As Artistic Director for the March 2027 Variety Show, American Bandstand Rewind, I invite the musically talented members of SaddleBrooke to audition on Tuesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 12 in the DesertView Performing Arts Center. All the specific details about the audition process, rehearsal schedule and performance times, along with the 24 songs in the show can be found on our website at saddlebrookevarietyshow.org.
So many of us grew up learning about the newest hit songs and dances by tuning in to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Originally a local television show from Philadelphia, the show went national on August 5, 1957. Some performers appeared on the show to promote their new songs, lip-synching to their tracks, while other songs were used for dancing on the show. Teens who appeared in the dancing numbers soon became popular, too, as the television audience wanted to know who they were dating and which dancing couples were the best at the new dances that soon came about.
Do you remember the Jitterbug, the Stroll, the Hand Jive from the 1950s? How about the Twist, the Frug, the Mashed Potatoes, the Pony, and the Jerk from the 1960s? If you’re a younger SaddleBrooker, then you probably remember the dances of the 1970s like the Hustle, the Bump, the Electric Slide, or the Funky Chicken or the 1980s dance crazes of Breakdancing, Moonwalking, the Running Man or the hand movements of Voguing. Needless to say, we hope there are dancers out there who want to audition and strut their stuff on our stage.
There are plenty of vocal music numbers offered from the four decades: Connie Francis, Paul Anka, Little Peggy March, Etta James, Bobby Darin, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Rick Springfield, Cyndi Lauper along with group numbers like Peter, Paul, and Mary, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Santo & Johnny, with medleys from Motown, The Beach Boys, 60s & 80s Girl Groups, the Coasters and more. Instrumentalists also are offered some numbers, too!
Check out our website above and see what songs may appeal to you as singers, dancers and instrumentalists. And if you don’t want to be involved with performing the music, we need two emcees to bring the show together with a script and visuals that will tell the story about American Bandstand and its perennial teenager, Dick Clark. Hope to see you at auditions in November!
