The Day All The Music Died
The opening sounds you here at the very beginning of "SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY", after the house lights have dimmed to a blackout are from the traditional Folk Song "He's Gone Away"....sung acapella, without accompaniment, in the dark.
On Saturday, November 23, at the Matinee performance of 'Spoon River' at The Belasco Theatre on Broadway, (there had been no Friday night performance on November 22....no show played that night on Broadway....every theatre was dark, that night....) we waited in the wings, as we always did, Bob Elston, Betty Garrett & Hal Lynch on Stage Right, and Joyce Van Patten, Charles Aidman and me on Stage Left. It was my voice that came over the loud speakers, there in the dark...and you could audibly here the gasp of grief escape from all three of us, waiting there in the dark, before our entrance on to the still darkened stage of the still darkened theatre....to take our places on the stage, before the lights would come up. Everything we heard that day; all the poems from 'Spoon River', so filled with Americana...all of the music...the songs....took on a new meaning because of the great tragedy that had befallen our beloved country, the day before.
The day before, that Friday, I had been at a Gynocologists office, suffering with some sort of ovary pain....I left there and got in cab, and it was the cab driver who told me that John F. Kennedy, our President, had been shot in Dallas just a little while ago...I couldn't fathom this. At first I thought he was kidding; that he had for some strange reason, made this up....and I said "Is that a joke? Cause if it is..it's not funny!" He protested in such a manner that I immediately understood that , no, this was not a joke. The gravity of the situation was not really known in those few moments; we stopped at a red light...a fellow cabbie rolled his window down and shouted to my driver, that Kennedy was dead. My driver said, 'What?'...The other cabbie repeated the news, and pulled away because the light had changed to green. The tears came; and came, and came....I couldn't believe that this was happening....
I got out of the cab at the Hotel, and immediately went up to the 15th floor, where Betty's rooms were. I rang her bell...she came to the door, as stricken as I was...in tears...trying to get ready to go to an interview that had been scheduled before this unbelievable thing happened. She had to leave and I went up to the 16th floor, to my rooms and turned on the television, hoping to be told this had not happened; hoping to be told that a terrible mistake had been made...Kennedy was not dead....like the time when they announced on television that, then President Eisenhower had died after a very severe heart attack, and he hadn't died, at all! They had made an awful awful mistake. That's what I was hoping for.
I was hoping that I would wake up from this ghastly horrible dream, and find out that yes, it was just a horrible ghastly dream..nobody had been shot and killed in Dallas.
I was called by the Company Manager to be told that there would be no performance that night. And they weren't sure about Saturday yet.....that Friday evening, all of us at a loss as to what to do, huddled together sharing a hushed dinner at a very quiet subdued Sardi's Restaurant. We needed to be with each other; we needed to try to digest this incredibly awful thing that had plunged all of us, along with most of the country and the world, into unimaginable grief and hopelessness.
So, when, indeed we were told we would be playing the matinee on Saturday, everything that all of us knew about this play with music like the back of our hands, was heard through a completely different senseabilty. (I couldn't even imagine going to a play, let alone performing in one that Saturday afternoon..... But there we were, and there was my voice....)
'He's gone away.....
For To Stay, A Little while....
But He's Comin; Back, If He Goes Ten Thousand Miles......
But Who Will Buy My Shoes...
And Who Will Glove My Hand.....
And Who Will Kiss My Ruby Lips, When He Is Gone.......
Look Away....Look Away.....Over Yonder....'
I didn't think I could get through this performance. None of us did.
My voice continues, humming underneath this next voice we hear... now speaking....is Chuck's voice, (Charles Aidman, who adapted this beautiful beautiful piece for the stage and who had Directed it, too....) and we are still in the dark, moving onto the stage to take our seats....the words he speaks:
"Where are Elmer, Herman, Bert, Tom And Charley,
The weak of will, the strong of arm, the clown, the boozer, the fighter?
All, all, all are sleeping on the hill.
One passed in a fever,
One was killed in a mine,
One was killed in a brawl,
One died in jail,
One fell from a bridge toiling for children and wife --
All, all are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill....."
This whole evening is people speaking from the grave...speaking truths that they no longer are afraid to speak....all speaking after they are dead and buried. It sounds morbid, but it isn't! It is an incredibly funny and inspiring two hours that yes, had it's sad and touching moments, but morbid, no!
But, Saturday, November 23rd, 1963 at 2pm in the afternoon, it was very morbid.....and heartbreakingly sad, to say the least.
I could go on....but, the day has already gotten waaaaay ahead of me....so I'll stop, for now, and just say, if you remember this day and this time, let me know......
Links to this post:
- had this to say:
As you know already, I do remember! I was in grade school in the library and they announced it over the intercom. What shocking news indeed!
- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 4:09:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
my mom will probably be along to visit you soon, so i will steal her thunder and say that although i was indeed not born yet, my mother has told me how she was in high school, the busses all came and the kids were told about Kennedy's death and sent directly home, and the school was closed. she told me of how the girls were crying in the halls because their handsome young president had been killed.
i wonder, these days, how would our nation react. the world has changed so much. i often hear the phrase, "the world was a simpler place and it was a simpler time". these days i think we wouldnt be so devasted at the loss of a leader, in fact it seems some would clap their hands in glee. we recovered so rapidly from the schock of the towers coming down, would our nation really greive for Mr Bush the way it did for Kennedy?
and although it isnt the same at all, i cried the day John Lennon died.- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 4:46:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I was in eighth grade. We got out of gym and heard a rumor.
Then I went to math extra-help, and an English teacher ran into the room crying.
My school began playing strange music over the loud speaker, and everybody cried on the bus home.
Spent the entire weekend in front of the TV--my parents made me go bowling--and I missed Jack Ruby being killed, but did see the first instant replay--after it had been played constantly in TV history.
Never let my parents forget that they made miss a historic moment on TV--they hated then TV but were into historic moments--my father woke me to see Jack Paar cry when he handed the reigns to Johnny, I think.
When John Kennedy died, my childhood really ended.
Like everyone I was in love with him and his entire immediate family; my best friend and I played Kennedy family games. I was always Jackie
It was my sister's 11th birthday two days later and she was supposed to see her first play that night, at The Mineola Playhouse
I thought that she was incredibly immature and I couldn't believe that she wasn't grieving.
I thought that no day could be sadder; neither could my parents. We were all so innocent then.
And I hate what happened four years ago to make me know that truly worse things could happen as I hate what happened in New Orleans
When I look back on that day 42 years ago, I realize that everything really was before and after
Thank you for your really beautiful and vivid post. I found myself unable to write about it because I'm so tired of depressing events, but it feels good to comment- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 5:43:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
My husband remembers...the principal came in and whispered something to the teacher and the teacher started crying and the class was told the awful news and all the children were sent home.
He went home to find his father grief stricken and ranting angrily and his mother crying. He said it was just the most awful day, or few days, really.- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 7:11:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I was the same age my son Ethan is now - 4 years old. My memory is that of sitting in my Grandmother's living room, with the tv on, and seeing my Mom, my aunts and my grandmother crying. Not as vivid as it used to be, but I remember how sad they all were. My Mom bought all the books and I can remember looking at them when I was a little girl. I don't think there will ever be another president with the charisma of JFK. And I don't believe there will be another first family with that type of style.
- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 8:13:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I'm here from Utenzi's blog.
Poignant post- oh yes! I was too young to remember much except the pervading heavy sadness that cloaked the air. It hung heavily on every adult I saw, a massive mantle of grief.
In years since when it was talked about, those memories are much clearer. People always spoke of how young he was and of Jackie. JFK spoke at a relatives' graduation so I heard unbearable sadness regarding his death.
To read your memories, is indescrible.- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:02:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I came back because michele sent me, but also because i wanted to read your other comments on their memories of the death of JFK. thank you for getting this converstion going. it always impresses me how much a nation could love their leader. our nation hasnt had that kind of relationship with their president in my lifetime. i think that, too, is a tragedy.
- Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:51:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
No, it was 11 years before my birth. By the way OOLOH, I found out what meme stands for:
meme n (mëm): A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. From the Greek mimëma, something imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate.
Hope that makes you feel better!- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 6:40:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
I wasn't schooled yet when this happened, and I lived down in Southamerica, so I don't remember it. My first tragic public loss was John Lennon and I was in college...
(thanks for your kind words!!!)- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 8:42:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
I am visiting you twice today like you did too! this time to tell you I like the way you illustrate your interesting posts. It is alwas fun to come visit you. Even when the post is a "serious" one...
- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 9:04:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
I wasn't born yet... I remember my mother telling me how she was sitting at home, when the news came on and how she just could not grasp the concept that the president had been killed.
Your recollection was very moving....thank you for sharing.
I so love reading posts! You need to write a book of your days in the theater!- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 9:21:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
I can't honestly say that I remember it.. I was just a year old.
But I do know that my mother saved all the newspapers ..
I must ask her if she still has them.. next time I am home, it would be interesting for me to have a look and see how the British papers covered the story.. event.. if you know what I mean?
I remember sobbing like a baby when John Lennon was murdered... I was in 6th form college, and we all wore black, with black armbands..
And I remember watching the Challenger disaster in shock... that is imprinted in my mind for eternity. I'd never watched a shuttle launch before, and I had a day off... was doing ironing while watching the telly.. oh, lord, that was awful.
I never watched another launch or landing again until my first daughter was born, and old enough to be interested.. and even then I worried...- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 10:06:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
Wow. It's the first first-hand account I've heard of hearing of Kennedy's death. Some public figures become personal figures, don't they? I felt the impact of Gene Roddenbury's death but then, only a handful around me knew who he was. And when Trudeau died, there was a locally mixed sentiment and it wasn't that universal wave. There wasn't the public grief.
