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Orange & Black Varieties
Orange & Black Varieties
By Chris Ragen, Archives Intern
For most of its history, McDonogh School has showcased the talent of its students in the performing arts. But no production was as big as the Orange and Black Varieties—a monumental effort undertaken annually between 1933 to 1943. Each year, as many as 600 students participated in the variety show put on by the Patron’s Club. The performance dubbed the Orange and Black Varieties displayed the talent and dedication of the entire school, requiring acting, music, stagecraft, and organization far beyond the normal expectations of any school play.
The idea for the show grew from the expansion of the curriculum in 1929 to include a new class, the Appreciation of Music, which expanded student access to live performances and introduced new musical ideas. This led to the wild success of a performance at the McDonogh Christmas Bazaar that featured a group of students performing vaudeville acts. These acts included comedy, pratfalling, juggling, and over-the-top musical numbers. The popularity of the performances intrigued the members of the Patron’s Club who approached the director and asked him to lead a dedicated variety show.
Seeking to raise additional funds for their activities, the Patron’s Club provided a significant budget for the show. In March 1933, the students took over the Maryland Casualty Auditorium to produce the very first Orange and Black Varieties. Comprised of two acts and sixteen total scenes, the students put on short plays and performed mimes, tap routines, and choral numbers. The sold-out crowd at the show, numbering 1,500 people, earned rave reviews. A report in The Baltimore Sun praised the performance saying, “It was not because it was good or bad, but because it was a school play that they were delighted—200 of McDonogh’s best putting on the grandest exhibition of the year, choruses that stretched from one end of the stage to the other, endless varieties of costumes, the whole school taking part—both the talented and the willing—and everybody who was interested in the boys packed into the auditorium.”
The Orange and Black Varieties grew steadily following the initial show, growing so large that in 1936 it was moved to the Maryland Theater with a capacity of 2,000 people and again in 1938 to the Lyric Theater which held 2,700 people. As the venues grew larger, so did the number of student participants, and by 1939, the number had tripled to 600. The growth of the performances necessitated greater sophistication in sets and set design. In 1938, sets were rented at a cost of $100 (equivalent to $2,120 today) from theater houses in New York City and were transported to Baltimore. Advertisers flocked to the shows and paid handsomely to be included in the playbills, fighting for space with the other local businesses that sought to reach McDonogh families. The 1938 show had a total operating budget of $2,350 and saw a return of $8,431 (equivalent to $50,650 and $181,384 today.)
As the shows expanded to include more and more of the student body, questions began to swirl among the families and faculty. No one could deny that the Varieties were a rousing success and a significant source of fundraising, but some questioned how theater performances could be compatible with McDonogh’s mission. In the lead-up to the 1938 show, Headmaster Louis E. Lamborn (1926-1952) penned a letter to the community addressing the concerns. Lamborn dismissed these questions entirely, arguing that practice and preparation for the Orange and Black Varieties took place outside of educational time and did not impede on academic pursuits. In refuting the idea that theater had no place at McDonogh, Lamborn pointed out that singing, dancing, and acting were secondary to the advancement of the core ideals of McDonogh, stating, “The revue does not lay claim to merit because of the excellence of the singing nor the grace of the dancing, nor yet the humor of the comedy sketches, but rather because of the lessons it teaches the young cadets, lessons of team-play, cooperation, precision, promptness, self-assurance, and poise.”
Lamborn called on the faculty and parents to think of the stages of development through which the students would have passed to grow into their roles both behind the scenes and on the stage. He closed his letter by noting that John McDonogh had hoped that the influence of the school would be felt through the lives of the students and thus McDonogh had an obligation to build well-rounded, confident, and poised students who were prepared to carry the legacy of McDonogh forward.
The Orange and Black Varieties ended its run in 1943 not because of pushback, but because of America’s entry into World War II. Lacking both time and money, the 1943 show was significantly stripped down with the production referred to as the Rationed Varieties due to the rationing of timber, metal, and cloth as well as wartime production quotas. McDonogh’s students shifted their focus to selling war bonds, producing materials for the United States Army Signal Corps in the wood and machine shops, and engaging in military drills. As a result, the student body found it nearly impossible to devote their time to extracurricular activities including the show. Although the students involved tried their best to raise the spirits of their schoolmates and the community as best they could, the Rationed Varieties, draped in patriotism, lacked the pomp of previous iterations. The reality of war left America with limited access to goods and materials and so, the Orange and Black Varieties were put on hold until sunnier days. But the show did not return after the war ended.
In celebration of McDonogh School’s 150th Anniversary, Home Again, an original arts performance, will be performed as an homage to the Orange and Black Varieties on Thursday, November 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ceres M. Horn Theatre.
