Exit with a Flourish

Uncle Paul's last Glee Club tour

IT is mid-March, the start of spring vacation, and after a final Glee Club rehearsal, we're off on our pre-tour — onenight stand - a concert in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Amid the calls of "Which bus are you on?" and "Isn't she here yet?" "Uncle" Paul is calmly conversing with Dave the bus driver about real estate in Florida. It's a popular topic with him these days, since after this tour he and wife Fran will be headed south to pick out their new home. This is the last spring tour for Paul Zeller, the 32-year veteran director of the Dartmouth Glee Clubs. One more tour, and then one more term, and the Zellers will be leaving Dartmouth. Thirty-two years! Is it any secret why this tour has to be special?

After everyone's present-and-accountedfor, the buses are on their way. The traditional "Good Morning" serenade to the bus drivers becomes a "Good Evening" song as we pull away from Lebanon Street. Dinner on arrival at St. Johnsbury Academy is strictly high-school-cafeteria, but the upperclassmen encourage the freshmen with promises of the sumptuous repasts provided by alumni hosts as the tour progresses.

Eventually, we stop milling around the academy music room and go on stage. Paul has been bantering with us, and the atmosphere is light. The Men's Glee Club is on first, performing the "Hanover Winter Song," "The Pasture" from Frostiana, and the several other songs that will become all too familiar in the next four days. A lack of power in the solo mike goes unnoticed as the powerful voice of Wayne Johnson 'BO holds its own on "Lowlands" and "The Boatmen's Dance." Points in the turkey of-the-tour competition begin to be tallied as the men conclude and a flustered freshman makes his exit — into a closet.

The women take the stage next, performing three Latin motets, "Yesterday I Heard the Rain" (again sans solo mike), A Girl's Garden" from Frostiana, and our own "Williams True to Purple." Despite Paul's warnings about taciturn Vermont audiences, this group gave both the men's and women's clubs an enthusiastic round of applause. Still, it's nothing like playing to a Dartmouth crowd.

After intermission, it's the Ensemble's turn. This small mixed Glee Club group, created by Paul to maintain the close-harmony variety that the Dartmouth Aires and Woodswind always lent to the program, is a welcome addition. They've improved 200 per cent since the year began, and their arrangements are in the unmistakable Zeller style. Conducted by Wayne Johnson, they perform a bouncy "Paper Moon," a swelling "Over the Rainbow," and a show-stopping "Summer Nights."

But the combined Glee Clubs have a few show-stoppers as well. Our favorite piece this term has been the finale from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, which we sing our way through with enthusiasm, and conclude, as do the lyrics, "with feelings of pleasure!" We bring the mood down for "The Road Not Taken," another Frostiana song, and then swing into the real showbiz music, a medley from ShowBoat. The tenderness of "Make Believe," the wistfulness of "Can't Help Lovin' That Man," and the debutante-ball beat of "Why Do I Love You?" culminate in the full, rich chords of "OF Man River." At times like this the Glee Club sounds three times its size, and the look on Paul's face says, You sound good, group!

With the striking of a familiar chord, we enter the Green World. We close our music folders and turn to Paul once again as he brings us into the "Football Medley." Then, the ever-popular "Son of a Gun for Beer." Then "Dartmouth Undying," that beautiful number that can either bore or move an audience to tears, depending on how many listeners went to Dartmouth. This audience is surprisingly receptive, considering the size of the Dartmouth contingent: one person who stands up proudly when we sing "Men of Dartmouth." Perhaps an amendment in the first verse to "the lone alum who loves her" would be in order.

And as all good concerts do, this one comes to an end. It's back to Hanover to finish packing for the "real" tour, which begins tomorrow morning. "This was a good concert," says Paul, "a good opener." And that general spirit is shared by the Glee Clubs as we link arms on the buses and sing "Men of Dartmouth" before dispersing to our rooms. See you in the morning for breakfast at the Inn!

