The stylized sets, with their treacly lighting, have the charm and artificiality of a high-school musical done on the cheap. Nothing on Welk’s stage was ever worn or moody-or remotely realistic-again. After the shift to color, Welk abandoned the period-precision costumes, props, and sets, making way for something completely and unnaturally vibrant. But all of this made for a kind of tired, familiar blandness, the type of sets viewers had seen on many other shows. #Lawrence welk cast on first show full#In another episode, Pat Boone croons “Moody River” before a set full of trees, rolling mists, and dense vegetation. In one episode, Norma Zimmer wears an elaborate gypsy costume as she sings in front of a beaten-up covered wagon. While willfully eccentric in their own way, these earlier shows suffer from a desire to make the performers’ outfits and the sets, which often changed dramatically from song to song, appear, at least by Welk standards, realistic. U ntil 1965, The Lawrence Welk Show was filmed in black and white. His was a sealed-off, accident-free utopia sound-tracked by an endless supply of what the maestro called “champagne music.” Once a week, Welk presented viewers with one of the most otherworldly-and most underappreciated-psychedelic chiffon musical paradises ever seen on TV. Welk’s hour-long world-with its smiling singers, brightly colored sets, color-coordinated male and female outfits, and flawless band performances-had none of this stress. And even variety-show staples like plate-spinners and knife-throwers brought with them the tense possibility of unintended spills. You couldn’t watch the Doors or the Stones on Sullivan’s show-then or now-without being reminded of the countercultural turmoil that raged beyond the screen. #Lawrence welk cast on first show tv#In this way, The Lawrence Welk Show distinguished itself from competing TV variety hours such as The Ed Sullivan Show, which invited in, as a matter of regular programming, the conflicts of the outside world. Any simulation of people actually working to create this effect would have been at odds with the Eden that Welk strived to create for his viewers: a place of organic effortlessness and beauty where troubles, backstage or otherwise, are nowhere to be seen. He knew they wanted to escape even deeper into his chiffon world, a place where everything and everyone wears a veneer of unfettered ease, even in the off-hours. Despite the title, viewers didn’t see musicians rehearsing, sets being assembled, mistakes, retakes, and frustrated a capella singers-instead they saw more of the same polished songs and dances they saw every week. Or maybe you fell for Bobby Burgess' three dancing partners, Barbara Boylan, Cissy King and Elaine Balden?Īnd of course, the many fine soloists like Natalie Nevins and Kathie Sullivan is your preferred choice.īut I will betcha that while many of you have favorites, you really love them all.A 1 981 episode of The Lawrence Welk Show called “Backstage with Our Musical Family” promised a behind-the-scenes peek at Welk’s impossibly wholesome cast as they readied for a performance. Perhaps you fancy the funky Latin harmonies of the Maestro's Mexican senorita Anacani, our you maybe just a little bit' country first with Lynn Anderson and later Ava Barber. Many of you are Sandi Griffths fans, whether she teamed with Sally Flynn as 'Sandi & Sally' or with Gail Farrell and Mary Lou Metzger as the trio of Sandi, Gail and Mary Lou. Whether it's the Champagne Ladies of Alice Lon and later Norma Zimmer (or even Jayne Walton, Lois Best, Helen Ramsey and Roberta Linn from way back!), the talented sister acts of the Lennon Sisters, Semonski Sisters and Aldridge Sisters, the honky-tonk piano stylings of Jo Ann Castle or the vocal talents of Ralna English (of Guy & Ralna), the ladies of the Welk Musical Family have something for everybody. They come from all parts of the USA, each of them different and unique and very talented. Of course they include the Maestro himself, the Champagne Music and its music makers and the colorful sets and costumes they wore and that's very true.īut you can make the case that the lovely and talented ladies featured on the show have a huge part in why we watch! Throughout the more than fifty years the Lawrence Welk show has been on television starting out on local station KTLA in 1951, then nationwide on ABC in 1955 followed by syndication in 1971 and later on public television from 1987 to this day, several factors have contributed the show's enduring success and popularity.
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