'Pinocchio' And Osmond Brothers - And Then Came Lunch
August 1968
HOLMDEL – Pinocchio followed by the Osmond Brothers, followed by lunch. What a day for the kids.
Some 6,800 children – many of them having a first glance at green countryside far away from their city streets – attended the special free program yesterday morning for children at the Garden State Arts Center.
The entire southside parking area looked like a colorful array of giant hot dogs – the scores of busses which brought them from Jersey City, East Orange, Trenton, Newark, Passaic, Atlantic City and points north and south – on the parkway, of course.
They laughed at the mischievous puppet who becomes a real boy in the musical version of Pinocchio presented by big people for little people – the Yates Children’s Theatre.
Help Spin Tale
Lithe dancers and folk singers helped spin out the fairy tale in living color, accompanied by sounds from the audience munching away on assorted goodies and sweets.
But the munchers abandoned their wrappers for clapping with the singing Osmond Brothers who gave the program the special treat. The young group of singers who are appearing nightly this week with Andy Williams and Peter Nero (through Saturday) rocked through some numbers – topped off again by the youngest of the nine children of the Osmond family, four year old Jimmy.
His I Did Rock and Roll Music brought out the beat in the souls of the young folk in the audience – and the many adults who had accompanied their children –many for their first experience at show biz away from the TV tube. Shelly Saltman of the staff of the Andy Williams show was the M.C. for the Osmond portion of the program. He usually is in public relations – but this was his morning! He loved it – and so did the new fans, who no doubt will be watching for him on upcoming Williams’ shows.
For one and half hours the performers were wavers of a spell not soon to disappear. For Williams Yates, director-producer of the living theater for children, it was a return to the area. He first performed with his wife Peggy in 1958 in the Old Mill in Tinton Falls, where he gave performances and again at the Monmouth Shopping Center. The Yateses now reside in East Orange and have gained prominence for their plays for children in the New York area. |
