More music, please
A fearsome foursome: The 58th annual Warsaw Lions Minstrel Show, “Music, Music, Music”, featured the usual antics, songs, laughs and skits that you expect with lots of guaranteed fun. The Lions “quartet” (there is sometimes more than one quartet) of Nick “Digger” Fischer, Ed “Popbottle” Kent, Bob “Corncob” Buxton and Dairel “Rev” Kaiser are pictured entertaining the audience with their rendition of a Christmas song – we think it was a Christmas song. Beacon photo by Mark Fortune
WARSAW – With some of this year’s cast members being – literally – in casts, the 58th annual Warsaw Lions Club Minstrel show held their dress rehearsal on Thursday evening, Nov. 19 in the River View High School Auditorium, performing for several residents of Camp Echoing Hills and friends.
Interlocutor Jim Bartlett delivered his usual one liners and took jabs at “The End Men” as eight of the cast members’ are fondly called. Under the direction of Jean Haumschild, the 58th annual show delivered what is promised each year – lots of laughs and lots of music from local talent, of which the Lions Club always manages to round up. The band consists of Todd Lupher, Rorey Wesney, Chad Lecraft and David Esselburn.
Songs were performed by Jenna Hord, Betty Hawthorne, Krista Stoffer, Donovan Rice, Ed Kent, Mackenzie Stoffer, Mary Knicely, Nick Fischer, Angie Speicher, Charlie Wright, Todd Lupher, Jamie Shamel, Rorey Wesney, and the Lions Quartet. All are worth the price of admission.
Director Jean Haumschild said, when asked why everyone puts in the hundreds of hours of practice each year, “I think it’s just because it’s such a positive thing in our community. We’ve always said its local people entertaining local people. We’ve got such an abundance of talent here in Coshocton County and it’s really, really nice to showcase these people. A lot of these people are just everyday common workers; they’re farmers, they’re nurses, they’re doctors, they’re all this stuff, and it’s their opportunity to come and do something positive in the community. And it’s also because the funds raised go for a lot of great causes and it lets us have a great time doing it.”
“The chorus does not hear the jokes until dress rehearsal night and I enjoy seeing their reaction to it and it lets me know whether it’s going to be a success maybe on show night or not. We try to keep a lot of things from the chorus so they are just as surprised and we get that spontaneity result from them as much as the audience.”
You can follow the Warsaw Lions Club Minstrel Show on Facebook. A popular skit from a couple years ago has received three million views and Haumschild said that they have received messages from around the world. “I think that shows that people everywhere are hungry for some good old fashioned fun that is family friendly.”
mark@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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