Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War
By Jason Wilson
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About this ebook
The seeds of irreverent humour that inspired the likes of Wayne and Shuster and Monty Python were sown in the trenches of the First World War, and The Dumbells—concert parties made up of fighting soldiers—were central to this process. Soldiers of Song tells their story.
Lucky soldiers who could sing a song, perform a skit, or pass as a “lady,” were taken from the line and put onstage for the benefit of their soldier-audiences. The intent was to bolster morale and thereby help soldiers survive the war.
The Dumbells’ popularity was not limited to troop shows along the trenches. The group also managed a run in London’s West End and became the first ever Canadian production to score a hit on Broadway. Touring Canada for some twelve years after the war, the Dumbells became a household name and made more than twenty-five audio recordings. If nationhood was won on the crest of Vimy Ridge, it was the Dumbells who provided the country with its earliest soundtrack. Pioneers of sketch comedy, the Dumbells are as important to the history of Canadian theatre as they are to the cultural history of early-twentieth-century Canada.
Jason Wilson
Jason Wilson is the director of the Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy and the author of Cry Like a Man and Battle Cry. He received the President's Volunteer Service Award from President Obama and acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne executive produced an award-winning ESPN Films documentary about Jason's transformative work with boys, titled The Cave of Adullam. Jason has over twenty-seven years of martial arts experience and more than seventeen years dedicated to the development of African American males. He is a man of the Most High, a faithful husband for over twenty-five years, and a devoted father of two beautiful children.
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