GC&SU Jazz Band Re-Creates Pepsodent Show

The Georgia College & State University jazz band travels back in time this weekend to present a tribute to World War II veterans.

The GC&SU jazz band will present “The Bob Hope Pepsodent Show,” Thursday through Saturday, April 10 through 12, at 8 p.m. in Russell
Auditorium. The show is a re-enactment of an actual Bob Hope show that took place in Russell Auditorium May 18, 1943.

Bob Hope, who turns 100 years old later this spring, is a man of great celebrity status who made himself a household name in the 1940s. He hosted an NBC radio show, and during World WarII he traveled to many military training sites to perform for the U.S. troops.

“Bob Hope is a comedian who spent the majority of his career entertaining the troops in WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War,” said Dr. Todd Shiver, director of bands, associate professor in the department of music and theatre and the director of the jazz band’s reenactment of “The Bob Hope Pepsodent Show.” “This guy is an American icon. He’s just not in the American eye right now because he’s [almost] 100 years old. That doesn’t take away from his life though. He may be the last huge figure from that generation to survive.”

Max Allen, executive assistant to GC&SU’s president and a retired Navy lieutenant commander, remembers Bob Hope’s commitment to the military.

“[Bob Hope's] shows were extremely valuable to the military personnel worldwide,” said Allen. “Bob Hope has a way of exciting people. I think his whole concept of just wanting to make people laugh and making people feel good about themselves is something that will live for a long, long time. And the fact that he is now up in age and not doing that anymore, I think it’s even more so that we have people here on campus who recognize the importance of what he did and really want to honor him by putting on this show.”

“Bob Hope was in the USO (United Service Organization), and the USO mission is to make life a little more bearable for the service men and to entertain the troops, especially troops abroad,” said Shiver. “Bob Hope started his affiliation with the USO in World War II, and he continued it literally for the rest of his life. He would take movie stars with him and beautiful women and entertain the troops.”

In 1942, Georgia State College for Women (now GC&SU) was designated as a training site for the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services).

Bob Wilson, professor of history in the department of history and geography and the master of ceremonies for the show, said that from 1943-1945, over 3,000 Navy WAVES trained at GSCW. These Navy Waves were being trained as Yeomen, a rank in the service for the WAVES.

“It was basically the women Navy,” said Shiver. “Their purpose was to come here on this campus and train for jobs, which they could replace men on so the men could go fight the war. They took classes on short hand and clerical type things. Times change. Women are right on the front lines now. But back then that would have been unheard of. There were nurses there but women weren’t in actual combat. So that’s what these women were. They were training here, and then they would get shipped out all over the world.”

Bob Hope brought his show to Milledgeville to perform for the Navy WAVES and some men training at Georgia Military College. This was an unusual show for Hope because the majority of this audience was female. When he visited the military training bases throughout the world, he performed his comedy show for largely male audiences.

Shiver and Wilson got the idea to re-enact the Bob Hope show in 1994, after a student discovered Bob Hope’s 1943 performance in Russell Auditorium.

“Terry Culpepper was doing a paper for me on the whole time the WAVES were here at GC&SU,” said Wilson. “So Terry was just doing this paper on the WAVES when he discovered the mentioning of Bob Hope bringing his whole NBC show to the campus.”

Culpepper began interviewing people involved in the show, including Dr. Barbara A. Chandler. Chandler was a 1934 graduate of GSCW and returned to GSCW when she joined the WAVES in 1942. She later served as dean of students at GSCW from 1957 to1963. The jazz band concert is dedicated to Chandler because of the imperative information she provided in order to make the re-enactment possible.

“Chandler kept up with the commander of the WAVES,” said Wilson. “He had the original NBC radio script. He had it copied and sent to me, so we have the actual show.”

The show will include the material from the original script, complete with music, skits and dancers.

The jazz band has prepared a number of WWII type music to perform.

“This is a vehicle for allowing the swing music of the period to be played,” said Wilson.

Actors were chosen from the GC&SU theatre department to portray the famous performers.

This show was re-enacted in 1995 and had an outstanding turn-out. Shiver and Wilson anticipate this performance to be even better.

“This year’s show is going to be similar to the one in 1995, except better,” said Shiver. “We are going to improve it in some ways.”

“We are trying to make it look like a radio show and trying to get that 1940s look for this show,” said Wilson.

Although the show is a tribute specifically to WWII veterans, veterans from all wars will be honored each night.

Despite the fact that the show portrays a 1943 time period, people of all ages are encouraged to attend the concert.

“It’s not going to be just a gray hair kind of thing,” said Shiver. “Swing music was with the height of jazz because it was so user- friendly: you could dance to it or just listen to it. It was fun, and it’s still that way. Even people who don’t think they would like this kind of music, I think if they would come they would have a great time.”

General admission for the show is $5, and GC&SU faculty, staff and
students can get in for $3 with their ID.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 10 2003. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry