Hoagy Carmichael was still a few years from stardom in the early 1920s when he and his friends from Indiana University would travel from the Bloomington campus to a Columbus roadhouse for weekend entertainment on what is today Two Mile House Road.
Longtime local musician Tom Pickett is fairly certain Carmichael, then an IU law student, crooned a few tunes there in those early days.
“I feel like he certainly did, but I can find no proof,” said Pickett.
Pickett will present those and other bits of trivia and history when he joins longtime local soprano Camilla Gehring and Shelbyville pianist Denise Tinsley-White for a tribute to Carmichael in story and song at the Donner Park Variety Show at 7 p.m. Saturday at the park shelter house near 19th and Lafayette streets. That presentation will be the headlining portion of the free gathering that also will feature the Southern Indiana Taiko Drummers and country singer Charlie Moore.
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Pickett hatched the idea for the Carmichael act, and also the bit about including a few local angles. He paused a beat when asked if his idea will be a hit. He acknowledged that the well-known Gehring is a hit with a strong following.
But he’s not so certain about his own standing, which triggered his dry wit.
“Well, I hope people don’t walk out,” he said.
Pickett was kidding. He is so popular that when he performed at the annual American Pie concert in 2015 among high school students, he earned a raucous ovation from a full house of 1,000 people when he performed a breezy version of the 1920s hit “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue.”
Margaret Powers, executive director of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, will serve as master of ceremonies.
For the final show of the season on Sept. 22, local singer Tony London and a group of his music buddies will once again close out the variety show season as they did last year before a full house of about 300 people. Also on the schedule are choir director Kathy Dell’s Parkside Stage Star Singers and Columbus North High School’s 25th Street Singers, under the direction of Alex Baker.
The series is enjoying the 21st anniversary of its revival. The Columbus Evening Kiwanis Club, WCSI Radio and Columbus Parks and Recreation Department sponsor the series.
The shows began in 1926 but reached a peak of popularity in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Area singers, musicians, dancers, bands and other performers entertained in an age before, and infancy of, TV or air-conditioning. The shows ended for a number of years before Kiwanians revived them in 1997.
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What: Donner Park Variety Shows for August and September.
When: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday and also Sept. 22. Rain or shine.
Where: Donner Park shelter house near 19th and Lafayette streets in Columbus.
Headliners: Saturday — Soprano Camilla Gehring and pianist Denise Tinsley-White with Tom Pickett as narrator as they present a tribute to Hoagy Carmichael in story and song. Sept. 22 — Columbus singer Tony London and friends performing pop-rock favorites.
Admission: Free.
Information: Tom Pickett’s Music Center at 812-372-6700.
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