We lost two Disneyland icons last Friday and they both died on the same day. The show was "The Golden Horseshoe Revue" and the performers were Wally Boag (my comedic hero) and his lovely and wonderful co-star, Betty Taylor. I used to love going to see this show every time I went to Disneyland. When I was a kid, I had written a Walt Disney tribute poem and got to know a man by the name of Robert Lilienwall. Bob was always so super to me and he always would call down to the Horseshoe to get me reserved seats for that day's performance. Without those reservations, guests would wait for two hours in line. Wally was a brilliant comedian who had the most amazing comic timing of all time. Walt Disney personally signed Wally for a two week contract way back in 1955. That grew to a gig that lasted until 1982 or almost thirty years. Betty was a beautiful and amazing entertainer who can really sing a wonderful song. In the show Wally (who played Pecos Bill) was supposed to Betty's boyfriend. The routine was as flawless and Abbott and Costello's classic "Who's on First!" Wally was also the voice of Jose, the parrot in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room", the very first Audio animatronic attraction at Disneyland. We've created a new poster for our latest musical "Father Dreamer" which joins our incredible roster of thirty original musicals in our Creative Horizons catalog. Today is also a milestone in entertainment because forty years ago, today, the last "Ed Sullivan Show" was broadcast on CBS.Sunday nights, 8:00 pm, CBS. Ask almost any American born in the 1950's or earlier what television program ran in that time slot on that network, and they'll probably know the answer: The Ed Sullivan Show. For more than two decades, Sullivan's variety show was the premiere television showcase for entertainers of all stripes, including borscht-belt comedians, plate-spinning vaudeville throwbacks and, most significantly, some of the biggest and most current names in rock and roll. Twenty-three years after its 1948 premiere, The Ed Sullivan Show had its final broadcast on this day in 1971. In its first eight years of existence, there was no such thing as rock and roll to be featured on the program originally called Toast of the Town, yet even its first broadcast made music history when Broadway composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II gave the world its first taste of the score from their upcoming musical, South Pacific. Over the years, live performances of new and current Broadway shows were featured regularly on Ed Sullivan, including Julie Andrews singing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" from My Fair Lady and Richard Burton singing "What Do The Simple Folk Do?" from Camelot. Classical and opera performers also made frequent appearances, but of course The Ed Sullivan Show is now remembered most for providing so many iconic moments in the history of televised rock and roll. Elvis Presley's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, in September 1956, was actually one of his most restrained and least thrilling. It was notable, however, given Ed Sullivan's assertion earlier that year that he'd never allow "The King" on his show. By the time the Beatles rolled around, Sullivan was far more comfortable with the hysteria young Elvis had caused. In fact, it was Ed Sullivan personally witnessing Beatlemania up close at London's Heathrow airport in 1963 that led the Beatles being booked for their historic February 1964 American television debut. Through the rest of the 60s, The Ed Sullivan Show continued to host the day's biggest rock acts: The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Doors, The Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin and more. Gladys Knight and the Pips were the musical guests on the final episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, which was cancelled shortly after its rerun broadcast on this day in 1971.
