THE SIX FLAGS CAMPUS REVUE
1962 - 1965
The idea for the Six Flags Campus Revue surfaced in 1960 by Charles R. Meeker Jr, but it never materialized until Six Flags' second season in 1962. The Campus Revue found its inspiration from a series of highly successful concerts performed by college students at Hotel Adolphus in 1958. When it was conceived, it was decided to make the program an evening show for two reasons. First, A general consensus existed among the directors and producers that there needed to be an evening attraction. Second, it was undeniable fact that the temperature was a whole lot cooler than the daytime which was ruled by the dreaded Texas heat. The second point was learned the hard way during the first season with the Six Flags Revue, which was an afternoon event resembling a variety show. Unlike a variety show, the unrelated acts would be linked through a theme or plot.
Following the recommendation of Angus Wynne Jr, the entire cast would be comprised of college students, though exceptions would be made if the theme or plot called for it. Older adults weren't hired because the makers wanted to maintain "a youthful image" for the new show. To project this image even more, it was decided to adopt a college theme for the revue. The staff also hoped this would make the cast members feel more comfortable with the surroundings and create a sense of unity among themselves. The Show was named the Campus Revue. "Campus" referred to "college spirit" and "Revue" referred to the fact that it contained unrelated acts, though they were linked together in a very loose way.
The Campus Revue followed seven major rules during Meeker's tenure. First, painstaking construction and building is necessary because a revue consists of unrelated acts. Second, all entertainment must be varied. Third, there must be waiting by the audience. Fourth, material must be selected and arranged with variety and swift scenery changes in mind. Fifth, the show should start with a loud, vibrant musical number. Sixth, the show should finish with a spectacular, cheerful musical number. Seventh, the show should never run over an hour so the visitors could have time to visit the rest of the park. Indeed, the Campus Revue of each season always ran fifty to sixty minutes, but never over.
Before the auditions started, Meeker and his associates had no plans, outlines, or ideas in regard to what the next revue would be like. This was done deliberately because they didn't know the talent levels of those hoping to participate or the types of specialty acts they would encounter. Essentially, they wanted the show to be determined by the cast instead of the cast trying to fit into the show.
In 1962, auditions were held in Dallas and Fort Worth. Most of those who attended came from the DFW area, the rest from close-by cities and Oklahoma. However, during the following year, auditions were held in other states where the park was well-known. As the park grew in popularity and prestige, the number of auditions at colleges and universities in other states greatly increased.
The Campus Revue auditions supervised by Director Charles R. Meeker Jr, Producer David T. Blackburn, and Director of Entertainment Stan McIlvaine. Charles Meeker possessed plenty of experience working for the Dallas State Fair Park Musicals and served as a general manager at Cary Plaza. To assist him, David T. Blackburn entered the spotlight. Blackburn began his career working for five years as the manager of the Municipal Auditorium and Coliseum in Lubbock. From 1951 to 1955, he was the assistant manager of the Dallas State Fair Park Musicals. He then became director of public relations and advertising for the Great Southwest Corporation and Six Flags Over Texas. McIlvaine Stan McIlvaine was working as the manager of the Dallas Rangers baseball team when he received the entertainment directorship offer. He saw the position as a good business opportunity and resigned from his post.
Upon arriving at the audition, the participant was asked to fill out out a small card. The person had to provide his or her name, age, height, weight, home address, phone number, and the college or university currently attending.
After everyone had arrived and filled out their cards, Meeker gave a speech to help relax the participants and set down the facts. He started off by telling everyone that nervousness rarely interfere with the ability to perform and could actually be a positive thing in regards the performance. They should all know that the judges aren't just interested in how well the person does the performance, but also what kind of talent is displayed. The people had the option of starting over if they weren't satisfied with the results. At any time, he might stop the person in the middle of the routine since he only wanted to witness enough to determine the amount of talent the person had. He also pointed out the fact that the length of the performance didn't matter to the judges. In addition, Meeker strongly stressed that should the performers get to star in the revue, it would not mean stardom. It was not a quick step success, fame, and fortune. It was only going to be a summer job full of hard work, and everyone would be going home to lead normal lives with probably no chance of furthering any musical careers. When the speech was done, the auditions began.
The vast majority of the people performing were singers, dancers, and musicians. The other auditions were specialty acts such as comedians, ventriloquists, drill teams, jugglers, gymnasts, small bands, bullwhip artists, and tumblers. As the participants waited, Stanley McIlvaine took their cards and arranged the auditions so that the acts were varied and not grouped together. As each performer approached the stage, McIlvaine gave the person's card to Meeker. As the person did his or her act, Meeker wrote notes on the performance and the highlights on the back of the card. If the participant did a great job, Meeker would put "CB" on the back, meaning the person had the opportunity to be selected for a call-back. All this was done to help jog the memory when perusing the cards to make the decision of who would return for the second stage of auditioning.
Singers were allowed to bring their own accompaniment. However, if a singer didn't have one, he or she could could use the piano accompaniment provided by Six Flags. After the performer was finished with the rehearsed song, Meeker usually asked him or her to sing a second time, using a different song or approach. When the different song was requested, he usually asked the singer to perform "My Country 'Tis Of Thee" because it was simple and well-known.
When auditioning dancers, Meeker looked at two major things during the routines. He wanted to find out if they could move and if they had mastered the basic fundamentals of dancing techniques. During these auditions, Meeker preferred to play "Linger Awhile", a song he had used during past productions, as a way to test improvisation. During this period, the person had to dance to soft shoe tempo, fast tempo, and stop time.
Meeker also asked the musicians to perform improvisation numbers in addition to the rehearsed composition. This was done to see if they could only do routines set in stone and if they could play musical numbers in different styles and tempos.
After each audition was complete, the participant had his or her picture taken. This picture would be placed with the card, ready for Meeker's perusal after all the auditions had concluded. When everything had concluded, the long, tedious process of elimination and selection began. Out of the hundreds of participants, only seventy were chosen for call-back. Those who made it through the first round were notified by telegram and while the performers who didn't make the cut received a letter.
Before the call-backs, McIlvaine, Blackburn, Meeker Jr. got together and discussed the upcoming show. This included plot, theme, song titles, performance types and a general outline of the type of show they wanted.
The call-backs were held either at the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel or the Executive Inn of Dallas. Students who came from a college or university located outside of Texas had their transportation costs paid for by Six Flags. If the auditions ran past twelve noon, everyone received a free lunch. All the participants had to stay in the room throughout auditions and remain quiet during each performance. Exceptions were made for those who relied upon chartered buses or other forms of public transportation.
At the start of the call-back auditions, all the participants had to fill out another card. This time, they had to give his or her name, college or university, age, home, talent, special awards, previous experience in the performing arts, and a list of the home newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations. The last section enabled the Six Flags publicity department to notify the media if the participant was chosen to be part of the show.
When the people auditioned this time, Meeker focused on the ability of the participants to sing and dance because it was the policy that all cast members had to do both. Often times, this was the determining factor in making the final decisions. In 1964 and 1965, the auditions were filmed for later use. After the person finished auditioning, he or she had his picture taken.
After everyone was finished auditioning, Meeker gave a closing speech. He then had everyone get together to sing the national anthem because "everyone is made aware of the opportunities in this country which many people in other lands do not enjoy."
When the event ended, selections were made as soon as possible. Once again, those succeeded received a telegraph and those who didn't received a letter. The winners also got a letter which provided the time, date, and place of all the rehearsals. It also gave a list of what was required for the first rehearsal, which usually took place during the last week of May. Additionally, it provided a list of all the cast members' names and their addresses. Lastly, it mandated the necessity to be available for the first rehearsal, to give the necessary time rehearsal on and of the stage, and to perform seven days a week during the entire summer run. Six people were chosen as alternates in case someone rejected the job offer.
Rehearsals began in the last week of May and ended on opening night in Mid-June. From 1962 to 1964, they were held at an auditorium, usually the student union building, at the University of Texas At Arlington. Afterwards, the cast practiced with the Six Flags Orchestra at the Amphitheatre. In 1965, this changed. The rehearsals took place at the Persis Dance Studio in Arlington, Texas. The cast then went to the Golden Palace Convention Center at the Inn of the Six Flags for practice with the orchestra. Only during the last week did they rehearse at the Amphitheatre.
Because the performers only rehearsed at the Amphitheatre when it was time to practice with the orchestra, the stage floor was marked off with tape to the exact measurements of the Amphitheatre. The cast was taught where the exact locations of the entrances and exits. In lieu of a recording or orchestra, a piano was used for the music.
At the first rehearsal, Meeker stressed the importance of rehearsing as though they were performing on opening night, doing everything to the best of their abilities. Meeker then introduced each staff member. Afterwards, he told the cast about the revue's plot then handed out a script, the outline of the sequence of acts, and the song lyrics. When the cast members received everything, Meeker reemphasized the importance of hard work, performing to the highest potential, and the necessity to show up to all rehearsals and never be late.
To stress the vitality of being on time, Meeker created a late song which would be sung every time someone was late. The perpetrator stood either on the floor or a stool facing the group while it was sung. The tune proved to be extremely effective for cast and staff members alike. It became so popular with the cast, that it became a tradition to sing it at some point at the rehearsals. Called "Enjoy Yourself", the song's lyrics were :
Enjoy yourself, it's after one o'clock.
Enjoy yourself, you'll be in full shock.
Enjoy yourself, in fact be overjoyed.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, for now you're unemployed.
The cast rigorously practiced for two full weeks with no days off. Each rehearsal started early in the morning and ended late at night with a lunch break at noon. The members had to learn dance routines in addition to the music and lyrics at a hectic pace, whether it was a single person receiving instruction on a particular act or the entire group learning an ensemble piece. When the cast members mastered everything, the revue was performed in order while Meeker timed it. If it ran over an hour, he adjusted the show. This process continued until the show met the requirement of having a runtime less than sixty minutes.
Once the time limit requirement was met, the production moved to the Amphitheatre. This change, after so many days practicing at the University of Texas At Arlington, proved to be a difficult transition. First, there was the problem of adjusting to different surroundings, especially when going from an indoor auditorium to an outdoor theatre. There was also the problem of dealing with sound caused by the fact that the rehearsals were taking place in an open area instead of a closed one. To get everyone comfortable with the new surroundings and further cement what had been rehearsed at the same time, Meeker had the cast rehearse the entire show from start to finish over and over again. During this time, there were costume fittings, lessons on how to do make-up, lighting adjustments, and instructions given on hair styling.
One or two nights before the first performance, the cast held a special showing for all the Six Flags employees. The first performance was considered the premier, attended only by Six Flags staff members, entertainment critics, and the press. After the premier, the cast performed three evening shows seven days a week. In 1962 and 1963, the show times were 6:00pm, 7:30pm, and 9:00pm. In 1964 and 1965, the last show was changed to 8:45pm. However, the last show on Friday night was removed in 1964 so the performers could have some extra time for themselves. The schedule continued until the first week of September. Each cast member received seventy dollars a week. Throughout the season, slight changes to the show could be made, extra rehearsals could be made, performances could be taped, and extra shows be given for special guests.
At the beginning of the last show, Meeker made an appearance, informing the audience that it was going to be the final performance. As always, the show ended with the finale song "We Will Come Back". Starting in 1964, those who stayed the entire season received a special bonus of five dollars for every week worked.
When it came to music, Meeker wanted to mix classical music with popular tunes, using old songs as well as new ones in an effort to keep the show's pace moving. Since the audience represented a large cross-section of the population, Meeker wanted to appeal to as much of the section as he could with the music he chose.
The process of selection started with Meeker sending a long list of songs to musical director Harry Barton. The director had to find and collect these songs, requiring lots of research. Upon completing the task, the two directors whittled the list down to a range of ten to twenty songs. Each approved song was recorded at the first few rehearsals then sent to the music arranger. The original man for the job was Eugene Patrick.
Meeker also liked to use medleys to maintain the revue's pace. To accomplish this, singers were required to change songs almost at the end of a phrase. There was also the practice of unexpectedly changing the tempo or style. Additionally, the percussion section was used to accent dance numbers.
