COHASSET — Liberace dazzled them with his diamonds and then took 20 fans out to dinner at Kimballs-by-the-Sea Motor Inn.
Bob Hope performed at the South Shore Music Circus more than 30 times in the 1970s and 1980s.
George Burns said he loved the rotating Music Circus stage because he could stand in one place and not break a sweat.
Carol Channing sent her motel bellhop a “gargantuan basket of fruit and two-page letter” to Mass. General Hospital after learning he was badly injured in a car accident.
Comedienne Totie Fields graced the stage in a shocking-pink Bob Mackie ensemble.
The roster of stars who have performed under the big top at the South Shore Music Circus could rival the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were big-time celebrities, lighting up a small-town stage. To see them perform at the vintage venue was a quintessential rite of summer on the South Shore.
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The cavalcade of stars began in 1951 as an outgrowth of the South Shore Players, a group of 55 thespians performing onstage at Town Hall. The first production, “Show Boat,” was held under the tent June 25, 1951, and tickets ranged from $1.20 to $3. Opening night attracted what was termed “important society, political and famous personages,” like former Gov. James M. Curley and his wife. Patrons were dressed to the nines and the Ledger would write about the "First Nighters" all decked out in "toppers, capes, stoles and furs." A Mrs. Maginnis wore a "white chiffon and white evening jacket."
Under the guidance of the late Ronald Rawson from 1968 to 1975, the Music Circus gained a reputation as the jewel of summer theater. As many as 200,000 patrons a year passed through its gates. Rawson shifted the venue’s focus from theater productions to concerts. Performers, audiences and critics praised its quality programming, meticulous maintenance and magnificent location.
The 2,300-seat theater in the round was cozy and intimate, the grounds were beautifully landscaped and the artists received amenities comparable with any major metropolitan theater, Robert J. Donovan wrote in the Ledger in 1994.
The Music Circus played host to weeklong shows, primarily Broadway musicals such as “Camelot” and “Carousel,” as well as special one- or two-night concerts featuring top stars.
Fields, who was used to playing packed houses in Las Vegas, was Rawson’s first big get in 1977. From there, other stars followed, top artists such as Anne Murray, Ginger Rogers, Harry Belafonte, Zero Mostel, Jerry Lewis, Johnny Mathis, Angela Lansbury, Rosemary Clooney, Debbie Reynolds, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Mitzy Gaynor, Perry Como, Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby, The Osmond Family and Dolly Parton.
“It was a blast. People stayed for a while, so by the end of the week you got to know them well,” Scott Klingeman told the Ledger in 2008. He worked at the Music Circus for 30 years and got to know Liberace and Rosemary Clooney during his tenure. “(Some) felt almost like family. I have very fond memories of those days,” he said.
Seventy seasons have flown by fast. Today, you’ll see the likes of Willie Nelson, who played there nine years straight, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Melissa Etheridge, Crosby Stills & Nash, Alice Cooper, Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis and local blues star, Susan Tedeschi. All those shows happened under the watch of general manager Vincent Longo, who has been at the helm since 1993.
Longo said his all-time favorite was The Kinks. “It was probably the best show we ever had,” he said. “Their show was so unbelievable and just so exciting that nobody’s seats were used. That crowd was just hovering on the glow of the music both nights."
From fetching Cosby at the airport to minding Tom Brady’s date, to stopping a stage crasher trying to dance with Joe co*cker, Longo has seen it all in his 28 years.
“Brady came one night and was sitting in the VIP seats. “He had a date with him and for whatever reason she wasn’t into the show. She came back to the dressing room area and Tom asked me if I could chat with her for a while so he could go back to the concert. It wasn’t Giselle and it wasn’t Bridget Moynihan, but it was a very attractive young lady, so I had a very nice time entertaining Tom’s date. That’s a story I still love to tell.”
Longo said they never learned the identity of the woman who jumped onstage during co*cker’s show. “Our security guys had trouble corralling her, so I went up and took her by the arm — and she was rock-solid. We never got her off, and it turned out she was from Sweden and claimed to know Joe from his European tours. Joe and his band didn’t know her but she wouldn’t leave, even afterwards. She couldn’t speak English very well, and the guy she came with took off on us.”
Even though this 2020 season has been canceled, Longo promises the Music Circus will continue to dazzle audiences for many years to come.
“These stars keep coming back here because they love the venue," he said. "They get to a spot where they can play anywhere they want, and they keep coming here.”
Patriot Ledger music writer Jay N. Miller contributed to this report.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
This summer, we recall the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of bygone times as we share a collection of stories that revisit experiences and events that could only happen in our corner of the world.
This "Summer of Nostalgia" series will appear every Saturday until Labor Day. It’s the Ledger’s way of celebrating the season and saluting our spectacular South Shore. We hope you enjoy the pictures, the words and your summer.