WHAT are we doing up at this ungodly hour on the morning after finals? Oh well, this looks good — juice, eggs, sausage, bacon, cereal, lots of coffee ... at least it's a delicious way to start the tour. "Good morning!" "Don't you dare smile!" "Where's the coffee?" Uncle Paul bowed out of breakfast at the Hanover Inn, but he'll be here in time for "Breakfast at the Hanover Inn." Yes, we are being sent off in style; we're going to sing on a morning radio show by that name before we leave. Upstairs to the lobby, that's it, add your luggage to the pile in the hallway, pick up your music and line up. There's Paul, looking wide-awake and ready to go — and why not? He didn't get up for breakfast. He and the announcer, Rex Marshall, are old friends, and the conversation between them bounces along as the show begins. Marshall turns things over to "Professor Paul" who conducts us in Show Boat. We perform "Men of Dartmouth," the men's "Drunken Sailor, the women's "Girl's Garden," and The Gondoliers finale. Paul seems proud to show us off over the airwaves. I'm getting excited; this is going to be a good tour.

The "Good Morning" serenade is a bit lethargic this morning, but yells of "That was weak!" yield a second, livelier version. We're on our way to Essex-Morris, New Jersey - Livingston, to be exact - for our first concert.

One good thing about the shortness of this tour is that we only have one Holiday Inn lunch to put up with. As we settle down to turkey sandwiches at that esteemed eatery in Hartford, Connecticut, two juniors — Nancy Jepson and Judy Recke — three-tour veterans both — give their famous lecture-demonstration on "How to Get an Alum's Address When He Isn't Looking" for thank-you note purposes. Observing the street name and house number very carefully as you arrive, asking him about his occupation in hopes of being given a business card, and the tried-and-true method of peeling the mailing label off his ALUMNI MAGAZINE are usually successful, according to Judy and Nancy. Asking the youngest child in the household — particularly if he/she is younger than six — is usually

These techniques will be put into practice soon enough, at the end of this afternoon's trip. A spirited crew of upperclassmen, most notably Lynn Bodden '80, Kit Gorton 'BO, and Andy Augenblick '81, have been laboring long and hard to organize everyone's favorite tour game: Jeopardy. This afternoon our bus gets to play, and, complete with "orchestra," scorekeeper, commercials, and such question categories as "Car Commercials" and "Bus Trivia," we entertain ourselves and each other for the afternoon. Goodness knows how many Jeopardy games Paul has sat through; he slept through this one.

Pay close attention, Glee Club; you'll never experience this again. We're actually a half-hour ahead of schedule. Instead of keeping our hosts waiting in the parking lot, we're here to greet them as they pull into Livingston's Newark Academy to take us home. Garment bags are passed down the bus aisles, luggage is retrieved, and alumni and their wives make the rounds, checking their slips of paper for the names of their guests. Before long, everybody and his/her roommate is packed off into a car, after double-checking tonight's concert time. Some of us are about to have our first home-cooked meal in three months.

The pre-concert confusion is punctuated by animated conversation, particularly from the freshmen, about their host families. "You wouldn't believe their house. ..." "We had steak; it was thatthick . . . !" "He lived in North Mass; doesn't that sound weird?" As the hour approaches, such discourses give way to "Line up, guys; we're about to go on," and "Where's Paul?" and "We need a light for the piano!"

Well, did you ever have one of those concerts where things just didn't come together? The situation is worse when the things that don't come together are 1) the Glee Clubs, 2) Paul, and 3) the accompaniment. Due to the placement of us on the stage, Paul on a podium in front of the stage, and the piano several feet away to Paul's right, with no view of him or of the music, we had a few problems hearing and seeing each other. But, in the true Dartmouth tradition, we pulled off a spirited concert - so spirited, in fact, that when we tore into "Men of Dartmouth," Paul was forced to throw subtlety to the wind and holler "Slow down!"

The applause was enthusiastic, and the spirit carried through the post-concert party down the hall, as a pair of enthusiastic alumni (Glee Club veterans, no doubt) led us in Dartmouth songs, including the "Ivy League Medley" and the unofficial verse five-and-a-half of "Pea Green Freshmen:"

Where, oh where, are the grandalumni?Safe at last in the rich, rich world.They've gone out from Tuck and theMed School,Safe at last in the rich, rich world.

Quarter to nine tomorrow, team; we're off to Philly, then our Wilmington, Delaware, concert. You can sleep on the buses.