In 1962 and 1963, the Six Flags Marching Band played throughout the park during the day then joined the Campus Revue during the evening. However, in 1964 and 1965, it was the Crazy Band that took the honors. Comprising two less players than the orchestra, the Crazy Band dressed in unusual clothes and played around the park throughout the day. The band then worked at Amphitheatre. Management arranged the schedule to have the Crazy Band nine hours, six hours and a half during the day and two hours and a half during the evening.
In 1964, the Campus Revue Orchestra unionized when it negotiated a contract with the Local 802 Chapter of the Federation of Musicians, whose headquarters were located in New York City. The contract lasted for three years, pertaining only to "pit musicians". As part of the contract, all were required to play the Campus Revue music with a high level of skill and professionalism.
The choreographer faced the daunting task of making the cast perform like pros and work well together while designing the dances to fit within the limits of what the members were capable of doing. The choreography had keep up with the pace of the song and ensure the show stayed together as a collective piece while communicating the purpose of the musical number. The real challenge came with teaching the footwork to the entire group, which consisted of performers who knew one form of dance like tap or ballet and those who had no dance training at all. In 1962, Johnny and Aubrey Bell Simmons, a newlywed couple from Texas Christian University, were responsible for the choreography. In 1963, Johnny Simmons took the responsibility alone. In 1964 and 1965, Jim Blatel handled the job.
David T. Blackburn and his staff dealt with all matters concerning costume direction with the exception of clothing for the specialty acts. In such cases, special designers were hired to design the attire.
The costumes were provided by the Six Flags wardrobe department and a manufacturing company called Factory Sales from 1962 to 1965. The wardrobe department also handled stock items and simple articles of clothing. Shoes were ordered from a commercial house then dyed to match the color of the costumes. Special props like canes, hats, and umbrellas were ordered from companies which specialized in making them.
At the end of the season, all the costumes were stored in the park's costume warehouse to await their fate. Some were thrown away while others were later altered for the next season's show. Others were saved for use by the Crazy Band to be worn as part of the members' mixed-up uniform.
Construction of the Amphitheatre began on July 13, 1961 in an area once used as a dairy farm's water hole. The place was chosen because it was located on the slant of a hill, making the construction easier and cheaper. There were 800 L-shaped, slab concrete seats which had already been crafted. The stage was a square block of concrete. It had two wings on each side and a fence around the backstage area. However, there was no roof of any kind. It had one entrance, which started in the front and traveled through the middle. The amphitheatre was constructed in such a way that anyone see the stage from across the street because the entrance wasn't elevated. This was fixed in 1962 by raising the natural slope.
In 1962, two hundered seats at the stage right area were built by narrowing a truck passageway behind the Skull Island loading dock. Another two hundred were built in the area over the cave roof of La Salle's Riverboat Adventure. The power supply was installed behind the stage instead of the front. The park also built a concrete walkway between the stage and the dressing room area along with six wings and two borders located between the curtain and the orchestra. Each border covered two wings, leaving two wings uncovered.
The stage curtain was colored orange and the front border was green with orange pennant. There were two pennants for each cast member. Every pair of pennants represented the college or university a student attended, complete with the name and school colors of the institution. A large letter "G" standing for the fictional Gilchrist University was placed in the center of the front border. The "G" was painted orange, black, green, and white to match the season's color scheme. The borders were painted a dark green. However, the pennants made it look multi-colored.
The dressing rooms were built stage left offstage. Unfortunately, the construction crew made them too small and next to impossible to serve their purpose.
In 1963, the remaining poles standing in the wings of the Amphitheatre were removed and pavement put in their place.
The stage's front roof received an awning made from bamboo. The only problem with this was the fact that it collected the rain. This caused the water to drip onto the concrete stage during performances and made it very dangerous for the dancers to perform their routines. This was made even worse because the stage surface was covered with epoxy, a cement seal which was mixed with colors.
The park added another two wings for the stage and a small building behind the back curtain for the pigeons that were being used in a magic act.
The park also tried unsuccessfully to expand the dressing room area. This proved impossible because there wasn't any space left, thanks to the orchestra dressing room being directly behind the cast dressing room.
The Amphitheatre had a seating capacity of 1,200 by 1963 and a new roof was erected. Construction started in late June and ended on July Eighteenth. This provided protection from the glaring sun and pouring rain.
The downstage area of the stage was extended into the audience in 1964 so the performers could have enough room away from the risers. A wooden floor was built over the concrete floor. The design of the "G" was changed. The orange letter had a gold Baroque trim. A blue area surrounded the letter and had a white trim on a white border.
The park wanted daytime shows at the Amphitheatre as a way to help crowded areas deal with heavy traffic. To make this possible, management felt it was necessary to provide air-conditioning. Workers attached one-half inch Number 18 Louvremesh steel on top of the white lattice frame which circled the Amphitheatre's circumference. The air-conditioning ducts were attached to the steel at specific positions and angles to provide the most effective results. After the installation, the ducts blew much needed air-conditioning on both the audience and the cast members.
In addition to the air-conditioning, the amphitheatre's stage received a new metal roof. As a result, the crew was forced to have the scenery lowered on long pipes called battens and be raised out of the roof.
In March, workers built a lattice work wall at the amphitheatre's entrance. Located in the center was a billboard with the performers' names on it along with the schools they attended. To create a theatre marquee effect, lights were positioned to shine a light on the billboard as evening approached. Two curved sidewalks bordered by flower gardens were also added to the entrance.
Nothing was changed in 1965 except the color of the letter "G" in accordance to the new color scheme. This time around the "G" was orange with a white trim set against a dark border.
In the beginning, the Amphitheatre had no lighting. There were no spotlights or spot platforms, just the lights shining from the trees surrounding the stage. The only time Six Flags provided proper lighting was during rare special event. On such occasions, a spotlight was rented.
This changed for the 1962 season when the park used lighting equipment for the very first time. The park bought two spot troupers and had them installed on a platform at the entrance. Unfortunately, the electricians didn't know how to hang them correctly. As a result, they put the lekos in upside-down on the yokes. Remaining in the upside-down position till 1963, this misplacement caused the lamps to burn out more quickly. This ended up to be a costly mistake because the lighting equipment burned out the lamp after four to five hours of service. Since the cost of a lamp was $8.68 each, the total cost for the lamps was almost fifty dollars a day.
In 1963, the park made an effort to correct and improve the lighting system. Before the new metal roof was put into place, the lights were removed, rearranged, and refocused. Leading the effort was Charles Meeker III, Michael Jenkins, and Ken Moyer. For two nights, they worked from 11pm to 6am. They picked the shift because they would be able to work uninterrupted and because it was the best time to focus the lights. In addition to the lights, the trio ran into problems with the dimmer which had been provided by the Little Stage Lighting Company in Dallas. On a continuous basis, every time the three men connected the lights, something blew out and they couldn't find out why. Eventually, they figured out that half of the time, the problem could be traced to the dimmer board. They spent half their time tracing bad lamps, shorts, and other mishaps. Many times that year, the dimmers burned out. They were packed up the same night and replaced by new ones to be used for the next evening. The inventor of this dimmer system made periodic visits to work on the dimmer board, give it a few tweaks, and make necessary adjustments.
The park also made an effort to arrange the lights in a logical sequence and order. There were twelve units on each of the two battens at the beginning of the year. In the late summer when the roof was built, the park added a third batten to hang from it.
In the words of Michael Jenkins, "The lights were on poles; and when the new roof was put in, we took everything off the poles and rearranged and readjusted again to put the heaviest and the longest throw lights out in the new roof."
The equipment hung on a pipe behind one of the borders. A special roof built for the equipment was nothing more than plywood nailed down on the back to prevent the lights from getting wet as a result of the rain. There were twelve lekos for each batten. In fact, most of the equipment were leko with the exception of twelve fresnels. Five super lekos were put in front of the trouper platform in June. However, they were only used for the 1963 season.
In the past, there were four light poles with four to six instruments on each one. Two of them stood behind the first two wings on each side of the stage.
One of the things that made the 1963 College Revue unique was the overabundant use of blue bulbs for the grand finale. Six thousand of them were hung on all the poles circling the amphitheatre. An extra 8,000-watt power stat dimmer was rented to power the bulbs in addition to the dimming equipment to control the lights.
In 1964, the equipment used from previous productions were used whenever the entire cast was on stage and the spotlights from the back were used for duets and solos. During the solos and duets, the rest of the stage was dimmed out. The people operating the back spotlight had to climb a side ladder to get to the platform. There was no roof protection for this equipment, so it was covered every night so the elements wouldn't ruin them. However, because it was located in the very back, it didn't obstruct the view of any patrons.
The lighting equipment was placed in six positions for the 1964 revue : the platform located at the amphitheatre's back, the beams of the cabled roof, the projected ceiling, the first batten, the overhead equipment, and the back lights.
Seven scoop lights were lined up on the stage floor between partitions to provide colored lighting for each section of the show. The lighting shone upon a white wall backdrop. However, the operators of the scoop lights ran into problems becuase the lights were on alternating circuits and had to be changed to the color for each section. The color schemes were as follows : red - Mexico, magenta - France, lavender - Texas, orange - America, and blue - Confederacy.
During the show, the cast was on stage for the entire time, causing the lighting to play a central role in unifying the show. The curtain was close only once during the show for a specialty act. The spotlight was concentrated on three performers who portrayed a father and his two sons while the rest of the cast changed costumes in complete darkness.
The only special lighting in 1965 was an ellipsoidal spotlight hanging directly over LBJ in the opening scene of the revue. The curtain parted to reveal the president and two reporters. The device was located almost in the middle of the roof because the stage had no grid. The special lighting was created by the two spotlights at the back. To spotlight a person on stage, they were dimmed down to general lighting. Meanwhile, scoops provided background lighting on a white wall seen through the windows of the Bedford Hall backdrop.
For all the Campus Revue productions, a story or theme was used as a way to tie all the acts together as a cohesive unit. When the producers and directors decided they wanted to have a college theme, they created the fictional Gilchrist University as a tribute to the founder of Six Flags, Angus Wynne Jr. The university setting was used for three of the four revues from 1962 to 1965.
The name for the revue's first season in 1962 was "The Six Flags Campus Revues. The plot revolved loosely around a visiting professor falling in love with the president's daughter on graduation day. It was split into two scenes. The first one dealt with the Gilchrist graduation ceremony and the second covered the senior show. The graduation ceremony of the first scene felt apt, especially for the students, because the premier performance was held near the time of college graduation. During the senior scene of the second scene, each member of the graduation class was asked to something he or she was good at. Twenty-six people performed the revue. In addition to the singers and dancers, there were ventriloquists, musicians, a juggler, and a magician.
The first scene of the revue occurred in the university's auditorium. The second one took place outdoors. While the first scene didn't need much in terms of stagecraft, the second did.
For the outdoor scene, the crew painted trees on a hinged canvas partition to be used as the back wall. Portable trees were built in halves so they could be folded up and placed behind the stage when not in use. When they were needed the crew pushed them out of the wings. The crew also painted the wing front to look like a trunk. Its hidden branches and leaves were unfolded for the scene to form a complete tree on both sides, creating a 3-D effect to the set. The scene was made up of of six beam units. Each was six feet long. They were placed on stage wagons. These wagons were six foot by two foot platforms on wheels. All of the units were rolled onto the stage, fitted together, locked together, then weighted with sandbags on the back.
In the opening scene, everyone was dressed in graduation caps and gowns. Even the ventriloquist dummies wore graduation clothes. The caps and gowns were either bright orange or lime green. The students wore one color while the teachers wore the other. Every other night, the students and teachers changed colors. The colors used during the outside scene was orange and white to recognize the fact that Angus Wynne Jr. graduated from the University of Texas. In the second scene, the guys wore white shirts, orange bow ties, black slacks, sneakers, and orange pull-over vests with a white letter "G" on them. The gals wore white cheerleader skirts, white blouses, white shoes, and orange over-blouses with a white letter "G".
Make-up was supervised by the show directors wanted to use make-up to capture a "youthful quality" and make sure the audience knew without a doubt that all the cast members were college students. To accomplish this, the directors didn't want heavy, theatrical make-up and used light make-up. For those performers who portrayed older characters had their hair only slightly grayed hair. The cosmetics primarily used for the revue had a liquid base, though there were a few members who preferred the pancake make-up. The girls were allowed to style their hair the way they wanted as long as the style was "collegiate and youthful looking".
