Roadshows. Will they ever become the norm again in LDS wards?

Growing up in California, in my stake and ward the “roadshow” was a BIG DEAL. Months were spent preparing for a long night of a play and short acts.

I was quite young the first time I watched a roadshow. I can’t recall the main play, but I’ll never forget the Olio act (At that young age I heard it as the “Oreo Act.”) A young woman in our ward belted — and I mean belted — out a mean rendition of “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company C.” Because of the act, I actually enjoy the song, and even find myself occasionally whistling the tune.

Going to the roadshow was always an enjoyable event. There were hundreds of Southern California members, crammed into the cultural hall, metal chairs set up in rows over the basketball court facing the stage, with the basketball hoop lifted up out of the way of spectators.

I was never in the main part of a roadshow, but I once wrote an starred in a short one-act play that I wrote. It was about Dracula going out for a late dinner and discovering that he had accidentally walked out into the middle of an eclipse. (I digress here to confess that I more or less stole the idea from a Woody Allen work in a book. Since I was about 13, did not know copyright laws, and my “play” played once for free and no longer exists, I hope forgiving readers will consider it an homage and not plagiarism.) 

Anyways, I got to die at the end and that was cool.

Later, as roadshows started to decline in ubiquity, our stake decided to have wards make silent movies. I got to write a comedy script about a sheriff who protects a town from a bad guy. I played the bad guy. The sheriff was inept; his girlfriend was the “crack shot” who saved the day at the end. It was fun; a real salute to the old silent comedians. still have a copy of the movie, filmed at an abandoned horse racing track. It's on Facebook here.

I hope roadshows become popular again in my stake. I know they still are in some wards and stakes because I can locate some on YouTube, a luxury we did not have in the 1970s and 1980s. 

The last roadshow I recall seeing featured my Long Beach, Calif. ward bishopric. The play was titled “It Came to Pass.” Our bishop and counselors entered the stage dressed in their Sunday best. They solemnly intoned, “it came to pass. It came to pass. It came to pass.” 

Then they quickly shed their pants, shirt, ties and suit coats to reveal athletic sweats underneath. The trio moved into a modified football formation. One counselor hiked a football to the bishop. The other counselor ran a pass pattern into the audience. The bishop threw him a pass. I can’t recall if he caught it.

Maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea in the world to bring back the roadshow. 😊

-- Doug Gibson

--- Originally published at StandardNET