SLEEP is a good idea. Jeopardy, carefully planned before we met our hosts the previous afternoon, got a late start this morning: Bus I is just finishing up Final Jeopardy as we pull into Philadelphia for a four-hour lunch and sightseeing break. We flock to the front of Independence Hall, where Men's Glee Club president Dan Dokos '79 leads us in "Men of Dartmouth." Afterward, we go our separate ways, some of us to the Mint, some directly into Independence Hall or to the Liberty Bell, some in search of food, and a privileged few to find their parents. A few of us got into the regional spirit of things by singing the score from 1776 as we walked, modifying the lyrics to suit the situation: "But no, you sent us Glee Club! Good God, sir, was that fair?"

With everyone back at the buses, including one wayward tenor who gets dropped off at the very last minute by mom and dad, we start for Delaware. Afternoon entertainment on our bus was provided by a wild and crazy sophomore who couldn't resist the chance to boost his hometown: Armonk, New York. "There's the lake: IBM owns it; and the cemetery: IBM owns it; and the golf course: IBM owns that, too." For his attempt to inform us of the joys of IBM-ville, he was presented that night with a nametag that read "I'm Andy. I'm from Armonk, New York; IBM owns it."

But I've moved ahead. We still have the concert and the pre-concert festivities to get through before the post-concert revels. Paul's host this evening is Noel Kuhrt '61. He. and wife Karen have two children; the older one is a bright eight-year-old named Christopher, who, upon meeting Paul, made the excited observation that "he looks just like Henry Fonda!" Paul (or "Henry"), four Kuhrts, and several friends enjoy champagne before the concert.

And what a concert! Tonight, everything is perfect. Good acoustics, well-planned staging, and above all, an enthused audience combine to spur us on to our best concert yet. When we come offstage after the individual men's and women's programs, the excited consensus is "We're going to blow them away on 'Gondoliers'!"

Which we did, but not before the local Dartmouth Club had a chance to present Paul with a beautifully inscribed pewter mug, naming him an honorary member of the Dartmouth Club of Delaware. Unfortunately, Paul couldn't be persuaded to christen it with a chug.

High on success, we're off to the Delaware Art Museum, where the beer comes in 16-ounce cups with "BEER" stenciled on the front. (Someone was heard to ask, "Do these cups have Dartmouth in them?") Paul is pleasantly surprised by a visit from Randy Davis '77, a veteran not only of the Glee Club, but of the Hopkins Center tech crew as well — he's ridden in many tour tech vans with such legends as "Turkeymobile" and "Entertainment Nightly" proclaiming their presence. Many of the people have changed, Randy observes, but the atmosphere is unmistakably Glee-Club-Tour-Party, complete with, once again, the Dartmouth-song renditions that show the presence of both spirit and spirits.

WHO are all these little green people? It's Saint Patrick's Day, and varying shades of Dartmouth green and Irish green are the attire for the day. A few people picked up Saint Paddy's Day hats in Philadelphia: all the better to help them blend in with the scenery once we reach New York.

Three hours in New York City! Once again, we splinter into small groups and go our own way. Some go to the parade, others to the Empire State Building, some to look up family and friends. Revelers with green hair, green beer, green "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons are everywhere; a noisy crowd in a 42nd Street restaurant was exuberantly serenaded with "Son of a Gun for Beer" by a not-to-be-outdone Glee Club crew.

It's back to the buses on schedule, and we re about to make up for our early arrival in Livingston by taking what seems like forever to reach Stamford, Connecticut, our next concert stop. For most of us, it's a good time to catch up on such luxuries as sleep. When we do arrive, there's more home cooking and last-minute preparations, and then it's concert-time again. Paul is a little late; a group of alumni, Glee Clubbers all, were reluctant tob beak off the reminiscing and get him to the hall on time. Fortunately, the first number on the program is the "Hanover Winter Song," conducted by Dan Dokos, so Paul at least has time to get his coat off before going out to direct.