The 1962 College Revue Orchestra consisted of non-union members who had to audition in order to join. The musical director visited a number of colleges and universities for tryouts then held a public audition for anyone interested in becoming a part of the orchestra. The auditions were held while schools were still in session because preparations had to start before the park open. For this reason, the musical director only chose those who could before opening day.
The orchestra consisted of four trumpets, three trombones, five saxophones, three violins, drums, bass, and a piano. The orchestra faced plenty of problems with acoustics caused by the poor arrangement of the pit instruments for amplification purposes in the open-air amphitheatre. To make matters worse, there were speaker problems. The speakers were placed on the left and right side of the stage facing the audience. On some occasions, they caused the instruments to drown out the performers. At other times, the audience couldn't hear a thing from the orchestra.
The 1962 season started a tradition for future Campus Revues. At the end of each show, the cast performed the song "We Will Come Back". Originally sung by Marlene Dietrich, Meeker replaced the original words with his own. The new lyrics were :
We will come back when the elephants roost in the trees.
We will come back when the bird make love to the bees.
We will come back when the sun refuses to shine,
And Angus Wynne Jr is a cousin of mine.
We will come back when the fish start to jump in the bags.
And come back when they're no longer flying six flags.
When the snow has turned from white to blue,
Then maybe we will come back to you.
Meeker wrote the lyrics of this song for two reasons. First, he wanted a song that introduced the name of a special person in the audience, usually a celebrity or politician. In such cases, the cast merely substituted Angus Wynne Jr. with another name to honor the person. Second, Meeker felt that a special song was needed to close the show. The music staff couldn't locate the sheet music for the song, so they recorded the original tune from a tape or record.
The vast majority of the 1962 cast members weren't very good in dancing roles. Yet, all of them were expected to dance in at least one of the show's opening numbers. As a result, the choreographer tested their ability and range of movement during rehearsals. He used this information to choose who would do what during the dance numbers. He picked six couples to do the main dancing in the musical number titled "Kids". The couples danced in front of the remaining cast, who sat on stools in the background then accompanied them by doing simple movements and stationary poses. The dance routine for "Kids" was a comedy dance which ended with the guys lifting the gals into their arms.
The second scene started with a reprise of "Kids" with the same combinations and step technique. Later on in the scene, the dancers had to perform the Ballet of Six Flags, which was a form of jazz ballet choreographed to the Six Flags March. The lack of dancing ability made the number very difficult for the cast. Additionally, the guys found it troubling because the slip-on tennis shoes kept coming off accidentally during the number. At the finale of the dance routine, acrobatics entered the routine, which ended with the dancers forming a human pyramid.
The entire cast was involved in the final dance number titled "Brotherhood of Man". The dancing was staged just like the "Kids" number, the main difference being that "Brotherhood of Man" was introduced by singing. The cast members in the background were more active than the previous numbers, but they were still limited in what they could do. At the end, the performers moved into a V formation and sang "We Will Come Back". They went offstage then returned for another chorus while waving small flags in their hands. The cast continued doing this until the curtain closed when the final encore ended.
In 1963, the second season of the Campus Revue remained centered around Gilchrist University. The show was called "the Gilchrist Glitters" and focused on the students preparing a special show for the university. The first scene was the dress rehearsal of the show and second was the actual show itself. There were a total of 26 members which included a singing trio, a chorus line of high-kicking dancers, ventriloquists, a kettle drum player, a flamenco dancer, a magician, a pianist, and a tap dancer in addition to the rest of the cast.
For the first scene, the crew painted pipes, bricks, and stage flats onto the back of the stage. For the finale, the back wall was separated into seven separate revolving turntables, which were bought for three thousand dollars which were painted white and blue. A chandelier and a showgirl stood on top of each turntable. A staircase which was used for entrances and exits by certain members was pushed out on each side of the stage at the third wing.
For the flamenco number, the scene was backed by a red two-fold flat which was six feet high and twelve feet long. Because it was hinged, the flat stood in a V shape on its own weight. A special platform sixteen inches tall, five feet across the front, and and four feet deep was used for the kettle drum act. The drums were so heavy, ropes were needed to put the platform into position. The structure had two holes on each side for the ropes. Several other acts needed special props like the flamenco and kettle drum acts. Asa result, several flats were designed and built, but they were never used. Those that weren't used were placed in storage in case they were needed for a future revue. Peter Wold designed all the props and scenery during this season.
With a bigger budget, the costumes were more elaborate. For the opening scene the guys wore black slacks and shirts and shoes which matched the color of their partner's blouse. The gals wore black stretch pants and blouses which were either red, yellow, blue, or green. All of them had sailor dickies with orange and white stripes. Their shoes were dyed the same color as the blouses they wore. The person who played the show's director was dressed in a dark shirt, white slacks, and a beret. For the dance number called "Flamenco Flambeau", the female dancer wore a red, ruffled flamenco dress. The ventriloquist dummy had a costume similar to those worn by the rest of the cast. The singing trio wore powder blue coats, white shirts, and black pants and shoes. A magician wore a black formal tuxedo for his act. During the performance of the song "Gigi", the lead singer wore a white tux and the dancers wore cocktail dresses with knee-length skirts. The piano player had a blue satin tuxedo while the singer of "Miss Prima Donna" adorned a white, formal evening dress. The Gilchrist Glitters were a group of six show girls who picked during the auditions for their attractiveness. For their musical number, they wore satin sequined costumes trimmed with net or blue and white feathers. For the grand finale, the entire cats wore satin costumes. The guys wore blue tuxedos and the gals wore formal, knee-length blue dresses with bluish-white gores attached to the for a cheerleader affect. The guys had short, white gloves and black shoes and the gals had long, white gloves with blue high-heel shoes.
Professional beauticians from the Salon de Coiffure at 3525 Turtle Creek in Dallas, Texas assisted with the make-up by selecting the correct shade of make-up for each person, helping the guys with applying the cosmetics and powdering, and helping with hairstyles which would be flattering and suitable for each gal. For the second season, heavier make-up was needed because of the lighting improvements. Both oil base liquid and pancake make-up were used by the cast members.
The sound system speakers weren't moved or changed during the second season and the same instruments from the previous year were retained. Most notable were the five microphones placed across the front of the stage.
During rehearsals, changes in musical numbers were made. For the "Miss Prima Donna" number, the directors went through four different musical scores before they were satisfied. At least two or three songs were attempted before "Gigi" was chosen. The finale was changed several times before the directors achieved satisfactory results. The one thing that remained the same throughout was the ending, which featured the song "We Will Come Back".
The Gilchrist Glitters was composed of six ladies who were selected after the auditions by the choreographer for their dancing skills. The auditioning for the group positions was done by having them perform chorus line kicks, which were later integrated with the choreography throughout the show just for them.
With the intention to make the second season's show more sophisticated and upscale, the opening number "We Have Come Back" featured more complicated footwork than the previous year. The flamenco dancer had all her staging blocked. She entered through a slightly opened curtain to the downstage area where she performed to the accompaniment of castanets. When performing a tap dance, the couple used their own material and the choreographer blocked the movement. When "Gigi was sung, three to four show girls walked past him and returned when he finished the solo to dance a ballet to the same song. Although most of the cast members wore formal attire for the grand finale, several were dressed in showgirl costumes. The choreographer taught these ladies a basic showgirl walk which was staged into a pattern of movements and directions. They were shown how to gracefully walk down the side wing staircases. For the last chorus of the song, the cast members in the background moved forward with kicking steps from the knee to form a V formation in readiness for the song "We Will Come Back". Once the formation was complete, everyone performed small walking steps forward and backward while singing the final tune. After the song, they exited stage right.
The 1964 Campus Revue was called "The Singing Flags". The plot centered around a father and his two sons taking a musical tour of Six Flags Over Texas. There were 27 members in the cast which included eight singers, ten dancers, two whip artists, three pianists, two "lip-synchers", a harp player, and an accordionist.
Because the show centered around a tour of the park, there were no special stage scenery involved. The cast and orchestra were located behind three levels of gray and orange risers across the center of the stage throughout the show. A wooden screen made of orange sticks created the illusion of lattice work as the background for the cast on both sides of the stage. The seating area for the cast members on the risers was built on the turntables which were built during the previous season. American flags were placed between the turntables. At the beginning of the USA section, the turntables turned sideways and a fan was turned on to blow air onto the flags to make them flap and wave. Some of the partitions were moved from the front of the platform or the risers where the cast sat and were used as steps. Several gray-painted stools from the previous season as wells new ones were used on the set. However, before they could be utilized, all the stools had to be shortened so they wouldn't be taller than the front wall of the risers on the three levels.
There was only one basic costume for the program's third season because the entire cast sat on stage throughout the show with only one costume at the end for the grand finale. However, several different costumes were created by an expert designer for the specialty acts. Showgirl costumes were made and tested during a dress rehearsal, but they were immediately rejected because they didn't fit into any of the section themes. Hats were used and worn by the entire cast, always reflecting the park section being presented to the audience.
The basic costume for the girls was a blouse with red and white stripes, a white collar, and cuffs with red button cuff links. Additionally, they wore yellow, reversible wrap-around skirts with yellow suspenders. To complete the ensemble, they wore red tennis shoes. The guys donned shirts with red and white stripes, white collars, and white cuffs. They also sported yellow slacks with white belts. To finish the costume, they wore red tennis shoes. For the grand finale, the girls reversed their yellow skirts to blue and removed the suspenders while the guy changed into blue slacks. All dressed in red, white, and blue for the USA section. Later in the season, the guys wore blue slacks during the entire show.
The props and hats were arranged in each member's place behind the riser wall, and each was responsible for the items in his or her possession. Specialty act performers left the risers to make their costume changes while hat or prop changes were made in the dark while the cast members portraying the father and two sons conversed among themselves between the sections. The actors who provided time for these quick changes wore coats with blue and white stripes, white shirts, blue bow ties, white pants, and white shoes.
When the show started, everyone was in their original costumes. However, after the opening number and before each section, they changed hats or props in accordance to the theme. The first section of the show was Mexico. For this part, The ladies wore pink and yellow flowers and colored ribbons in their hair while the gents wore straw sombreros. There was a bullwhip act performed by two girls. Both adorned a blue satin, long-sleeved toreador suit trimmed with silver sequins over a white ruffled blouse, blue toreador pants with the same trim, white marching boots, and a red rose over the ear. Later in the season. the duo sometimes wore white, long-sleeve ruffled blouses and blue shorts with a white fringe.
The second section of the show was the Republic of Texas. During this part, everyone wore white cowboy hats. When a quartet sang "Long Tall Texan", they wore black cowboy hats. Later on, the lead singer placed a bow with red and white stripes on the front of his hat for comedic effect. The tap dancer who performed "Buffalo Gal" wore a blouse made of red and white bandanna material and had a ruffled trim. She had a dark green, divided skirt called a culottes. It was trimmed with ruffles and patches of handkerchief. The tap shoes she wore were red with red and white shoe laces. She also had two holsters with a gun taped inside each one. In her hair, she donned two false, blond braids to add comedy to the dance. The singer who followed her with the song "Trouble" donned a white shirt, a red coat, a red bow tie, white pants, and a straw hat.
During the Spanish section, the ladies wore a red rose with a small, black Spanish lace veil worn over their hair and shoulders. The guys wore black hats with a red ball fringe around the brim. All soloists wore hats or veils that supplemented the basic costumes.
While performing in the Confederacy section, The gals wore white Southern bell hats trimmed with red flowers and yellow ribbons. The guys donned gray Confederate caps. Everyone wore white cotton gloves during "Southern medley. When a couple did a soft shoe dance to "Honeysuckle Rose", the guy had red sneakers and girl had red, T-strap, medium-heel shoes. Both of them danced with canes throughout the number. For the section's finale, the Six Flags Confederate Drill Team marched across the stage as the cast waved Confederate flags.
For the French section, the girls placed small red and white feathers in their hair while the guys wore black and gold baseball caps. During a ballet involving a male and two females, the man wore a white satin, long-sleeved shirt with black slacks and shoes. Meanwhile, the women wore pink leotards, a tutu made from rows of white net, flesh colored net stockings, and pink ballet shoes. The neck of the leotards was trimmed with rows of differently colored ribbon. The white puff sleeves had streamers hanging from them. The right side of the waist also had ribbon attached it. The actors who portrayed the two sons performed a specialty act in white slacks, white shirts, red bow ties, and red coats with a gold emblem on the right side pocket.
