West Ashley’s Music Man

On December 12, 1941, the students of St. Andrew’s Parish High School performed Blitzkrieg – A Musical Revue under the direction of their faculty advisor, E. Bernard Hester. This was just the first of Hester’s many musicals. Known to his students as “Fess,” short for Professor, Hester honed his directing skills through his acting in Footlight plays.
Hester’s summers would be spent in New York City taking in the latest shows on Broadway. He would return to Charleston with ideas and enthusiasm for organizing large-scale productions. His enthusiasm was infectious and during the spring of most school years the members of the Dramatic Club, later known as the Players’ Club, would entertain the community as if they were on Broadway.
“We were Glee before there was Glee,” recounts Stella Milton Kearse.
Showtime (1945), Curtain Time (1947), Encore (1956), Two on the Aisle (1957), Showtime on Broadway (1963), Broadway Melody (1964),New York, New York (1965), and Show Business are just some of the names of programs produced during Hester’s tenure as faculty advisor to the club.
Open a dialogue with any St. Andrew’s Parish High School alumni about Hester’s musicals and adoration is what you hear. His students have fond memories and great stories of their time under his leadership and tutelage. With his guidance, the students came up with the ideas, choreographed the numbers, designed costumes, practiced, smiled, and put on quite a show in the school auditorium. They were huge successes with the students’ enthusiasm for “Fess” and the whole experience reflected in each production. In addition to the students who sang and danced on stage, there was a whole production staff: stage assistants, spotlight controllers, scenery constructors, ushers, musicians, and program designers.
It might have been hard to find the student who was not involved at some level in each show. (The Dramatic Club of 1943 listed 42 members. The high school population was approximately 143.) Every alumni has a personal story about these musical revues and the memorabilia would fill several scrapbooks.
There are tattered programs with signatures and comments of the cast, programs with Hester’s direction notes, photographs, newspaper articles, reviews, and tickets. In 1945 and 1947 admission for students was 35 cents and for adults was 50 cents. Words like “capacity audience”, “elaborate costumes”, “precision dancing,” and “well-polished show” were used in the newspaper articles describing the shows. The community anticipated theses shows in the spring and the students delivered thanks to Mr. Hester.
Donna Jacobs is the author of “Byrnes Downs” and “West Ashley” and is continuing her research on the transition of St. Andrew’s Parish from an agrarian community to the suburbs of today. She loves to listen to stories, contact her at westashleybook@gmail.com