Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War

Before disbanding in the early s, the Dumbells undertook twelve national tours in fourteen years, playing close to shows in communities large and small p.

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The appendices contain the demanding tour itineraries and list the sheet music and recordings released in the years following the Armistice, testaments to the immense cultural legacy of the concert party in general and the Dumbells in particular in the inter-war period. A splinter group, the Originals, also toured between , and they are briefly acknowledged pp. It is not only here that the opportunity is missed to explore the cultural aspects of the Canadian concert party as, perhaps unfortunately, it is in the cultural analysis that this work fails to deliver on its considerable promise.

Wilson begins with the British music hall tradition and an explanation of the difference between the satyrical adaptations of well-known songs sung at the front and the patriotic sentimentality of those popular at home p. This discussion is separated by several chapters from the presentation of material performed by Canadian concert parties, where a few examples of this kind of adaptation are given pp.

The lyrics quoted and the description of concert party skits are limited—halmost an equal If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution that supports Shibboleth authentication or have your own login and password to Project MUSE, click 'Authenticate'. View freely available titles: The group also managed a run in London's West End and became the first ever Canadian production to score a hit on Broadway.

Touring Canada for some twelve years after the war, the Dumbells became a household name and made more than twenty-five audio recordings. If nationhood was won on the crest of Vimy Ridge, it was the Dumbells who provided the country with its earliest soundtrack. Pioneers of sketch comedy, the Dumbells are as important to the history of Canadian theatre as they are to the cultural history of early-twentieth-century Canada.

The Best Books of Check out the top books of the year on our page Best Books of Looking for beautiful books? Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more. Table of contents Table of Contents for Soldiers of Song: Review quote "The Great War is remembered as a terrible and senseless conflict where a generation was put through the sausage-grinder of stalemate and slaughter.

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Nine million were killed, including more than sixty thousand Canadians. The civilian soldiers who formed the ranks of all armies suffered under terrible strain, but they found coping mechanisms in the midst of destruction. Laughter, humour, pranks, and songs helped them to endure.

Meanwhile, behind the lines, concert and theatre groups offered humourous skits and performances to bolster morale. In Soldiers of Song Jason Wilson has produced a groundbreaking study of these concert parties, with a focus on the most successful of them, the Dumbells. The sound of gunfire nearby was commonplace. Often, especially at the front, they performed under a marquee tent.

Sometimes they got to play in a full-scale theatre, as in October when they played at the spanking new Pavillion Theatre at the Canadian Corps Training School. Ted Charter, Dumbells' assistant manager, delivering his "sermon". Concert parties transported their pianos to each concert, including outdoor locations like this one. After these early shows, the members of the Dumbells were scheduled to return to their units, but on a recommendation from Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton Gault, General Lipsett indicated he would be pleased if the men could be attached indefinitely to the vital work of building the troops' morale.

The members of the Dumbells did not return to the front lines except as entertainers, but did on occasion carry stretchers to help the wounded. Members of other concert parties were not always so lucky. Members of the Princess Pat's Comedy Company, for example, were called back to the lines in June and several were seriously wounded, including Leonard Young, who lost a leg but returned to work with the Dumbells after convalescing.

Soldiers of Song : The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War

Christmas found the Dumbells playing to wounded soldiers and the medical staff at an army hospital ward in France. They continued to entertain through the German offensive in spring of They were once again on the point of being returned to active service when General Lipsett sent another message recognizing the importance of the Dumbells' efforts: By July 1, , in response to demands for more and more shows, Mert Plunkett had reorganized the troupe from eight members to 15, many of whom, such as Red Newman of the Y Emmas, were stars with other concert parties.

Mert Plunkett arranged for the troupe to present their show in London, England the next month. They played first at the Beaver Hut, the Canadian Army rendezvous centre, then at the Victoria Palace, and culminated with a four-week run at the London Coliseum the largest vaudeville theatre in London , no small coup for a group of amateur soldier-entertainers.

This was the first time the Dumbells received pay as professional entertainers in addition to their army pay.

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It should, however, be noted that the Dumbells were not the first Canadian concert party to play London. The Princess Pat's Comedy Company had done so shortly before. Sheet music of "Oh!

The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War

It's a Lovely War". The Dumbells' run in London was so successful - they were more popular than the famed Russian Ballet under Sergei Diaghilev - that theatre companies offered several of the soldier-singers contracts; but, to a man, they preferred to stay with their unit. The complete group therefore returned to the front, this time the Hindenburg Line, where Canadian troops were fighting.

The considerable profits they had made in London financed their shows during the remaining months of the war. At Armistice, November 11, , the Dumbells underwent a further amalgamation when they were merged with the Princess Pat's Comedy Company into one large company to provide entertainment during the lengthy demobilization. They presented the musical at Mons, Belgium, that same month, and also in Brussels for King Albert of Belgium, who presented Captain Plunkett with a medal in recognition of the troupe's charity performances.

The Dumbells continued to play shows as Canadian troops were reorganized and returned to England and Canada. The Army, recognizing the calibre of the Dumbells' individual and collective talents, offered them the opportunity to tour Canada for the Red Cross. Again, the men declined an attractive offer; they had already decided to tour in Canada as professional entertainers, not as soldiers.

Finally, in , Al Plunkett, Jack Ayre, Ross Hamilton and Bill Tennent boarded ship for home, and gave one last show during the crossing before their days as an army concert party ended. The Dumbells' shows provided something for every soldier, from funny skits to sentimental ballads, and a style that ranged from rowdy to suave. Al Plunkett later explained the Dumbells phenomenon: They were not 'born in a trunk' ….

Soldiers of Song: a tribute to the Dumbells | Jason Wilson - Soldiers of Song

They were ordinary individuals having some gift or talent which had been brought forward as a result of the entertainment demands of wartime. The Famous Dumbell , p. To Canadians who remembered the Great War, the Dumbells ranked alongside the poppy as the most important reminders of the efforts of Canadian soldiers in Europe. When the Dumbells concert party shipped home to Canada in , they decided to capitalize on their wartime success entertaining Canadian troops by setting up their own professional touring variety show.

They created new shows for former soldiers and their families, this time without the worry of live shells falling on their stage, and in so doing launched a Canadian show-business phenomenon that was to last through 12 cross-Canada tours until Mert Plunkett, the Dumbells' impresario-manager, and his brother Al Plunkett, the singer and actor, began planning for their new venture as civilians immediately upon arriving back home in Orillia, Ontario in the summer of Mert Plunkett continued as general manager, and arranged financial backing for the expenses of putting on the professional stage show, which included upgraded sets, costumes, curtains, and props.

After a scant few months of planning and rehearsals, and previews in Owen Sound and London, Ontario, the Dumbells' first professional tour opened in Toronto on October 1, Dumbells member Bert Langley.

The Dumbells

Audiences in Canada loved the Dumbells' new act because it finally gave them a chance to see the famous wartime soldier-singers that their own "boys" had spoken of. And for former soldiers, the new variety show was a reminder of the happier side of life in the Army. As a program for the Dumbells revue Biff, Bing, Bang stated, "To those at home who so often wonder 'what is he doing? To those who were there, who found momentary forgetfulness of their troubles … the picture will perhaps bring memories of some of the things that helped them forget what had been yesterday and what was to be tomorrow.