Choristers was indeed a unique social organization in the world. It was the brainchild of Eileen Shaw, a talented pianist/soprano/choir director from South Reformed Church in Brooklyn, NY. Eileen and her husband Jim had no children of their own, and they both worked in Manhattan; either one or both worked at Western Electric for decades. They lived in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, where a large part of the church population lived, even though the church building was located at 4th Avenue and 55th Street in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. However, the church drew interest from a large part of Brooklyn primarily because of its emphasis on the social aspects of church life, and the Choristers group was a particularly strong influence.
The idea behind Choristers was to put on an annual musical play as a major fundraiser for the church. The event became known as the Strawberry Festival; after each performance the entire audience was served fresh strawberries and ice cream on shortcakes. The popularity of the program required more than a single night’s performance to satisfy the demand for tickets.
It seemed that Choristers practice was every Tuesday night, but it probably only ran during the fall and winter seasons to rehearse for the spring musical. As opening night drew near, rehearsals increased to two nights a week, with a few dress rehearsals thrown in at the end. The group was very large, and included folks of all ages. Each year Eileen selected a particular Broadway musical, and then she acquired the sheet music and script for the players. Choristers began in the late forties and ran through most of the fifties offering shows such as Oklahoma, Carousel, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and Show Boat. Some of the performances were a collection of show tunes from other current Broadway hits.
There was never a shortage of talent at South Reformed Church. The popularity of the Choristers drew some participants who were not even members of the church, and they were welcomed with open arms. Many of the performers had voices rivaling that of professionals. Eileen was a master at bringing out the best that each one had to offer by slotting them in the appropriate parts that highlighted their particular skills.
A large part of the success of the performances came from the dance routines, thanks to the professional efforts of Queenie Hogg. Queenie was a professional Broadway choreographer and a member of the church. She was a pint-sized, tough, diminutive taskmaster, putting the performers through their paces as though they were rehearsing on Broadway. But her efforts paid off with some very successful group dances that wowed the audiences. One routine was a very clever “skeleton” dance. The dancers wore black costumes with skeletons painted in luminescent paint, so that when the lights were turned off, only the skeletons showed. The dancers were literally dancing in the dark, but they had the routine down pat so that they could perform successfully without incident.
Comedy was a part of most rehearsals, though rarely part of the script. The older guys loved to tease Eileen, and she reveled in it, in spite of its disruption to the rehearsals. However, one season she had her chance at payback. She and Queenie developed a comedy ballet dance routine for the guys, and it was hilarious. Imagine all these varied male shapes and sizes prancing around the stage wearing pink tutus! The guys were good-natured about it, and it had the audience roaring with laughter.
Jim Shaw, Eileen’s industrious husband, was not only one of the performers; he also took charge of stage requirements. He designed and built (or had built) multiple sections of collapsible stage floor extensions to double the size of the regular church hall stage, which was otherwise too small for major performances. After the last show the sections were dismantled and stored under the regular stage.
One particularly memorable performance that brought tears to the audience was the finale of Carousel when the entire cast of about thirty performers gathered together in a line and harmonized a moving rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
At one point or another, every one of Bernie and Jennie’s seven children were members of the Choristers, and most of them were members/performers during the same season. In no particular order, following is a list of Chorister members, the names of whom you’ll find scattered throughout the rest of this website in one venue or another: Allen Nelson (lyric tenor), Bob Nelson (baritone), Warren Nelson (tenor), Dick Nelson (tenor), Gene Nelson (tenor), Howie Nelson (tenor), Marilyn Nelson Crossley (alto), Eddie Larson (baritone), Rudy Bachman (bass extraordinaire), Betty Larsen (soprano), Chuck Clark, Jim Shaw (tenor), Jack Peterson (baritone), Barry McCall (tenor – graduate of Manhattan School of Music and Art), Tom McCall (tenor), Helen Queen, Peggy Love, Christine Yonan, Adina Yonan, Dave Saunders (country and western singer/songwriter and fellow alumnus of Brooklyn Tech), Otis Anderson (professional Broadway performer), Louise Nelson, Pat Nelson, Alice Nelson, Charles Anderson, Evelyn Anderson, Fred Schneider, Ronnie Schneider, Walter Johnson, and Bob Rose.