The theme color for the USA section was obviously red, white, and blue. All cast members wore red and white Uncle Sam hats made of cardboard. During one of the songs, an accordionist and the cast wore shaggy, black Beatle wigs as a way of parodying the famous rock band. For the grand finale, everyone wore the basic costume without any hats or props.
Once again, the professional consultants from Salon de Coiffure handled the make-up and hair styles. Both areas experienced no real changes.
Unlike the previous year, the musical directors had no problem in the selection of the musical numbers. Instead, they faced the problem of having too many of them. Several numbers, part of a number, or a chorus were shortened as a result so the show would meet the requirement of having a runtime under sixty minutes. Continuity was maintained by selecting songs which would add flavor to the section even though they might not have any particular meaning to the section. Because the music blended one song into another, applause was discouraged until the end of each section.
During the revue, the orchestra was actually placed on stage instead of in the traditional orchestra pit. The musicians were seated center stage on the risers while the cast sat on either side of them. On each side of the risers, there were two overhead microphones. The number and variety of instruments remained the same for the orchestra, but the three violins were removed. Taking their place was a large harp.
Choruses were a significant part of the show because several of the songs involved the entire cast. The performers also played various instruments throughout the revue. They used maracas for the opening number of the Mexico section titled "In Grand Old Mexico". A quartet sang "Long Tall Texan" in the Republic of Texas Section while playing a drum, washtub bass, and guitar. The cast opened the Spanish section with a tambourine routine. An accordionist played "In A Little Spanish Town" and blended it into the song "Lady of Spain". The section ended with a dance number accompanied by tambourines. During the Confederacy section, "Dixie" was played with kazoos by the entire cast. The musical number "Allez Vous En" of the French section was played by a pianist and harp player.
Memorable moments of the show included the opening number "In The Good Old Summer Time" which was sung by the actors portraying the father and two song. In the second musical number of the Mexico section titled "Adios Muchachos", two women cracked their whips in time with the song's rhythm. A soloist sung a medley of Mexican tunes by starting a new song before finishing the last phrase of the last one. During the tap dance number titled "Buffalo Gal", the band drummer accented the performance by using his drums to provide sound effects when the dancer pantomimed firing her pistols. The most unique act was "Japanese Beatle". During the number, an accordionist played his own composition. In the middle of the performance, the cast sang a parody of the Beatles song "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which was written by the accordionist. As was always the case, the show ended with the traditional "We Will Come Back".
Like all the previous seasons, the speakers were placed on each side of the stage, though they could have been anchored onto the roof. The park spent 2,500 dollars on new microphones. There were five of them, each one with a foot-long stem.
The 1964 Campus Revue required dancing, gestures, and movements which represented each section. To handle this task, the park hired a professional choreographer and assistant choreographer. In the Mexico section, the bullwhip artists staged their own routine. Afterwards, the choreographer blocked their material and instructed them which notes needed to be stressed by their bullwhip cracks. While performing "Bolero", the dancers moved along diagonal lines. They had to pass between one another because there was only three feet in front of the risers to move. The six couples doing the dance used sharp, short steps based on the Spanish style.
The cast performed the songs in the Republic of Texas section using simple movements and arm gestures to communicate the the meaning of the words being sung. This was done because the orchestra often drowned out the words. The quartet singing "Long Tall Texan" used their own unique movements during their routine. Because the choreographer knew nothing about tap dancing, the performer provided several steps for him to arrange into a routine. He then blocked the movements and gestures to keep the act from getting boring. He had the dancer shoot imaginary guns, make pantomimed gestures, and create funny facial expressions.
For the numbers "Tempos In Tambourines" and "Hello Dolly", the choreographer taught the cast how to perform movements with their tambourines as they played the instruments. During "La Macarena", a couple twirled red and yellow bull fighter capes while dancing. During "Southern Medley" in the Confederacy section, the cast used sound gestures by patting their hands on their thighs in rhythm to the soft shoe dance being performed while others used hand and arm movements in conjunction to the music. At the end, the dancers exited the stage while doing high kicks.
During the France section, two girls and a guy performed a ballet to "the Last Time I saw Paris". Each girl did a solo while the guy had to do a solo and partner with the girls. As the song progressed, so did the tempo. At the end, dancers left the risers and formed a circle to start "Grand Imperial Cirque 'd Paree", which required plenty of stepping, kicking, and turning in the circle. When the dancers formed a line, the remaining cast left the risers and joined the ends of the line. As the number moved closer to its climax, the tempo was increased while the alternating forward and backward kicks decreased. For the show's finale, the cast stood in three lines as they sang while making arm movements and gestures toward the audience. The cast stepped forward to the downstage area then back to the front of the risers, repeating the movement as they sang the traditional "We Will Come Back".
The choreographer watched the show every two weeks and determine if any work needed to be done. If it did, he called for extra rehearsals to polish certain numbers and arrange substitutes for certain numbers not involving the entire cast. However, he never changed any part of the show and never removed a dance routine.
When Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President after he had won the election of 1964, there was a lot of publicity about the fact that he came from Texas. The makers of the College Revue decided to take advantage of this and center the show around the President by making LBJ a graduate of Gilchrist University. This would be the first show which followed a direct storyline and cover a current topic. In the first scene, LBJ was at Washington airport preparing himself for a visit to Gilchrist University for a show paying tribute to him. In the second scene, the students were preparing for his arrival. The next scene was a trip back in time to the year LBJ graduated from the university. The flashback was done because the creators wanted to use period costumes and they thought it would make the story more interesting. After the flashback, the scene changed to the present day. At the end, a male cast member proclaimed that LBJ had arrived at the amphitheatre and the finale would be dedicated to him. The cast consisted had 25 members. It included seven dancers, nine singers, two all-mall trios, a specialty act performer, a trumpet player, and a clarinet player.
For the opening scene, the curtain opened slightly to show LBJ and two reporters standing at a white sign showing the way to Washington International Airport in front of the red portion of a background sliding panel. There were two sliding panels which were painted red, white, and blue. The panels slid along a metal track and were locked together in the center of the stage.
The stage's back wall depicted the front of Gilchrist University's Bedford Hall. In the center was a big door with the hall's name written above it. There were a lantern and two windows on each side of the door with a niche for a statue between one of the pairs. For specialty acts, the performers walked down a ramp, hidden from the audience and located in front of a new back canvas, and through the center door. In front of the backdrop, there were four, twelve-foot-high portable columns constructed by the park's mill. When the columns were finished, it was soon discovered that he columns were one foot short. The columns were sent to the mill again, where the one foot was added. This addition went unnoticed by the audience throughout the season. The stage crew carried the columns on stage and put them in place. After the scene, the crew closed the curtain and a cast member performed a specialty act. During the act, the crew hung homecoming banners using a hook attached to a pole.
The cast of the fourth season made three costume changes as compared to the one costume change the previous year. For the opening scene, the two reporters appearing with LBJ donned sports coats, bow tie, slacks, and hats. The person portraying LBJ was tall and wore a dark, padded suit and Western-styled hat. Additionally he carried a carpetbag and stood with his back to the audience.
During the the first scene, all members of the cast had two sets of costumes so that the clothes could be washed on a regular basis. The gals wore white stretch pants, overblouses with red and white stripes, and black sports shoes. The guys wore white pants, red long-sleeved sweat shirts, and black shoes and socks. All had to wear orange tights underneath the costumes.
The men portraying the three college deans had a Western hat and two sets of orange graduation robes. Later in the season, they lost the hats and had to substitute them with green mortarboards with white tassels. White shirts and slacks were worn underneath the gowns.
For the second scene, the performers changed into period costumes designed with an influence from the Broadway play "Half A Sixpence". Each girl had two sets of period costumes. Most of the time, each set was a different color. The costumes came in blue, purple, red, pink, and orange. Hats, umbrella, and other accessories matched each set of costumes. The coats worn by the guys came in the same five colors and all the couples were matched in accordance these colors. The men also wore white pants, shirts with black and white stripes, and black ties. The women adorned long-sleeved, striped blouses with ruffles and white collars and cuffs. Each one matched the color of the skirt. The ladies also wore black ties which were tucked into the skirt's wide satin band. The full skirts were trimmed near the bottom with three rows of black ribbon. As part of their costumes, the girls wore pillbox hats trimmed with black ribbon and the guys wore white straw hats trimmed with a black band. The ladies also wore black shoes with a period heel and guys wore black shoes and socks. Both had black felt spats with buttons which were decorated with a strip dyed the same color as the costumes. During the dress rehearsal, it was determined that the costume changes couldn't be made within the three-minute time limit because of the the time needed to button the spats. As a result, the spats were fastened by sticking tape. Later in the season, the guys removed the spats altogether while the female performers removed them while getting ready for their dance routines.
While the three deans performed a reprise of "We Taught Him Everything He Knows", the rest of the cast changed costumes for the third scene. This time around, the guys wore white sport shirts, orange V neck sweaters, white pants, orange socks, and black shoes. The ladies wore orange dresses and orange, satin high-heeled shoes. The skirts blended orange with yellow. The ladies also wore orange felt ribbons around the neck. For the grand finale, the entire cast carried orange flags with white lettering which spelled out "Thank You, Mr. President".
For the 1965 season, pancake make-up and eye make-up were provided by the staff. The make-up was checked for each member. The girls were allowed to got to their own personal hair dresser. However, the styles had to be approved by Meeker at one of the rehearsals. The girls then had the responsibility to maintain the approved hairstyle.
During the 1965 season, the orchestra played in the pit instead of on stage like it did the previous year. The pit was enlarged, resulting in the removal of the first row of audience seats. A hydraulic microphone was added to each side of center stage. The seven microphones were spaced evenly along the downstage area. They remained stationary because moving them up or down proved to be too much of a hassle.
In addition to the orchestra, the cast members also played instruments. During the second scene, there was a trumpet soloist who performed a number called "Hot Lips". A Trio singing "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" played two guitars and a bass violin before all three started performing the tune using kazoos for comedic effect. At the end of "You Tell Her, 'Cause I Stutter" ended with one of the guys playing the banjo to a fast tempo. When a female performer played castanets in stop-time to the song "Ace In The Hole", the2 rest of the cast joined her for the climax by playing instruments. Afterwards, a different male trio sang "Peter, Peter" while playing guitar, banjo, and bass violin. A woman played the clarinet during Darktown Strutters Ball.
The choreography of the 1965 revue was directed by an actual member of the cast performing as a dancer. In the show, the period costumes determined the character and quality of the dances. In the opening number called "We'll Not Be Satisfied", the girls performed quick, short cheerleader movements along with sharp, abrupt extended arm movements. During "The New Gilchrist Fight Song", the couples made forward, backward, and sideway movements to accompany the singing. At the end, the the couples danced a simple soft shoe routine. The three deans performed a comic dance routine during the interlude between scenes using a combination of simple walks, turns, and jumps in graduation robes. In the second scene, a trio of girls stood shoulder to shoulder while performing a fast, complicated tap dance in unison to the song "Sittin' On Top Of The World".
Two guys and gals performed a modern free-style ballet involving energetic waltz movements. After performing turns across the stage, the two couples engaged in partner lifts. The men did did various high jumps followed by the women doing difficult ballet turns. It ended with all four performing a series of turns. They returned for another appearance at the beginning of "Once Upon A Time for another ballet routine to introducer the singer of the musical number.
"Real Live Girl" involved specific blocking of the movements and gestures to portray a shy man and an enticing girl. The shy, stuttering boy was portrayed using awkward, jerky movements with his dancing, contrasting sharply with the graceful stylized movements of the girl. The girl moved in and out of the line formed by men as the shy person followed her. The routine came to a close with the woman enticing the guys by moving her posterior in time with the drum beats. It ended with the guys running after her.
In the "Mascots of Gilchrist U" number, the cast marched in precision drill formations while waving orange and white flags. Afterwards, they formed a straight line, followed by a closed V formation then an open V formation which extended to each side of the stage. Once in this final formation downstage, they sang "We Will Come Back". After singing it the second time, they returned to the closed V formation upstage as the curtain closed. For encores, the cast always returned in the closed V formation.
