PUMC Stages Variety Show

PUMC Variety Show: A Big Hit

On the evening of Saturday, November 14, 2015 the latest edition of Peoples infamous Variety Shows began at 7:00 PM in Ellis Hall. Two hours later the audience left with a chuckle or a tune to remember. Over 70 folks were in attendance. While there was no admission charge well over $300 was collected in either donations or in the purchase of goodies at the refreshment booth.

The MC for the evening was Dick Matthews who has served in that capacity now for several years. Introducing acts he has become a master at and his jokes, many related to his family or in his relationships with school age children regaled us with good wholesome humor.

The first act of both the first half of the show and the second half of the show featured “The Flukes” a locally based ukulele band of 13 or 14 members. The lead for the evening was our own Fred Wade. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was the first song on their agenda. Many in the audience were familiar with this tune and either sang along or hummed along with the band. The band later would sing and play John Denver’s “Country Road” with some of the band members switching to a Banjo Ukulele while others continued with the more familiar traditional Hawaiian style of instrument.

Following the Flukes was Marnie, known to most of us oldsters as Marilyn (Darling). She did a hilarious musical rendition of “Poor Tommy Toad” who unfortunately found his way to the middle of the road and alas his life came to an end.

It was then once again time for Sally Smith to take the staging area and give us her famous two-head piece rendition of Little Liza giving instructions to Henry. Her rendition was received with extended laughter from the audience as the story unfolded.

Merrill Kaiser with accompaniment of Debbie Cole on the piano sang two songs over the course of the two halves of the program. He brought a country-western flavor to the audience in both of his pieces. In the first act he sang “The Last Farewell” and in the second half he closed his contributions in song with, I Was Born under a Wandering Star”.

Chris Ward and Dan Doughty for several years have teamed up to sing together. In the first portion of the show they sang “Whispering Hope” with the accompaniment of Debbie. The also closed the show with the song, ”Let There Be Peace On Earth” to which they invited the audience to participate. The song was a fitting closing to the show especially since there seems to be a rash of terroristic experiences taking place in this World that can only bring fear into the lives of all.

Pat Kaiser read a piece, somewhat in poetic form, about a girl (woman) who thinks in church about people in one way and yet when she meets those same people on the way out of church speaks to and with them in an entirely different way. The story perhaps is more real than we would all like to admit. This piece was called, “The Frivolous Girl In Church”.

The youngest person in the show is the son of MC Dick. Aaron Matthews sang a popular number from years past, Games People Play” that would have been familiar to many of those attending this show. You could tell who was familiar with the number as many joined in with the “La de Dah” in the chorus.

Aaron was followed by Mariah Bowker who with great voice added much to the musical extravaganza. I am sorry that I have failed to find a way of transferring the picture that I took of Mariah. If I find a way I will edit it in later.

At the end of the first half and before intermission The Ushers took the staging area. There were 6 women and five men, all of whom have taken the role of Usher in church at some time. Many also have served in the choir. With the help of Wes Splettstoesser and others they were able to merge two songs, “Stand By Me” originally recorded by Ben E. King and “I’ll Stand By You “recorded by The Pretenders some years ago. The presentation began with the reading of Psalm 139:12 which set the stage for the two songs. After seeking someone to “Stand By Me” the response indicated that those responding said, “I’ll Stand By You”. Before they were finished the Ushers sang, “What A Wonderful World.” If folks will stand together was the thought then we would truly experience a wonderful world.

Following the Ushers a short intermission allowed those present to have refreshments that were served by Beck and Janice. Nourished, everyone was invited back to their seats, The second half opened with the Flukes again playing as mentioned above.

Marilyn teamed up with Chris and Rosemary for a number which in turn was followed by Betty Smith singing acapela the Christmas song, “Little Donkey”.

 

 

 

Christina Irace then took the stage to sing her rendition of “Halleluiah “. Christina was accompanied by her Dad on the guitar. Both her Mom and Dad are members of the Flukes.

 

 

Pastor Tom showed off his musical talent by singing a Broadway number and acting it out. One certainly felt the Broadway connection that he had in the past and, we might add, still does. His rendition of “I Love A Film Cliché” was a show stopper.

 

 

Rosemary and Marilyn followed and sang  “Try To Remember” which helped to show off their beautiful voices which also led many in the audience to remember innocent times past—or were they?

The evening of fun came to an end when Chris and Dan came forward for the closing number which was another song of complete appropriateness for this weekend when terrorist raids were taking place in Paris, in Beirut and elsewhere in the Middle East. “Let There Be Peace on Earth” while a popular song of the past was certainly a prayer that we could all share for the “Wonderful World” that God has created for us.

When the program was over many in the audience were willing to stay long enough to pick up chairs and tables and reset Ellis Hall for Sunday activities. Thanks to all of those folks that helped make this a great evening. It is amazing to see what can be done when everyone works together.