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| Volume 64, Issue 42 | Rota-Scribe: Buck Catlin | |||||||||||
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The Legend of "FLOWER DRUM SONG" as told by FCLO Prexy Grif Duncan. The fascinating story of how the Chinese immigrant community on the West Coast became an integral part of our 19th Century theater history ! More under PROGRAM.
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Following the PLEDGE and the traditional recognition of NAVY over ARMY, THE "CINCO CHOIRISTERs" of Mike, of "America" better recognized by the Rotary brethren and sistren as "My Country Tis of Thee" BROTHER Bill Klinghoffer intoned the 1946 words of Bergen Evans concerning freedom: VISITING ROTARIANS: Bill Schenk introduced new Fullerton Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director Theresa Harvey. Welcome, Theresa! You follow in a great tradition of Chamber leadership. ANNOUNCEMENTS: TOP 100 Sunny Hills High School banquet May 12th. Top 100 Fullerton Union High School Banquet May 26th. Rotary District Conference May 20th Board meeting May 10th Boys & Girls Club Auction Oct 21 FINEMASTER Dick Daybell (In good form!) Paul Dudley fined for being first in chow line ahead of the Power Table Regulars. (Paul appealed claiming Planning Commissioner Daybell should be fined for a poorly thought out position on some City Development issue!) BIRTHDAYSAND ANNIVERSARIES: Joe Lins - 48 hard years. RAFFLE: John Phelps bought the winning ticket but mis-identified the State with the original motto "The State with Hogs and Grits" as Arkansas. Good guess, but it was Tennessee.
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Grif Duncan gave a very interesting history of the background behind the up coming Fullerton Civic Light Opera production " FLOWER DRUM SONG" . He started our with a truism, "Why do we not expect our third generation children not to speak the language of their parents origin?" Answer: They change. Do our children like the music of the 40s Accents, clothes names changes. That is the background of the play's plot. Singer "Charlene" and her pianist Richard Grant treated us to "I enjoy being a girl!". She in a costume of the play, which was first written in 1948 when Grif was actually in the cast with a Chinese talking part. (One wag in the Rotary audience was overheard to remark, "So what's different?" Some charming anecdotes: "Chop suey is actually an American dish created in San Francisco in the 1900s from left over food scraps in a restaurant to feed hungry Chinese workers". "Flower Drum Song" orignally was put together using various Chinese actors from New York City night clubs". "A renown Hollywood and Broadway Chinese actor Jack Soo is actually a Japanese. Most Caucasians can't really distinguish the various Oriental ethnicities. (That's normal. I can't tell a Vietnamese from a Burmese or a Maltese!)" “FLOWER DRUM SONG” plays at Plummer May 13-29th. "Guess, but it was Tennessee. eh . . ." jim young |