1962 - 1965
The idea for the Six Flags Campus Revue surfaced in 1960 by Charles R. Meeker Jr, but it never materialized until Six Flags' second season in 1962. The Campus Revue found its inspiration from a series of highly successful concerts performed by college students at Hotel Adolphus in 1958. When it was conceived, it was decided to make the program an evening show for two reasons. First, A general consensus existed among the directors and producers that there needed to be an evening attraction. Second, it was undeniable fact that the temperature was a whole lot cooler than the daytime which was ruled by the dreaded Texas heat. The second point was learned the hard way during the first season with the Six Flags Revue, which was an afternoon event resembling a variety show. Unlike a variety show, the unrelated acts would be linked through a theme or plot.
Following the recommendation of Angus Wynne Jr, the entire cast would be comprised of college students, though exceptions would be made if the theme or plot called for it. Older adults weren't hired because the makers wanted to maintain "a youthful image" for the new show. To project this image even more, it was decided to adopt a college theme for the revue. The staff also hoped this would make the cast members feel more comfortable with the surroundings and create a sense of unity among themselves. The Show was named the Campus Revue. "Campus" referred to "college spirit" and "Revue" referred to the fact that it contained unrelated acts, though they were linked together in a very loose way.
The Campus Revue followed seven major rules during Meeker's tenure. First, painstaking construction and building is necessary because a revue consists of unrelated acts. Second, all entertainment must be varied. Third, there must be waiting by the audience. Fourth, material must be selected and arranged with variety and swift scenery changes in mind. Fifth, the show should start with a loud, vibrant musical number. Sixth, the show should finish with a spectacular, cheerful musical number. Seventh, the show should never run over an hour so the visitors could have time to visit the rest of the park. Indeed, the Campus Revue of each season always ran fifty to sixty minutes, but never over.
Before the auditions started, Meeker and his associates had no plans, outlines, or ideas in regard to what the next revue would be like. This was done deliberately because they didn't know the talent levels of those hoping to participate or the types of specialty acts they would encounter. Essentially, they wanted the show to be determined by the cast instead of the cast trying to fit into the show.
In 1962, auditions were held in Dallas and Fort Worth. Most of those who attended came from the DFW area, the rest from close-by cities and Oklahoma. However, during the following year, auditions were held in other states where the park was well-known. As the park grew in popularity and prestige, the number of auditions at colleges and universities in other states greatly increased.
The Campus Revue auditions supervised by Director Charles R. Meeker Jr, Producer David T. Blackburn, and Director of Entertainment Stan McIlvaine. Charles Meeker possessed plenty of experience working for the Dallas State Fair Park Musicals and served as a general manager at Cary Plaza. To assist him, David T. Blackburn entered the spotlight. Blackburn began his career working for five years as the manager of the Municipal Auditorium and Coliseum in Lubbock. From 1951 to 1955, he was the assistant manager of the Dallas State Fair Park Musicals. He then became director of public relations and advertising for the Great Southwest Corporation and Six Flags Over Texas. McIlvaine Stan McIlvaine was working as the manager of the Dallas Rangers baseball team when he received the entertainment directorship offer. He saw the position as a good business opportunity and resigned from his post.
Upon arriving at the audition, the participant was asked to fill out out a small card. The person had to provide his or her name, age, height, weight, home address, phone number, and the college or university currently attending.
After everyone had arrived and filled out their cards, Meeker gave a speech to help relax the participants and set down the facts. He started off by telling everyone that nervousness rarely interfere with the ability to perform and could actually be a positive thing in regards the performance. They should all know that the judges aren't just interested in how well the person does the performance, but also what kind of talent is displayed. The people had the option of starting over if they weren't satisfied with the results. At any time, he might stop the person in the middle of the routine since he only wanted to witness enough to determine the amount of talent the person had. He also pointed out the fact that the length of the performance didn't matter to the judges. In addition, Meeker strongly stressed that should the performers get to star in the revue, it would not mean stardom. It was not a quick step success, fame, and fortune. It was only going to be a summer job full of hard work, and everyone would be going home to lead normal lives with probably no chance of furthering any musical careers. When the speech was done, the auditions began.
The vast majority of the people performing were singers, dancers, and musicians. The other auditions were specialty acts such as comedians, ventriloquists, drill teams, jugglers, gymnasts, small bands, bullwhip artists, and tumblers. As the participants waited, Stanley McIlvaine took their cards and arranged the auditions so that the acts were varied and not grouped together. As each performer approached the stage, McIlvaine gave the person's card to Meeker. As the person did his or her act, Meeker wrote notes on the performance and the highlights on the back of the card. If the participant did a great job, Meeker would put "CB" on the back, meaning the person had the opportunity to be selected for a call-back. All this was done to help jog the memory when perusing the cards to make the decision of who would return for the second stage of auditioning.
Singers were allowed to bring their own accompaniment. However, if a singer didn't have one, he or she could could use the piano accompaniment provided by Six Flags. After the performer was finished with the rehearsed song, Meeker usually asked him or her to sing a second time, using a different song or approach. When the different song was requested, he usually asked the singer to perform "My Country 'Tis Of Thee" because it was simple and well-known.
When auditioning dancers, Meeker looked at two major things during the routines. He wanted to find out if they could move and if they had mastered the basic fundamentals of dancing techniques. During these auditions, Meeker preferred to play "Linger Awhile", a song he had used during past productions, as a way to test improvisation. During this period, the person had to dance to soft shoe tempo, fast tempo, and stop time.
Meeker also asked the musicians to perform improvisation numbers in addition to the rehearsed composition. This was done to see if they could only do routines set in stone and if they could play musical numbers in different styles and tempos.
After each audition was complete, the participant had his or her picture taken. This picture would be placed with the card, ready for Meeker's perusal after all the auditions had concluded. When everything had concluded, the long, tedious process of elimination and selection began. Out of the hundreds of participants, only seventy were chosen for call-back. Those who made it through the first round were notified by telegram and while the performers who didn't make the cut received a letter.
Before the call-backs, McIlvaine, Blackburn, Meeker Jr. got together and discussed the upcoming show. This included plot, theme, song titles, performance types and a general outline of the type of show they wanted.
The call-backs were held either at the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel or the Executive Inn of Dallas. Students who came from a college or university located outside of Texas had their transportation costs paid for by Six Flags. If the auditions ran past twelve noon, everyone received a free lunch. All the participants had to stay in the room throughout auditions and remain quiet during each performance. Exceptions were made for those who relied upon chartered buses or other forms of public transportation.
At the start of the call-back auditions, all the participants had to fill out another card. This time, they had to give his or her name, college or university, age, home, talent, special awards, previous experience in the performing arts, and a list of the home newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations. The last section enabled the Six Flags publicity department to notify the media if the participant was chosen to be part of the show.
When the people auditioned this time, Meeker focused on the ability of the participants to sing and dance because it was the policy that all cast members had to do both. Often times, this was the determining factor in making the final decisions. In 1964 and 1965, the auditions were filmed for later use. After the person finished auditioning, he or she had his picture taken.
After everyone was finished auditioning, Meeker gave a closing speech. He then had everyone get together to sing the national anthem because "everyone is made aware of the opportunities in this country which many people in other lands do not enjoy."
When the event ended, selections were made as soon as possible. Once again, those succeeded received a telegraph and those who didn't received a letter. The winners also got a letter which provided the time, date, and place of all the rehearsals. It also gave a list of what was required for the first rehearsal, which usually took place during the last week of May. Additionally, it provided a list of all the cast members' names and their addresses. Lastly, it mandated the necessity to be available for the first rehearsal, to give the necessary time rehearsal on and of the stage, and to perform seven days a week during the entire summer run. Six people were chosen as alternates in case someone rejected the job offer.
Rehearsals began in the last week of May and ended on opening night in Mid-June. From 1962 to 1964, they were held at an auditorium, usually the student union building, at the University of Texas At Arlington. Afterwards, the cast practiced with the Six Flags Orchestra at the Amphitheatre. In 1965, this changed. The rehearsals took place at the Persis Dance Studio in Arlington, Texas. The cast then went to the Golden Palace Convention Center at the Inn of the Six Flags for practice with the orchestra. Only during the last week did they rehearse at the Amphitheatre.
Because the performers only rehearsed at the Amphitheatre when it was time to practice with the orchestra, the stage floor was marked off with tape to the exact measurements of the Amphitheatre. The cast was taught where the exact locations of the entrances and exits. In lieu of a recording or orchestra, a piano was used for the music.
At the first rehearsal, Meeker stressed the importance of rehearsing as though they were performing on opening night, doing everything to the best of their abilities. Meeker then introduced each staff member. Afterwards, he told the cast about the revue's plot then handed out a script, the outline of the sequence of acts, and the song lyrics. When the cast members received everything, Meeker reemphasized the importance of hard work, performing to the highest potential, and the necessity to show up to all rehearsals and never be late.
To stress the vitality of being on time, Meeker created a late song which would be sung every time someone was late. The perpetrator stood either on the floor or a stool facing the group while it was sung. The tune proved to be extremely effective for cast and staff members alike. It became so popular with the cast, that it became a tradition to sing it at some point at the rehearsals. Called "Enjoy Yourself", the song's lyrics were :
Enjoy yourself, it's after one o'clock.
Enjoy yourself, you'll be in full shock.
Enjoy yourself, in fact be overjoyed.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, for now you're unemployed.
The cast rigorously practiced for two full weeks with no days off. Each rehearsal started early in the morning and ended late at night with a lunch break at noon. The members had to learn dance routines in addition to the music and lyrics at a hectic pace, whether it was a single person receiving instruction on a particular act or the entire group learning an ensemble piece. When the cast members mastered everything, the revue was performed in order while Meeker timed it. If it ran over an hour, he adjusted the show. This process continued until the show met the requirement of having a runtime less than sixty minutes.
Once the time limit requirement was met, the production moved to the Amphitheatre. This change, after so many days practicing at the University of Texas At Arlington, proved to be a difficult transition. First, there was the problem of adjusting to different surroundings, especially when going from an indoor auditorium to an outdoor theatre. There was also the problem of dealing with sound caused by the fact that the rehearsals were taking place in an open area instead of a closed one. To get everyone comfortable with the new surroundings and further cement what had been rehearsed at the same time, Meeker had the cast rehearse the entire show from start to finish over and over again. During this time, there were costume fittings, lessons on how to do make-up, lighting adjustments, and instructions given on hair styling.
One or two nights before the first performance, the cast held a special showing for all the Six Flags employees. The first performance was considered the premier, attended only by Six Flags staff members, entertainment critics, and the press. After the premier, the cast performed three evening shows seven days a week. In 1962 and 1963, the show times were 6:00pm, 7:30pm, and 9:00pm. In 1964 and 1965, the last show was changed to 8:45pm. However, the last show on Friday night was removed in 1964 so the performers could have some extra time for themselves. The schedule continued until the first week of September. Each cast member received seventy dollars a week. Throughout the season, slight changes to the show could be made, extra rehearsals could be made, performances could be taped, and extra shows be given for special guests.
At the beginning of the last show, Meeker made an appearance, informing the audience that it was going to be the final performance. As always, the show ended with the finale song "We Will Come Back". Starting in 1964, those who stayed the entire season received a special bonus of five dollars for every week worked.
When it came to music, Meeker wanted to mix classical music with popular tunes, using old songs as well as new ones in an effort to keep the show's pace moving. Since the audience represented a large cross-section of the population, Meeker wanted to appeal to as much of the section as he could with the music he chose.
The process of selection started with Meeker sending a long list of songs to musical director Harry Barton. The director had to find and collect these songs, requiring lots of research. Upon completing the task, the two directors whittled the list down to a range of ten to twenty songs. Each approved song was recorded at the first few rehearsals then sent to the music arranger. The original man for the job was Eugene Patrick.
Meeker also liked to use medleys to maintain the revue's pace. To accomplish this, singers were required to change songs almost at the end of a phrase. There was also the practice of unexpectedly changing the tempo or style. Additionally, the percussion section was used to accent dance numbers.
