The president interrupted our show

President Clinton (the first one, depending on when you're reading this) was visiting an important donor who lived a 1/2 block for the school on the night of one of our Spring shows. Secret service was all over the area for the 72 hours up to the night of the performance. Traffic was completely re-routed away from our location. (The shows were always held in the gym, but I always renamed it the Theater & Dance building) Anyway, I had a buddy who was in the commercial voice-over business and he had a drop dead imitation of the prez. Here's the recording we made.

In the middle of the show the phone prop rings loudly and we play the recording over the PA. For weeks people asked me how I got the president to call. Believe it, or not, President Obama visited the same donor years later. It was around the time of our Spring concerts and I mentioned the Bill Clinton story to some of my younger colleagues. Oy veh!


Christopher Lasch was right in his book "The Culture of Narcissism" . Our society has no historical memory. That is especially true in schools. Colleges may have traditions in sports that they pass on some history to their fans, but most schools lack any historical memory of themselves. Probably because the faculties grow so young and aren't interested in what came before them. And the schools don't make any effort to share their own past. They're always trying to invent the wheel!