The hall is not as acoustically refined as the one we sang in the night before, but we give an audience-pleasing, spirited performance. "Dartmouth Undying" tugs at our sentimental strings especially hard tonight — so much so that the pitch tends to fall in the process. But, as always, when the lights come up for "Men of Dartmouth," the room fills with exuberance. We're all proud to be a part of Dartmouth, proud of the Glee Clubs, proud of Paul, proud of ourselves.

Party-time at the Marriott Hotel. "Wow, it's a regular forties dance band," someone remarks, as we drift into the large, darkened room to the strains of mellow dance music. It takes a while for most of us to get out onto the floor, but once we do, for some there's no getting off it again. Juniors Todd Young and Judy Recke show off the energetic disco maneuvers they've somehow been practicing on the bus. Freshmen Debbie Rollins and Bill Pahl try out the steps they've been learning in phys. ed. all winter. As the band strikes up a waltz, Paul is finally urged out onto the floor by German exchange student Micki Kleber. Their grand gestures evoke images of a grand ballroom as they glide expertly around the room. Some of the Glee Clubbers are itchy for disco; unfortunately, the band doesn't know any. So, when they take a break, Matt Yee '82 takes over the electric piano and a sizable group falls into line to learn the Bus Stop. If we're worn out on the bus tomorrow, we'll know why. But we try not to wear out our voices tonight; tomorrow's concert is too .important.

GOOD MORNING! One more day, one more concert. We're going to Cape Cod to wind up the tour with a Sunday afternoon concert in West Yarmouth. Important pieces of tour business are being undertaken today, mainly the balloting for the coveted turkey-of-the-tour award. The Turkey Committee goes into deliberation after the ballots have been collected, and plans the evening's ceremonies. Awards will be presented, and unforgettable moments savored, tonight at dinner.

This will be a lump-in-the-throat concert for sure — the last concert of Paul's last tour. The traditional end-of-tour craziness is kept down for that reason, but the men's and women's presidents take a share of ribbing, as always, during the student-conducted "Winter Song" and "Williams True to Purple."

The hall resonates with sound as we do this one up right for Paul. "Men of Dartmouth" couldn't be better, and the traditional Zeller finish, with smile turned on high-beam, is even more brilliant than usual. As soon as we're offstage, we form two lines down either side of the hallway, to give Paul a lively round of applause. He looks embarrassed as he passes by, but warmed.

Dinner is at a restaurant in Plymouth. Our tables all overlook the ocean, a sight which some of us have never seen. With the Atlantic pounding below, we dive into our chicken and broiled scrod, and the Turkey Committee calls things to order. Before the actual awards begin, Publicity Director Ernie Schmider '79 reads off some of the more quotable quotes gathered along the way: verbal tics, double entendres, and general zaniness from all corners of the bus, concert stage, and party spot. Then, the "awards." If you did anything silly, embarrassing, laughable, or misconstruable on this tour, watch out: the Turkey Committee sees all. There are awards for outlandish clothes, disco madness, flirtation, and attempts to spark spirit among the sleepy, to name a few. But it's all in good fun, as is evidenced by Dan Dokos' cheerful acceptance of the turkey-of-the-tour award.

When the laughter subsides, Ernie turns serious for a moment. "Never," he says, "have I been on tour before with such a small Glee Club. But I've never seen a Glee Club where everyone knew each other so well, and got along as well with each other, as this one. Now I'm trying to picture what being away from Dartmouth will be like after four years; I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like for Paul, leaving after 32 years. Could we all sing "Men of Dartmouth" now for Paul, as a very small way of showing our appreciation?"

And as Paul listens, the Dartmouth College Glee Clubs deliver what could only be called a stirring rendition of the alma mater. Don't worry about the pitch — this isn't a concert, it's a tribute. And a welldeserved one.

"It was a good tour," Paul reflects after the post-dinner confusion has settled down. "The spirit has been great. In fact, I don't know when I've enjoyed a tour more." For those of us who had been eager to make Paul's last tour his best, those words are more musical than anything we've sung so far. It has been a special tour: five days of craziness, camaraderie, and a feeling that we'll never again experience anything quite like this tour, or anyone quite like the irrepressible, irreplaceable Paul Zeller.

Beverly Foster '80 is president of theWomen's Glee Club and a veteran of twotours with the Glee Clubs.