In 1962 and 1963, the Six Flags Marching Band played throughout the park during the day then joined the Campus Revue during the evening. However, in 1964 and 1965, it was the Crazy Band that took the honors. Comprising two less players than the orchestra, the Crazy Band dressed in unusual clothes and played around the park throughout the day. The band then worked at Amphitheatre. Management arranged the schedule to have the Crazy Band nine hours, six hours and a half during the day and two hours and a half during the evening.
In 1964, the Campus Revue Orchestra unionized when it negotiated a contract with the Local 802 Chapter of the Federation of Musicians, whose headquarters were located in New York City. The contract lasted for three years, pertaining only to "pit musicians". As part of the contract, all were required to play the Campus Revue music with a high level of skill and professionalism.
The choreographer faced the daunting task of making the cast perform like pros and work well together while designing the dances to fit within the limits of what the members were capable of doing. The choreography had keep up with the pace of the song and ensure the show stayed together as a collective piece while communicating the purpose of the musical number. The real challenge came with teaching the footwork to the entire group, which consisted of performers who knew one form of dance like tap or ballet and those who had no dance training at all. In 1962, Johnny and Aubrey Bell Simmons, a newlywed couple from Texas Christian University, were responsible for the choreography. In 1963, Johnny Simmons took the responsibility alone. In 1964 and 1965, Jim Blatel handled the job.
David T. Blackburn and his staff dealt with all matters concerning costume direction with the exception of clothing for the specialty acts. In such cases, special designers were hired to design the attire.
The costumes were provided by the Six Flags wardrobe department and a manufacturing company called Factory Sales from 1962 to 1965. The wardrobe department also handled stock items and simple articles of clothing. Shoes were ordered from a commercial house then dyed to match the color of the costumes. Special props like canes, hats, and umbrellas were ordered from companies which specialized in making them.
At the end of the season, all the costumes were stored in the park's costume warehouse to await their fate. Some were thrown away while others were later altered for the next season's show. Others were saved for use by the Crazy Band to be worn as part of the members' mixed-up uniform.
Construction of the Amphitheatre began on July 13, 1961 in an area once used as a dairy farm's water hole. The place was chosen because it was located on the slant of a hill, making the construction easier and cheaper. There were 800 L-shaped, slab concrete seats which had already been crafted. The stage was a square block of concrete. It had two wings on each side and a fence around the backstage area. However, there was no roof of any kind. It had one entrance, which started in the front and traveled through the middle. The amphitheatre was constructed in such a way that anyone see the stage from across the street because the entrance wasn't elevated. This was fixed in 1962 by raising the natural slope.
In 1962, two hundered seats at the stage right area were built by narrowing a truck passageway behind the Skull Island loading dock. Another two hundred were built in the area over the cave roof of La Salle's Riverboat Adventure. The power supply was installed behind the stage instead of the front. The park also built a concrete walkway between the stage and the dressing room area along with six wings and two borders located between the curtain and the orchestra. Each border covered two wings, leaving two wings uncovered.
The stage curtain was colored orange and the front border was green with orange pennant. There were two pennants for each cast member. Every pair of pennants represented the college or university a student attended, complete with the name and school colors of the institution. A large letter "G" standing for the fictional Gilchrist University was placed in the center of the front border. The "G" was painted orange, black, green, and white to match the season's color scheme. The borders were painted a dark green. However, the pennants made it look multi-colored.
The dressing rooms were built stage left offstage. Unfortunately, the construction crew made them too small and next to impossible to serve their purpose.
In 1963, the remaining poles standing in the wings of the Amphitheatre were removed and pavement put in their place.
The stage's front roof received an awning made from bamboo. The only problem with this was the fact that it collected the rain. This caused the water to drip onto the concrete stage during performances and made it very dangerous for the dancers to perform their routines. This was made even worse because the stage surface was covered with epoxy, a cement seal which was mixed with colors.
The park added another two wings for the stage and a small building behind the back curtain for the pigeons that were being used in a magic act.
The park also tried unsuccessfully to expand the dressing room area. This proved impossible because there wasn't any space left, thanks to the orchestra dressing room being directly behind the cast dressing room.
The Amphitheatre had a seating capacity of 1,200 by 1963 and a new roof was erected. Construction started in late June and ended on July Eighteenth. This provided protection from the glaring sun and pouring rain.
The downstage area of the stage was extended into the audience in 1964 so the performers could have enough room away from the risers. A wooden floor was built over the concrete floor. The design of the "G" was changed. The orange letter had a gold Baroque trim. A blue area surrounded the letter and had a white trim on a white border.
The park wanted daytime shows at the Amphitheatre as a way to help crowded areas deal with heavy traffic. To make this possible, management felt it was necessary to provide air-conditioning. Workers attached one-half inch Number 18 Louvremesh steel on top of the white lattice frame which circled the Amphitheatre's circumference. The air-conditioning ducts were attached to the steel at specific positions and angles to provide the most effective results. After the installation, the ducts blew much needed air-conditioning on both the audience and the cast members.
In addition to the air-conditioning, the amphitheatre's stage received a new metal roof. As a result, the crew was forced to have the scenery lowered on long pipes called battens and be raised out of the roof.
In March, workers built a lattice work wall at the amphitheatre's entrance. Located in the center was a billboard with the performers' names on it along with the schools they attended. To create a theatre marquee effect, lights were positioned to shine a light on the billboard as evening approached. Two curved sidewalks bordered by flower gardens were also added to the entrance.
Nothing was changed in 1965 except the color of the letter "G" in accordance to the new color scheme. This time around the "G" was orange with a white trim set against a dark border.
In the beginning, the Amphitheatre had no lighting. There were no spotlights or spot platforms, just the lights shining from the trees surrounding the stage. The only time Six Flags provided proper lighting was during rare special event. On such occasions, a spotlight was rented.
This changed for the 1962 season when the park used lighting equipment for the very first time. The park bought two spot troupers and had them installed on a platform at the entrance. Unfortunately, the electricians didn't know how to hang them correctly. As a result, they put the lekos in upside-down on the yokes. Remaining in the upside-down position till 1963, this misplacement caused the lamps to burn out more quickly. This ended up to be a costly mistake because the lighting equipment burned out the lamp after four to five hours of service. Since the cost of a lamp was $8.68 each, the total cost for the lamps was almost fifty dollars a day.
In 1963, the park made an effort to correct and improve the lighting system. Before the new metal roof was put into place, the lights were removed, rearranged, and refocused. Leading the effort was Charles Meeker III, Michael Jenkins, and Ken Moyer. For two nights, they worked from 11pm to 6am. They picked the shift because they would be able to work uninterrupted and because it was the best time to focus the lights. In addition to the lights, the trio ran into problems with the dimmer which had been provided by the Little Stage Lighting Company in Dallas. On a continuous basis, every time the three men connected the lights, something blew out and they couldn't find out why. Eventually, they figured out that half of the time, the problem could be traced to the dimmer board. They spent half their time tracing bad lamps, shorts, and other mishaps. Many times that year, the dimmers burned out. They were packed up the same night and replaced by new ones to be used for the next evening. The inventor of this dimmer system made periodic visits to work on the dimmer board, give it a few tweaks, and make necessary adjustments.
The park also made an effort to arrange the lights in a logical sequence and order. There were twelve units on each of the two battens at the beginning of the year. In the late summer when the roof was built, the park added a third batten to hang from it.
In the words of Michael Jenkins, "The lights were on poles; and when the new roof was put in, we took everything off the poles and rearranged and readjusted again to put the heaviest and the longest throw lights out in the new roof."
The equipment hung on a pipe behind one of the borders. A special roof built for the equipment was nothing more than plywood nailed down on the back to prevent the lights from getting wet as a result of the rain. There were twelve lekos for each batten. In fact, most of the equipment were leko with the exception of twelve fresnels. Five super lekos were put in front of the trouper platform in June. However, they were only used for the 1963 season.
In the past, there were four light poles with four to six instruments on each one. Two of them stood behind the first two wings on each side of the stage.
One of the things that made the 1963 College Revue unique was the overabundant use of blue bulbs for the grand finale. Six thousand of them were hung on all the poles circling the amphitheatre. An extra 8,000-watt power stat dimmer was rented to power the bulbs in addition to the dimming equipment to control the lights.
In 1964, the equipment used from previous productions were used whenever the entire cast was on stage and the spotlights from the back were used for duets and solos. During the solos and duets, the rest of the stage was dimmed out. The people operating the back spotlight had to climb a side ladder to get to the platform. There was no roof protection for this equipment, so it was covered every night so the elements wouldn't ruin them. However, because it was located in the very back, it didn't obstruct the view of any patrons.
The lighting equipment was placed in six positions for the 1964 revue : the platform located at the amphitheatre's back, the beams of the cabled roof, the projected ceiling, the first batten, the overhead equipment, and the back lights.
Seven scoop lights were lined up on the stage floor between partitions to provide colored lighting for each section of the show. The lighting shone upon a white wall backdrop. However, the operators of the scoop lights ran into problems becuase the lights were on alternating circuits and had to be changed to the color for each section. The color schemes were as follows : red - Mexico, magenta - France, lavender - Texas, orange - America, and blue - Confederacy.
During the show, the cast was on stage for the entire time, causing the lighting to play a central role in unifying the show. The curtain was close only once during the show for a specialty act. The spotlight was concentrated on three performers who portrayed a father and his two sons while the rest of the cast changed costumes in complete darkness.
The only special lighting in 1965 was an ellipsoidal spotlight hanging directly over LBJ in the opening scene of the revue. The curtain parted to reveal the president and two reporters. The device was located almost in the middle of the roof because the stage had no grid. The special lighting was created by the two spotlights at the back. To spotlight a person on stage, they were dimmed down to general lighting. Meanwhile, scoops provided background lighting on a white wall seen through the windows of the Bedford Hall backdrop.
For all the Campus Revue productions, a story or theme was used as a way to tie all the acts together as a cohesive unit. When the producers and directors decided they wanted to have a college theme, they created the fictional Gilchrist University as a tribute to the founder of Six Flags, Angus Wynne Jr. The university setting was used for three of the four revues from 1962 to 1965.
The name for the revue's first season in 1962 was "The Six Flags Campus Revues. The plot revolved loosely around a visiting professor falling in love with the president's daughter on graduation day. It was split into two scenes. The first one dealt with the Gilchrist graduation ceremony and the second covered the senior show. The graduation ceremony of the first scene felt apt, especially for the students, because the premier performance was held near the time of college graduation. During the senior scene of the second scene, each member of the graduation class was asked to something he or she was good at. Twenty-six people performed the revue. In addition to the singers and dancers, there were ventriloquists, musicians, a juggler, and a magician.
The first scene of the revue occurred in the university's auditorium. The second one took place outdoors. While the first scene didn't need much in terms of stagecraft, the second did.
For the outdoor scene, the crew painted trees on a hinged canvas partition to be used as the back wall. Portable trees were built in halves so they could be folded up and placed behind the stage when not in use. When they were needed the crew pushed them out of the wings. The crew also painted the wing front to look like a trunk. Its hidden branches and leaves were unfolded for the scene to form a complete tree on both sides, creating a 3-D effect to the set. The scene was made up of of six beam units. Each was six feet long. They were placed on stage wagons. These wagons were six foot by two foot platforms on wheels. All of the units were rolled onto the stage, fitted together, locked together, then weighted with sandbags on the back.
In the opening scene, everyone was dressed in graduation caps and gowns. Even the ventriloquist dummies wore graduation clothes. The caps and gowns were either bright orange or lime green. The students wore one color while the teachers wore the other. Every other night, the students and teachers changed colors. The colors used during the outside scene was orange and white to recognize the fact that Angus Wynne Jr. graduated from the University of Texas. In the second scene, the guys wore white shirts, orange bow ties, black slacks, sneakers, and orange pull-over vests with a white letter "G" on them. The gals wore white cheerleader skirts, white blouses, white shoes, and orange over-blouses with a white letter "G".
Make-up was supervised by the show directors wanted to use make-up to capture a "youthful quality" and make sure the audience knew without a doubt that all the cast members were college students. To accomplish this, the directors didn't want heavy, theatrical make-up and used light make-up. For those performers who portrayed older characters had their hair only slightly grayed hair. The cosmetics primarily used for the revue had a liquid base, though there were a few members who preferred the pancake make-up. The girls were allowed to style their hair the way they wanted as long as the style was "collegiate and youthful looking".
