Cam Floria

RECOLLECTIONS

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

“ON HITLER’S STAGE…”

By Ken Waggoner, Continentals Singers Director

When we grew from one group to three in l968, Ken Waggoner was one of the three Directors.  He and his wife, Nancy, had a great Continental career and spent much of their adult life in leadership on the road and as part of the office team in Southern California.

JUST PRODUCING MY ASSETS

In 1970, the city of Berlin was still deep inside Communist East Germany.  It was a bit surreal for our Continental Singers group to consider our surroundings as we flew into historic Tempelhof airport to perform a Christian concert.  The slightly out of place feeling only deepened when we saw our concert venue: a large outdoor amphitheater that had been built in the 1930’s and was the site of some of Adolf Hitler’s dramatic, hysteria-inducing speeches which must still be echoing somewhere all around us.

The stage was massive—our large 40-member group actually shrank in size and looked very small up there!  At the back of the stage stood a tall granite slab, probably 40 feet tall and partway up that slab, a few feet above the main stage, a small platform jutted out. 

I COULD SEE HIM STANDING THERE IN MY MIND….THE LITTLE MUSTACHE UNDER HIS NOSE FLINCHING WITH EACH MESMERIZING GESTURE, THE AUDIENCE BEYOND AT ATTENTION WAITING TO BURST OUT IN CRAZIED APPLAUSE.   

There was also an entrance just behind for him to make his appearance at just the right time!  It occurred to me that the platform was also just about the right size to fit our drummer’s set!

Our drummer that year was a gregarious teenager named Lynn Coulter.  By nature, he was a “flash and dash” kind of guy.  He was incredibly creative and-given the chance- could dazzle an audience.  Of course, he didn’t get that chance very often because he was the drummer. He had to keep himself in check most of the time so our audiences would have a chance to hear the vocal group in those overly acoustic church buildings!

But, I thought this might be the perfect time to let him loose.  There was a place in the middle of one of our up-tempo songs I decided would be a great spot for a drum solo.  So, I told him when he got to that spot to just “go for it and see what happens”.

He did!  It was probably 3 minutes long (the song was probably only 4) and after 50 years, maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I sure remember the audience reaction.  As soon as both sticks came crashing down on that last drum for his dramatic ending, they went crazy! They were on their feet whistling and yelling, and the applause went on and on and on for at least as long as his drum solo had lasted.  Lynn stood tall and was all smiles… me, too… a moment of exhilaration and real pleasure.

Cam always told the Directors to “produce your assets”.  In other words, if you’ve got someone on your tour who has a special talent, USE IT!   Find a way to let your audience enjoy them by adding some extra excitement to the concert program experience.  That was one night we did exactly that!


Ken Waggoner, Continentals Singers Director

• Tour participant:  1963 – ‘65
• Directed CS tours:   1968 – 1977
• Worked in the CS office:  1974 – 1987
• Have lived in Colorado Springs since 1991
• Currently semi-retired, working part time (IT-related)
• Enjoying singing in a great church choir