The idea behind Choristers was to put on an annual musical play as a major fundraiser for the church. The event became known as the Strawberry Festival; after each performance the entire audience was served fresh strawberries and ice cream on shortcakes. The popularity of the program required more than a single night’s performance to satisfy the demand for tickets.
It seemed that Choristers practice was every Tuesday night, but it probably only ran during the fall and winter seasons to rehearse for the spring musical. As opening night drew near, rehearsals increased to two nights a week, with a few dress rehearsals thrown in at the end. The group was very large, and included folks of all ages. Each year Eileen selected a particular Broadway musical, and then she acquired the sheet music and script for the players. Choristers began in the late forties and ran through most of the fifties offering shows such as Oklahoma, Carousel, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and Show Boat. Some of the performances were a collection of show tunes from other current Broadway hits.
There was never a shortage of talent at South Reformed Church. The popularity of the Choristers drew some participants who were not even members of the church, and they were welcomed with open arms. Many of the performers had voices rivaling that of professionals. Eileen was a master at bringing out the best that each one had to offer by slotting them in the appropriate parts that highlighted their particular skills.
A large part of the success of the performances came from the dance routines, thanks to the professional efforts of Queenie Hogg. Queenie was a professional Broadway choreographer and a member of the church. She was a pint-sized, tough, diminutive taskmaster, putting the performers through their paces as though they were rehearsing on Broadway. But her efforts paid off with some very successful group dances that wowed the audiences. One routine was a very clever “skeleton” dance. The dancers wore black costumes with skeletons painted in luminescent paint, so that when the lights were turned off, only the skeletons showed. The dancers were literally dancing in the dark, but they had the routine down pat so that they could perform successfully without incident.
Comedy was a part of most rehearsals, though rarely part of the script. The older guys loved to tease Eileen, and she reveled in it, in spite of its disruption to the rehearsals. However, one season she had her chance at payback. She and Queenie developed a comedy ballet dance routine for the guys, and it was hilarious. Imagine all these varied male shapes and sizes prancing around the stage wearing pink tutus! The guys were good-natured about it, and it had the audience roaring with laughter.
Jim Shaw, Eileen’s industrious husband, was not only one of the performers; he also took charge of stage requirements. He designed and built (or had built) multiple sections of collapsible stage floor extensions to double the size of the regular church hall stage, which was otherwise too small for major performances. After the last show the sections were dismantled and stored under the regular stage.
One particularly memorable performance that brought tears to the audience was the finale of Carousel when the entire cast of about thirty performers gathered together in a line and harmonized a moving rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
At one point or another, every one of Bernie and Jennie’s seven children were members of the Choristers, and most of them were members/performers during the same season. In no particular order, following is a list of Chorister members, the names of whom you’ll find scattered throughout the rest of this website in one venue or another: Allen Nelson (lyric tenor), Bob Nelson (baritone), Warren Nelson (tenor), Dick Nelson (tenor), Gene Nelson (tenor), Howie Nelson (tenor), Marilyn Nelson Crossley (alto), Eddie Larson (baritone), Rudy Bachman (bass extraordinaire), Betty Larsen (soprano), Chuck Clark, Jim Shaw (tenor), Jack Peterson (baritone), Barry McCall (tenor – graduate of Manhattan School of Music and Art), Tom McCall (tenor), Helen Queen, Peggy Love, Christine Yonan, Adina Yonan, Dave Saunders (country and western singer/songwriter and fellow alumnus of Brooklyn Tech), Otis Anderson (professional Broadway performer), Louise Nelson, Pat Nelson, Alice Nelson, Charles Anderson, Evelyn Anderson, Fred Schneider, Ronnie Schneider, Walter Johnson, and Bob Rose.
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