The 1962 College Revue Orchestra consisted of non-union members who had to audition in order to join. The musical director visited a number of colleges and universities for tryouts then held a public audition for anyone interested in becoming a part of the orchestra. The auditions were held while schools were still in session because preparations had to start before the park open. For this reason, the musical director only chose those who could before opening day.
The orchestra consisted of four trumpets, three trombones, five saxophones, three violins, drums, bass, and a piano. The orchestra faced plenty of problems with acoustics caused by the poor arrangement of the pit instruments for amplification purposes in the open-air amphitheatre. To make matters worse, there were speaker problems. The speakers were placed on the left and right side of the stage facing the audience. On some occasions, they caused the instruments to drown out the performers. At other times, the audience couldn't hear a thing from the orchestra.
The 1962 season started a tradition for future Campus Revues. At the end of each show, the cast performed the song "We Will Come Back". Originally sung by Marlene Dietrich, Meeker replaced the original words with his own. The new lyrics were :
We will come back when the elephants roost in the trees.
We will come back when the bird make love to the bees.
We will come back when the sun refuses to shine,
And Angus Wynne Jr is a cousin of mine.
We will come back when the fish start to jump in the bags.
And come back when they're no longer flying six flags.
When the snow has turned from white to blue,
Then maybe we will come back to you.
Meeker wrote the lyrics of this song for two reasons. First, he wanted a song that introduced the name of a special person in the audience, usually a celebrity or politician. In such cases, the cast merely substituted Angus Wynne Jr. with another name to honor the person. Second, Meeker felt that a special song was needed to close the show. The music staff couldn't locate the sheet music for the song, so they recorded the original tune from a tape or record.
The vast majority of the 1962 cast members weren't very good in dancing roles. Yet, all of them were expected to dance in at least one of the show's opening numbers. As a result, the choreographer tested their ability and range of movement during rehearsals. He used this information to choose who would do what during the dance numbers. He picked six couples to do the main dancing in the musical number titled "Kids". The couples danced in front of the remaining cast, who sat on stools in the background then accompanied them by doing simple movements and stationary poses. The dance routine for "Kids" was a comedy dance which ended with the guys lifting the gals into their arms.
The second scene started with a reprise of "Kids" with the same combinations and step technique. Later on in the scene, the dancers had to perform the Ballet of Six Flags, which was a form of jazz ballet choreographed to the Six Flags March. The lack of dancing ability made the number very difficult for the cast. Additionally, the guys found it troubling because the slip-on tennis shoes kept coming off accidentally during the number. At the finale of the dance routine, acrobatics entered the routine, which ended with the dancers forming a human pyramid.
The entire cast was involved in the final dance number titled "Brotherhood of Man". The dancing was staged just like the "Kids" number, the main difference being that "Brotherhood of Man" was introduced by singing. The cast members in the background were more active than the previous numbers, but they were still limited in what they could do. At the end, the performers moved into a V formation and sang "We Will Come Back". They went offstage then returned for another chorus while waving small flags in their hands. The cast continued doing this until the curtain closed when the final encore ended.
In 1963, the second season of the Campus Revue remained centered around Gilchrist University. The show was called "the Gilchrist Glitters" and focused on the students preparing a special show for the university. The first scene was the dress rehearsal of the show and second was the actual show itself. There were a total of 26 members which included a singing trio, a chorus line of high-kicking dancers, ventriloquists, a kettle drum player, a flamenco dancer, a magician, a pianist, and a tap dancer in addition to the rest of the cast.
For the first scene, the crew painted pipes, bricks, and stage flats onto the back of the stage. For the finale, the back wall was separated into seven separate revolving turntables, which were bought for three thousand dollars which were painted white and blue. A chandelier and a showgirl stood on top of each turntable. A staircase which was used for entrances and exits by certain members was pushed out on each side of the stage at the third wing.
For the flamenco number, the scene was backed by a red two-fold flat which was six feet high and twelve feet long. Because it was hinged, the flat stood in a V shape on its own weight. A special platform sixteen inches tall, five feet across the front, and and four feet deep was used for the kettle drum act. The drums were so heavy, ropes were needed to put the platform into position. The structure had two holes on each side for the ropes. Several other acts needed special props like the flamenco and kettle drum acts. Asa result, several flats were designed and built, but they were never used. Those that weren't used were placed in storage in case they were needed for a future revue. Peter Wold designed all the props and scenery during this season.
With a bigger budget, the costumes were more elaborate. For the opening scene the guys wore black slacks and shirts and shoes which matched the color of their partner's blouse. The gals wore black stretch pants and blouses which were either red, yellow, blue, or green. All of them had sailor dickies with orange and white stripes. Their shoes were dyed the same color as the blouses they wore. The person who played the show's director was dressed in a dark shirt, white slacks, and a beret. For the dance number called "Flamenco Flambeau", the female dancer wore a red, ruffled flamenco dress. The ventriloquist dummy had a costume similar to those worn by the rest of the cast. The singing trio wore powder blue coats, white shirts, and black pants and shoes. A magician wore a black formal tuxedo for his act. During the performance of the song "Gigi", the lead singer wore a white tux and the dancers wore cocktail dresses with knee-length skirts. The piano player had a blue satin tuxedo while the singer of "Miss Prima Donna" adorned a white, formal evening dress. The Gilchrist Glitters were a group of six show girls who picked during the auditions for their attractiveness. For their musical number, they wore satin sequined costumes trimmed with net or blue and white feathers. For the grand finale, the entire cats wore satin costumes. The guys wore blue tuxedos and the gals wore formal, knee-length blue dresses with bluish-white gores attached to the for a cheerleader affect. The guys had short, white gloves and black shoes and the gals had long, white gloves with blue high-heel shoes.
Professional beauticians from the Salon de Coiffure at 3525 Turtle Creek in Dallas, Texas assisted with the make-up by selecting the correct shade of make-up for each person, helping the guys with applying the cosmetics and powdering, and helping with hairstyles which would be flattering and suitable for each gal. For the second season, heavier make-up was needed because of the lighting improvements. Both oil base liquid and pancake make-up were used by the cast members.
The sound system speakers weren't moved or changed during the second season and the same instruments from the previous year were retained. Most notable were the five microphones placed across the front of the stage.
During rehearsals, changes in musical numbers were made. For the "Miss Prima Donna" number, the directors went through four different musical scores before they were satisfied. At least two or three songs were attempted before "Gigi" was chosen. The finale was changed several times before the directors achieved satisfactory results. The one thing that remained the same throughout was the ending, which featured the song "We Will Come Back".
The Gilchrist Glitters was composed of six ladies who were selected after the auditions by the choreographer for their dancing skills. The auditioning for the group positions was done by having them perform chorus line kicks, which were later integrated with the choreography throughout the show just for them.
With the intention to make the second season's show more sophisticated and upscale, the opening number "We Have Come Back" featured more complicated footwork than the previous year. The flamenco dancer had all her staging blocked. She entered through a slightly opened curtain to the downstage area where she performed to the accompaniment of castanets. When performing a tap dance, the couple used their own material and the choreographer blocked the movement. When "Gigi was sung, three to four show girls walked past him and returned when he finished the solo to dance a ballet to the same song. Although most of the cast members wore formal attire for the grand finale, several were dressed in showgirl costumes. The choreographer taught these ladies a basic showgirl walk which was staged into a pattern of movements and directions. They were shown how to gracefully walk down the side wing staircases. For the last chorus of the song, the cast members in the background moved forward with kicking steps from the knee to form a V formation in readiness for the song "We Will Come Back". Once the formation was complete, everyone performed small walking steps forward and backward while singing the final tune. After the song, they exited stage right.
The 1964 Campus Revue was called "The Singing Flags". The plot centered around a father and his two sons taking a musical tour of Six Flags Over Texas. There were 27 members in the cast which included eight singers, ten dancers, two whip artists, three pianists, two "lip-synchers", a harp player, and an accordionist.
Because the show centered around a tour of the park, there were no special stage scenery involved. The cast and orchestra were located behind three levels of gray and orange risers across the center of the stage throughout the show. A wooden screen made of orange sticks created the illusion of lattice work as the background for the cast on both sides of the stage. The seating area for the cast members on the risers was built on the turntables which were built during the previous season. American flags were placed between the turntables. At the beginning of the USA section, the turntables turned sideways and a fan was turned on to blow air onto the flags to make them flap and wave. Some of the partitions were moved from the front of the platform or the risers where the cast sat and were used as steps. Several gray-painted stools from the previous season as wells new ones were used on the set. However, before they could be utilized, all the stools had to be shortened so they wouldn't be taller than the front wall of the risers on the three levels.
There was only one basic costume for the program's third season because the entire cast sat on stage throughout the show with only one costume at the end for the grand finale. However, several different costumes were created by an expert designer for the specialty acts. Showgirl costumes were made and tested during a dress rehearsal, but they were immediately rejected because they didn't fit into any of the section themes. Hats were used and worn by the entire cast, always reflecting the park section being presented to the audience.
The basic costume for the girls was a blouse with red and white stripes, a white collar, and cuffs with red button cuff links. Additionally, they wore yellow, reversible wrap-around skirts with yellow suspenders. To complete the ensemble, they wore red tennis shoes. The guys donned shirts with red and white stripes, white collars, and white cuffs. They also sported yellow slacks with white belts. To finish the costume, they wore red tennis shoes. For the grand finale, the girls reversed their yellow skirts to blue and removed the suspenders while the guy changed into blue slacks. All dressed in red, white, and blue for the USA section. Later in the season, the guys wore blue slacks during the entire show.
The props and hats were arranged in each member's place behind the riser wall, and each was responsible for the items in his or her possession. Specialty act performers left the risers to make their costume changes while hat or prop changes were made in the dark while the cast members portraying the father and two sons conversed among themselves between the sections. The actors who provided time for these quick changes wore coats with blue and white stripes, white shirts, blue bow ties, white pants, and white shoes.
When the show started, everyone was in their original costumes. However, after the opening number and before each section, they changed hats or props in accordance to the theme. The first section of the show was Mexico. For this part, The ladies wore pink and yellow flowers and colored ribbons in their hair while the gents wore straw sombreros. There was a bullwhip act performed by two girls. Both adorned a blue satin, long-sleeved toreador suit trimmed with silver sequins over a white ruffled blouse, blue toreador pants with the same trim, white marching boots, and a red rose over the ear. Later in the season. the duo sometimes wore white, long-sleeve ruffled blouses and blue shorts with a white fringe.
The second section of the show was the Republic of Texas. During this part, everyone wore white cowboy hats. When a quartet sang "Long Tall Texan", they wore black cowboy hats. Later on, the lead singer placed a bow with red and white stripes on the front of his hat for comedic effect. The tap dancer who performed "Buffalo Gal" wore a blouse made of red and white bandanna material and had a ruffled trim. She had a dark green, divided skirt called a culottes. It was trimmed with ruffles and patches of handkerchief. The tap shoes she wore were red with red and white shoe laces. She also had two holsters with a gun taped inside each one. In her hair, she donned two false, blond braids to add comedy to the dance. The singer who followed her with the song "Trouble" donned a white shirt, a red coat, a red bow tie, white pants, and a straw hat.
During the Spanish section, the ladies wore a red rose with a small, black Spanish lace veil worn over their hair and shoulders. The guys wore black hats with a red ball fringe around the brim. All soloists wore hats or veils that supplemented the basic costumes.
While performing in the Confederacy section, The gals wore white Southern bell hats trimmed with red flowers and yellow ribbons. The guys donned gray Confederate caps. Everyone wore white cotton gloves during "Southern medley. When a couple did a soft shoe dance to "Honeysuckle Rose", the guy had red sneakers and girl had red, T-strap, medium-heel shoes. Both of them danced with canes throughout the number. For the section's finale, the Six Flags Confederate Drill Team marched across the stage as the cast waved Confederate flags.
For the French section, the girls placed small red and white feathers in their hair while the guys wore black and gold baseball caps. During a ballet involving a male and two females, the man wore a white satin, long-sleeved shirt with black slacks and shoes. Meanwhile, the women wore pink leotards, a tutu made from rows of white net, flesh colored net stockings, and pink ballet shoes. The neck of the leotards was trimmed with rows of differently colored ribbon. The white puff sleeves had streamers hanging from them. The right side of the waist also had ribbon attached it. The actors who portrayed the two sons performed a specialty act in white slacks, white shirts, red bow ties, and red coats with a gold emblem on the right side pocket.
