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Concerts and Plays, 1952 -1956

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The Concerts

Scroll down on this page to see the First Music Concert and historic photos and documents
of The Rocket Choir's 1956 Tour and appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Click here to read the 1956 Rocket Choir Trip Diary-Summary

Thanks to Diane Pettingel Staes for the program above.

Photo above from the 1956 Lagoon yearbook. The photo was probably taken in November, 1955.
The highlight of the Rocket Choir's 1956 year was the Eastern tour in May. They sang in Washinton, D.C., for
the International Convention of B'nai B'rith, and the biggest thrill -- A TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Jay Hoel, Choir Director
      Bob Wainwright, Senior Manager
    Tony Petullo, Junior Manager
     Rosalie Cottingham, Secretary

Thanks to Sharon Heald for this very special photo of the Rocket Choir Trip to Washington DC in 1956.

The Rich High "Singing Rockets" Choir Tour of 1956

                      The Schedule    (Partial)
Thursday, May 3, at 9:45 AM: Board buses at school for parade through Park Forest to the Matteson train station.
Train departure at 10:30 for Washington, with a stop-over at Cincinnati..
Friday, May 4, at 9:10 AM: Arrival in Washington, D.C.-- Performance on the steps of the Capitol and sightseeing
Saturday, May 5: Departure for New York, and sightseeing
Sunday, May 6: Rehearsal for the Ed Sullivan Show -- Appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, followed by a dinner
      party at the Californian restaurant.
Monday, May 7:   Return to Washington, D.C. -- Performance at Howard University
Tuesday, May 8: Sightseeing in Virginia -- Performance at Bnai B'rith International banquet
Wednsday, May 9: Train departure for Chicago.
Thursday, May 10: Arrival. Back to classes at school.

Under the direction of W. Jay Hoel, teacher of vocal music, the choir was
composed of nearly seventy sophomores, juniors and seniors. The Choir
officers were: Bob Wainwright - Senior manager, Tony Petullo - Junior manager,
and Rosalie Cottingham - Secretary.

The Choir had made a number of appearances in the Chicago area during the
academic year. The Spring Tour had been planned for many months, and funds for
the tour had been accumulated through various fund-raising campaigns and performances.
The unexpected and unusual aspect of the tour was the Choir's appearance on
"The Ed Sullivan Show", the most popular variety show on television at that time, and
a Sunday night ritual in most American homes. How that extraordinary occasion came
about is described in a summary below, based on Mr. James Patterson's Oral History
transcript of 1980 for the Park Forest Public Library's Oral History Project.
James Patterson was a member of the first Rich Township High School Board of Education.

The Summary:
Various people had been trying for some time to get the choir on national
television. The executive producer of the Sullivan show had told Mr.
Patterson that their policy was to invite NO high school groups - not even
Mr. Sullivan's high school. Mr. Patterson refused to give up, and some time
later, when he saw that Ed Sullivan was coming to Chicago, Patterson sent him
a telegram from his company saying he had an important matter to discuss.
There was no response, and when he called Sullivan's hotel, they refused to
put him through to Ed Sullivan. He replied, "Well, Mr. Sullivan is expecting
my call." (which was the truth if Sullivan had indeed read the telegram). The
tactic worked, and Patterson was put through. After half a minute of fast
talking, he heard Ed Sullivan say, "Fine, we'll take them." Patterson had
not really gotten started developing his arguments, but he stopped
immediately, thanked Sullivan, and hung up. He then called his secretary and
dictated an acceptance letter, confirming the telephone conversation and the
appearance of the Choir on the show. When the executive producer he had
spoken to earlier learned of it, he was very upset, "but we held him to Mr.
Sullivan's promise."

Here is Mr. Patterson's description of the grand tour that had been organized
for the Choir: "They went to Washington. They were greeted on the Capitol
steps by Vice-President Nixon and Congressman McVey, who was our Congressman.
He has formerly been the superintendent of Thornton High School, so he was
very education-minded. They shared the entertainment at a dinner in
Washington where Eisenhower and chiefs-of-state were present. The only other
entertainment was the United States Marine Band. So our kids really had a
ball. Phil Klutznick arranged for a splash party in the Shoreham Hotel and we
had them sing before the United Nations in New York and then they appeared on
the Toast of the Town show. The Board gathered in the Home Economics
Department over at Rich High and watched [the Ed Sullivan Show] on
television, and I'll bet you every television set in Park Foest was tuned to
Ed Sullivan that Sunday night. We were certainly proud of our kids."

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