

I've also brushed up against various contestants (and winners) on RuPaul's Drag Race, though I don't suspect that's tremendously difficult to do. This is me (with the infamous Robert from the Sondheim event!) on either side of Mystique Summers Madison (from season 2.) Below, it's my turn to be flanked. On the left is winner Jinkx Monsoon and on the right is runner-up Alaska. Aaaahhh.... from Miss America to America's Next Drag Superstar. What will be next?

I've always liked this photo because I was happy and healthy for once when doing my thing. Thanks to COVID-19, I'm tubby again, but I will be sure to get in shape for the promise of 2021!