The theme color for the USA section was obviously red, white, and blue. All cast members wore red and white Uncle Sam hats made of cardboard. During one of the songs, an accordionist and the cast wore shaggy, black Beatle wigs as a way of parodying the famous rock band. For the grand finale, everyone wore the basic costume without any hats or props.
Once again, the professional consultants from Salon de Coiffure handled the make-up and hair styles. Both areas experienced no real changes.
Unlike the previous year, the musical directors had no problem in the selection of the musical numbers. Instead, they faced the problem of having too many of them. Several numbers, part of a number, or a chorus were shortened as a result so the show would meet the requirement of having a runtime under sixty minutes. Continuity was maintained by selecting songs which would add flavor to the section even though they might not have any particular meaning to the section. Because the music blended one song into another, applause was discouraged until the end of each section.
During the revue, the orchestra was actually placed on stage instead of in the traditional orchestra pit. The musicians were seated center stage on the risers while the cast sat on either side of them. On each side of the risers, there were two overhead microphones. The number and variety of instruments remained the same for the orchestra, but the three violins were removed. Taking their place was a large harp.
Choruses were a significant part of the show because several of the songs involved the entire cast. The performers also played various instruments throughout the revue. They used maracas for the opening number of the Mexico section titled "In Grand Old Mexico". A quartet sang "Long Tall Texan" in the Republic of Texas Section while playing a drum, washtub bass, and guitar. The cast opened the Spanish section with a tambourine routine. An accordionist played "In A Little Spanish Town" and blended it into the song "Lady of Spain". The section ended with a dance number accompanied by tambourines. During the Confederacy section, "Dixie" was played with kazoos by the entire cast. The musical number "Allez Vous En" of the French section was played by a pianist and harp player.
Memorable moments of the show included the opening number "In The Good Old Summer Time" which was sung by the actors portraying the father and two song. In the second musical number of the Mexico section titled "Adios Muchachos", two women cracked their whips in time with the song's rhythm. A soloist sung a medley of Mexican tunes by starting a new song before finishing the last phrase of the last one. During the tap dance number titled "Buffalo Gal", the band drummer accented the performance by using his drums to provide sound effects when the dancer pantomimed firing her pistols. The most unique act was "Japanese Beatle". During the number, an accordionist played his own composition. In the middle of the performance, the cast sang a parody of the Beatles song "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which was written by the accordionist. As was always the case, the show ended with the traditional "We Will Come Back".
Like all the previous seasons, the speakers were placed on each side of the stage, though they could have been anchored onto the roof. The park spent 2,500 dollars on new microphones. There were five of them, each one with a foot-long stem.
The 1964 Campus Revue required dancing, gestures, and movements which represented each section. To handle this task, the park hired a professional choreographer and assistant choreographer. In the Mexico section, the bullwhip artists staged their own routine. Afterwards, the choreographer blocked their material and instructed them which notes needed to be stressed by their bullwhip cracks. While performing "Bolero", the dancers moved along diagonal lines. They had to pass between one another because there was only three feet in front of the risers to move. The six couples doing the dance used sharp, short steps based on the Spanish style.
The cast performed the songs in the Republic of Texas section using simple movements and arm gestures to communicate the the meaning of the words being sung. This was done because the orchestra often drowned out the words. The quartet singing "Long Tall Texan" used their own unique movements during their routine. Because the choreographer knew nothing about tap dancing, the performer provided several steps for him to arrange into a routine. He then blocked the movements and gestures to keep the act from getting boring. He had the dancer shoot imaginary guns, make pantomimed gestures, and create funny facial expressions.
For the numbers "Tempos In Tambourines" and "Hello Dolly", the choreographer taught the cast how to perform movements with their tambourines as they played the instruments. During "La Macarena", a couple twirled red and yellow bull fighter capes while dancing. During "Southern Medley" in the Confederacy section, the cast used sound gestures by patting their hands on their thighs in rhythm to the soft shoe dance being performed while others used hand and arm movements in conjunction to the music. At the end, the dancers exited the stage while doing high kicks.
During the France section, two girls and a guy performed a ballet to "the Last Time I saw Paris". Each girl did a solo while the guy had to do a solo and partner with the girls. As the song progressed, so did the tempo. At the end, dancers left the risers and formed a circle to start "Grand Imperial Cirque 'd Paree", which required plenty of stepping, kicking, and turning in the circle. When the dancers formed a line, the remaining cast left the risers and joined the ends of the line. As the number moved closer to its climax, the tempo was increased while the alternating forward and backward kicks decreased. For the show's finale, the cast stood in three lines as they sang while making arm movements and gestures toward the audience. The cast stepped forward to the downstage area then back to the front of the risers, repeating the movement as they sang the traditional "We Will Come Back".
The choreographer watched the show every two weeks and determine if any work needed to be done. If it did, he called for extra rehearsals to polish certain numbers and arrange substitutes for certain numbers not involving the entire cast. However, he never changed any part of the show and never removed a dance routine.
When Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President after he had won the election of 1964, there was a lot of publicity about the fact that he came from Texas. The makers of the College Revue decided to take advantage of this and center the show around the President by making LBJ a graduate of Gilchrist University. This would be the first show which followed a direct storyline and cover a current topic. In the first scene, LBJ was at Washington airport preparing himself for a visit to Gilchrist University for a show paying tribute to him. In the second scene, the students were preparing for his arrival. The next scene was a trip back in time to the year LBJ graduated from the university. The flashback was done because the creators wanted to use period costumes and they thought it would make the story more interesting. After the flashback, the scene changed to the present day. At the end, a male cast member proclaimed that LBJ had arrived at the amphitheatre and the finale would be dedicated to him. The cast consisted had 25 members. It included seven dancers, nine singers, two all-mall trios, a specialty act performer, a trumpet player, and a clarinet player.
For the opening scene, the curtain opened slightly to show LBJ and two reporters standing at a white sign showing the way to Washington International Airport in front of the red portion of a background sliding panel. There were two sliding panels which were painted red, white, and blue. The panels slid along a metal track and were locked together in the center of the stage.
The stage's back wall depicted the front of Gilchrist University's Bedford Hall. In the center was a big door with the hall's name written above it. There were a lantern and two windows on each side of the door with a niche for a statue between one of the pairs. For specialty acts, the performers walked down a ramp, hidden from the audience and located in front of a new back canvas, and through the center door. In front of the backdrop, there were four, twelve-foot-high portable columns constructed by the park's mill. When the columns were finished, it was soon discovered that he columns were one foot short. The columns were sent to the mill again, where the one foot was added. This addition went unnoticed by the audience throughout the season. The stage crew carried the columns on stage and put them in place. After the scene, the crew closed the curtain and a cast member performed a specialty act. During the act, the crew hung homecoming banners using a hook attached to a pole.
The cast of the fourth season made three costume changes as compared to the one costume change the previous year. For the opening scene, the two reporters appearing with LBJ donned sports coats, bow tie, slacks, and hats. The person portraying LBJ was tall and wore a dark, padded suit and Western-styled hat. Additionally he carried a carpetbag and stood with his back to the audience.
During the the first scene, all members of the cast had two sets of costumes so that the clothes could be washed on a regular basis. The gals wore white stretch pants, overblouses with red and white stripes, and black sports shoes. The guys wore white pants, red long-sleeved sweat shirts, and black shoes and socks. All had to wear orange tights underneath the costumes.
The men portraying the three college deans had a Western hat and two sets of orange graduation robes. Later in the season, they lost the hats and had to substitute them with green mortarboards with white tassels. White shirts and slacks were worn underneath the gowns.
For the second scene, the performers changed into period costumes designed with an influence from the Broadway play "Half A Sixpence". Each girl had two sets of period costumes. Most of the time, each set was a different color. The costumes came in blue, purple, red, pink, and orange. Hats, umbrella, and other accessories matched each set of costumes. The coats worn by the guys came in the same five colors and all the couples were matched in accordance these colors. The men also wore white pants, shirts with black and white stripes, and black ties. The women adorned long-sleeved, striped blouses with ruffles and white collars and cuffs. Each one matched the color of the skirt. The ladies also wore black ties which were tucked into the skirt's wide satin band. The full skirts were trimmed near the bottom with three rows of black ribbon. As part of their costumes, the girls wore pillbox hats trimmed with black ribbon and the guys wore white straw hats trimmed with a black band. The ladies also wore black shoes with a period heel and guys wore black shoes and socks. Both had black felt spats with buttons which were decorated with a strip dyed the same color as the costumes. During the dress rehearsal, it was determined that the costume changes couldn't be made within the three-minute time limit because of the the time needed to button the spats. As a result, the spats were fastened by sticking tape. Later in the season, the guys removed the spats altogether while the female performers removed them while getting ready for their dance routines.
While the three deans performed a reprise of "We Taught Him Everything He Knows", the rest of the cast changed costumes for the third scene. This time around, the guys wore white sport shirts, orange V neck sweaters, white pants, orange socks, and black shoes. The ladies wore orange dresses and orange, satin high-heeled shoes. The skirts blended orange with yellow. The ladies also wore orange felt ribbons around the neck. For the grand finale, the entire cast carried orange flags with white lettering which spelled out "Thank You, Mr. President".
For the 1965 season, pancake make-up and eye make-up were provided by the staff. The make-up was checked for each member. The girls were allowed to got to their own personal hair dresser. However, the styles had to be approved by Meeker at one of the rehearsals. The girls then had the responsibility to maintain the approved hairstyle.
During the 1965 season, the orchestra played in the pit instead of on stage like it did the previous year. The pit was enlarged, resulting in the removal of the first row of audience seats. A hydraulic microphone was added to each side of center stage. The seven microphones were spaced evenly along the downstage area. They remained stationary because moving them up or down proved to be too much of a hassle.
In addition to the orchestra, the cast members also played instruments. During the second scene, there was a trumpet soloist who performed a number called "Hot Lips". A Trio singing "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" played two guitars and a bass violin before all three started performing the tune using kazoos for comedic effect. At the end of "You Tell Her, 'Cause I Stutter" ended with one of the guys playing the banjo to a fast tempo. When a female performer played castanets in stop-time to the song "Ace In The Hole", the2 rest of the cast joined her for the climax by playing instruments. Afterwards, a different male trio sang "Peter, Peter" while playing guitar, banjo, and bass violin. A woman played the clarinet during Darktown Strutters Ball.
The choreography of the 1965 revue was directed by an actual member of the cast performing as a dancer. In the show, the period costumes determined the character and quality of the dances. In the opening number called "We'll Not Be Satisfied", the girls performed quick, short cheerleader movements along with sharp, abrupt extended arm movements. During "The New Gilchrist Fight Song", the couples made forward, backward, and sideway movements to accompany the singing. At the end, the the couples danced a simple soft shoe routine. The three deans performed a comic dance routine during the interlude between scenes using a combination of simple walks, turns, and jumps in graduation robes. In the second scene, a trio of girls stood shoulder to shoulder while performing a fast, complicated tap dance in unison to the song "Sittin' On Top Of The World".
Two guys and gals performed a modern free-style ballet involving energetic waltz movements. After performing turns across the stage, the two couples engaged in partner lifts. The men did did various high jumps followed by the women doing difficult ballet turns. It ended with all four performing a series of turns. They returned for another appearance at the beginning of "Once Upon A Time for another ballet routine to introducer the singer of the musical number.
"Real Live Girl" involved specific blocking of the movements and gestures to portray a shy man and an enticing girl. The shy, stuttering boy was portrayed using awkward, jerky movements with his dancing, contrasting sharply with the graceful stylized movements of the girl. The girl moved in and out of the line formed by men as the shy person followed her. The routine came to a close with the woman enticing the guys by moving her posterior in time with the drum beats. It ended with the guys running after her.
In the "Mascots of Gilchrist U" number, the cast marched in precision drill formations while waving orange and white flags. Afterwards, they formed a straight line, followed by a closed V formation then an open V formation which extended to each side of the stage. Once in this final formation downstage, they sang "We Will Come Back". After singing it the second time, they returned to the closed V formation upstage as the curtain closed. For encores, the cast always returned in the closed V formation.