Could you tell why Kennedy was great to you, as someone who was living through his too brief governing?- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 11:31:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
Not in the same league - but I still remember the day the Princess of Wales died. I hadn't seen the news before going to the shop, and when I heard the sombre music and continuous news feed on their radio I jokingly asked who'd died.
The next week we were driving down to Cornwall for a holiday on the day of the funeral, and all the cars pulled over and stopped.
Weird.
cq- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 1:37:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
Yes, I remember this day. I was 5 years old & in kindergarten. When I arrived home, my 15 year old sister & her friend were sitting in front of our T.V. crying. I'm sure I was too young to realize what happened, but I've always remembered that day.
- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 2:44:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
JFK was b4 my time, but I do recognize him and admire him, he is "what could have been if" ....
I learned the other day that JFK was suffering from a illness that could prevented him from running for office. The degree that he went to, to fight and conceal his secret is tragic. He knew as much that he did not have the luxury of time.
I salute him for the most important thing he did, stopping WWIII from happening, his calculated brinkmenship worked during the Cuban missile crisis, we adverted nuclear war by juz inches.
Thx for your tribute to JFK. Cheers!- Wednesday, November 23, 2005 11:07:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I was 13 and only vaguely remember hearing about it at school and how everything sort of stopped. By the time Bobby and Martin Luther King were assasinated, I was more radicalized.
Nov 22 is also my brother Jim's (who is also no longer with us) birthday.- Thursday, November 24, 2005 11:56:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
It's amazing how vividly we all remember where we were at certain milestones of history. I wasn't around when JFK was shot, but I remember the Reagan shooting, Challenger, Columbia, 9/11 all as if they happened yesterday.
Here from Michele's. Thanks for the trip - this is important stuff.- Thursday, November 24, 2005 6:15:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
Beautiful post, I didn't realize you were in the middle of "Spoon River Anthology" at that time. How I wish I could have seen that version, especially the raw expression of grief and baby steps towards healing that obviously took place at that Saturday matinee.
JFK's assasination is my very first memory. I was only 4 years old but I vividly remember my mother crying hysterically and watching the funeral on TV when John-John did his little salute. I remember thinking how beautiful Jackie was but why wasn't she crying?- Thursday, November 24, 2005 10:28:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
Hello from Michele's. I wasn't around for another 14 years. Sadly, the only perspective I have on the issue is that of Hunter S. Thompson's when he called that day (Forgive me for paraphrasing) "the day the American Dream died...the freaks are taking over."
Truly a tragic thing. Even as a Canadian, I look upon the matter with very sad eyes.- Friday, November 25, 2005 2:10:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
Thank you for sharing your memories of this. I'm familiar with Spoon River Anthology and cannot even imagine how y'all got through the performance.
This tragedy is probably one of my earliest memories. I was four-almost-five and the reactions of the adults in my little-girl world are what I remember most. Like the rest of the country, we spent the rest of the week glued to the TV coverage.
Some of my uncles went from NC to Washington so they could be there for the funeral and even though it's been a really long time since I actually saw it, I can remember very clearly a photograph of them taken on the steps of the Capitol building.- Friday, November 25, 2005 4:57:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
JK was before my time, but my mother told me that when he was shot, she was at work. She was a telephone operator, barely 19 years old and had just moved to Los Angeles after marrying my dad the previous month. She was told the news by someone she was placing a call for.
- Tuesday, November 29, 2005 6:58:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I think nearly everyone in the world remembers that day if they were around then. I was quite young and very ignorant about politics but even I knew the world had lost a very special person. I remember the shock and astonishment, it seemed so stupidly pointless and wicked.
- Wednesday, December 7, 2005 1:59:00 AM PST
- had this to say:
Incredible blog. I admired your site and I will be
back once again to view it! I use much of my spare
time searching for blogs like yours.
Please take a journey to my al alabama house cleaning blog.- Tuesday, February 7, 2006 12:06:00 PM PST
- had this to say:
I recall this day vividly. The TV was on, as always, in front of my Programming Dept. desk at an NBC-TV affiliate station in a major metropolitan midwestern market as the whole Dallas scene unfolded before me. The teletype started going crazy with programming information coming from the network.
As the time went on, continued Dallas coverage began infringing on expected regular programming. Viewers began phoning the station, with as many calls as we could handle coming to our office.
I could not believe the number of calls I was personally taking from viewers complaining because of the Dallas coverage we were providing, though events were still unfolding there, when what they wanted to see were their soap operas.
My respect for many of my fellow Americans was greatly shaken that day.- Sunday, June 11, 2006 6:35:00 PM PDT
- had this to say:
That's a beautiful remembrance and thank you for directing me how to get there. I thought I had scrolled down but I didn't go far enough. thanks.
- Saturday, November 24, 2007 3:33:00 PM PST
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