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The Fort Lauderdale News
For performing arts alumni, lessons lasting a lifetime
July 01, 1998
When the curtain came down at Parker Playhouse Saturday night, so did the tears.
It had been an emotional week for those involved in the revue dubbed Singing Our Own Song. The show featured alumni of a performing arts program run by Joyce Hall and Allen Hill, with the help of band director Tom Williams, from the late ’60s until the early ’80s — first at Nova High, then at Dillard High and, finally, at the private Atlantic Foundation for the Performing Arts. They had flown in from New York, Los Angeles, Texas, North Carolina and Alabama. So in addition to a show, it was a reunion of friends who hadn’t seen each other in many years.
Some were professional performers. Others had become lawyers, business owners, journalists, agents, accountants, schoolteachers and such. Some hadn’t sung or danced in years. That, and having only a few days to put together a show, added stress, anxiety and frazzled nerves to the equation.
Less than a week before the scheduled show, grief also came into the picture when Fort Lauderdale architect Robert Hall died after a long illness. Hall was the husband of teacher Joyce Hall and father of singer/actress Paige O’Hara.
As the voice of Belle in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast and one of the program’s most prominent graduates, O’Hara was featured in several solos and duets in the revue that reprised numbers from musicals staged by the Hall-Hill group during the years.
But everyone concerned had learned early in their lives that “the show must go on.” And so the rehearsals and the show did go on — despite the head-spinning combination of grief, anxiety, stress, joy and nostalgia.
And when it ended, the usual post-show letdown was magnified by the fact that, although there still was a post-show party and a picnic planned for the next day, the end of the show was really the end of the reunion.
So the hugging, kissing, crying and exchanging of addresses and phone numbers continued well after the show. Three hours later, in fact, many of the alumni were still gathered around a piano in the lobby of the Doubletree Guest Suites, belting out songs and reminiscing about shows gone by.
As an honorary alumnus, I had the pleasure of attending the rehearsals, performing in the show and attending the post-show festivities. And amid all of it — the activities, joy, tears, sadness and nostalgia — the one thought that kept muscling its way to the front of my mind was that this was quite a profound testament to the abilities and dedication of those three teachers.
“Isn’t it amazing what the result can be,” I told my wife, “when teachers decide to go beyond what is expected of them.”
Thirty years ago, Hall, Hill and Williams had taken their jobs to a new level at Nova High. Their success led to the performing arts magnet program at Dillard, which they initiated. That same success led to jealousies that forced them out of the school system.
But during that span, they had made such an impression that, all these years later, their former students were willing to drop their mostly busy and successful lives to return for what amounted to a tribute to those teachers.
What’s more, they agreed to put on their tap shoes, write and learn arrangements and choreography, rehearse, put on an excellent show and pay for the privilege. Considering all that, it’s not surprising that, when the curtain came down, so did the tears.
Article reprinted with rights granted from the Sun Sentinal Co. and Ray Recchi. Thank you!
Copyright 1998, Sun-Sentinel Co. and South Florida Interactive, Inc.