A Gala about Greatness?: LCA director reflects on the aftermath of the Roaring 20s, Prohibition, and the "Great Recession"

 I've been reading up on some of the interesting tidbits about the Depression era and the recent recession or "The Great Recession." There are of course many similarities in personal stories that touch us as we have seen so many people loose homes and livelihood through very unfair, and indeed illegal, practices in the business community. I recently watched both 99 Homes and The Big Short which reflected from different perspectives the issues surrounding the greatest failure in American economy in my lifetime. 

What does any of this have to do with the Lincoln Choral Artists and music? 

Our upcoming Gala, March 5 at the American Museum of Speed, has a theme called "A Great Gatsby Gala." Beyond a good alliteration, this title allows us to focus on music, composers, themes and ideas springing from the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.

Here are some tidbits about Prohibition:

Prohibition clearly benefited some people. Notorious bootlegger Al Capone made $60,000,000…that’s sixty million dollars…per year (untaxed!) while the average industrial worker earned less than $1,000 per year. But not everyone benefited. 

By the time Prohibition was repealed, nearly 800 gangsters in the City of Chicago alone had been killed in bootleg-related shootings. And, of course, thousands of citizens were killed, blinded, or paralyzed as a result of drinking contaminated bootleg alcohol. “Bathtub gin” got its name from the fact that alcohol, glycerin and juniper juice was mixed in bottles or jugs too tall to be filled with water from a sink tap so they were commonly filled under a bathtub tap.

Communities Named Prohibition ...
Prohibition, Missouri,
Prohibition, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
Prohibition, Ohio

Prohibition did many things to the country: some good most not so good. The good side it is ushered in a wave of social revolution with popularizing a new form of music (jazz), and a liberal fashion (the flapper). Women were “allowed” in bar/speakeasies for the first time. , dance became more expressive, and young and old alike held up a finger to authority as they drank illegal hooch in hidden clubs. Americans are rebels by definition: it is what our country was based on!

On the other side of the coin, the beginnings of an economic and political downturn began unmatched in our history. Poverty and unemployment were at an all time high. Moreover, spirit (not just the ones in the bottles) was at an all time low.

Another new phenomenon that happened during this time as well: the moving picture. Yes, dear friends, HOLLYWOOD!

Society and science came through together again with a new medium of social interaction that has influenced us in thought, lifestyle and propaganda. Hollywood latched on to the drinking culture, made it cool to drink, but also promoted our naivety of mixology and the Golden age of the cocktail culture. Just after the repeal in The Thin Man (circa 1934) William Powell as private investigator Nick Charles teaching a young bartender says, “The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” In “proper mixology”, the Manhattan and the Martini are never shaken, but he is right about the rhythm of the shake.
-www.prohibitionrepeal.com/history/fastfacts.asp-

When we decided to focus on a Literary character we were mirroring our focus from last year's theme, A Downton Abbey Gala.
We moved across the pond to a similar era and instead of TV fiction we are concerned with literary fiction.

Next week I will share some tidbits about "The Great Gatsby."

But as I reflect on this era I can't help but think about the the mix of consequences that arrive in any culture when a major focus of a period is based on extreme practices and motivations of any kind. Our nature as humans is to constantly flex between extremes it seems. We are now just recovering from one extreme, a second depression era. What will the next extreme be? I think some of the music you will experience at this concert will reflect extremes. Music can point out our failures and lift up our successes like few other mediums. I am so excited to share some of the both at our upcoming event. A Great Gatsby Gala

• Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 pm at Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed
• https://www.facebook.com/events/743227495804320/