Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300065
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
The day the head of Virginia Tech's music department told the New Virginians it looked like the show was over, there was silence in the large rehearsal room in Squires Student Center.Total silence.
"If you knew how much we usually talked . . .," said Melissa Mellon, a Tech senior who is in charge of promotions for the group. "It was one of the most emotional things I've ever been in in my life. There were people in tears. There were people mad."
The 78 students who put on this variety show remember red faces and white knuckles.
And they remember more than 20 years of sweat. Twenty years, said one student, of "singing and dancing and playing our hearts out."
The group is a legacy, said Todd Wetzel, a saxophone player from Macungie, Penn. "This is not just a hobby. We believe in what we're doing. The shows are out of our hearts. That's why the emotion was so strong that day."
And that's why the students are making an effort to try to save the group, though university administrators say funding cuts have forced them to stick with a decision to share the New Virginians' support staff with the rest of the music department starting in May.
"A member of our family died that day," Wetzel said. "But we've got him on life support, and we're going to bring him back."
The New Virginians have their roots in a male glee club, formed when Tech was a military-style school with no women in its ranks.
Stan Kingma was brought in as director and turned the group into The Tech Showmen, 60 singers in gold tuxedo jackets.
In 1972, when there were enough women at the university to even things out, the group became the New Virginians. The costumes changed: white turtlenecks and white pants for the guys; patriotic mini-skirts for the gals; and red and blue vests for everybody.
The group was created under the orders of then-president T. Marshall Hahn at a time when college students were seen nationwide as rebels and rabble-rousers. Hahn wanted a group that could spread good will.
"We were pretty popular," remembers Kingma. "We used to come to the [Roanoke] civic center for two sell-out shows a year."
The group played big halls and small towns.
While Kingma was in charge, the New Virginians appeared on the Dinah Shore Show and toured the country one quarter, singing everything from Broadway show tunes to country and pop music medleys.
The first album, recorded in the early '70s, included "Dixie," a salute to pop group Blood Sweat & Tears and a song from "Jesus Christ Superstar."
In 1977, the year after Elvis Presley died, a look-alike, sound-alike named Kevin Reynolds dressed in rhinestones for a tribute to the king.
"People would come running up to the stage, throwing things, like flowers," Kingma said.
That same year, the group did an old vaudeville duet, "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Knew I Was Lying All The Time," and, naturally, a little Barry Manilow.
Always, the centerpiece of the act was an up-with-America number.
"We tried to design a show to appeal to the audience," Kingma said. "We'd take very current music older people always criticized and arrange it in a palatable fashion."
When Kingma left and John Howell stepped in, the program changed, but the basics were the same. The group was still remaking pop music, turning Billy Joel songs into a medley, and creating a few original arrangements.
"We aren't a rock band," Howell said. "We can't make those sounds the way they do in the studio, so we don't try to. We make it ours."
There are some who would call this group outdated. Others, like Roanoker Roger Hodnett, say this is the last bit of family entertainment that here is.
"It's a nice, clean show," he says. "No four-letter words, lots of singing and dancing. People left the show feeling much better about everything. I've heard people say afterwards, `This is the kind of school where I'd send my child or grandchild.' "
Five members of the group gathered in the New Virginians office in Squires Student Center this week to talk about the announcement and making a case for their cause.
There had been hints that the group was no longer a priority in the music department, they said. Paul Breske, the group's accompanist and arranger since 1969, died a year ago. He was not replaced.
Still, the students were surprised when they learned just how serious their situation was.
A news release that said, in effect, the group would be disbanded due to ever-dwindling staff resources was released to the public this week.
It came after two years of thinking and rethinking the music department, said department head John Husser. "It was not a knee-jerk reaction, though I'm sure some people see it that way."
Husser said he's received letters from alumni about the need for the group. "What they say is true: That the New Virginians is a place where people learn poise and how to present themselves," he said.
"It's a very valuable thing. But I have to find a way of getting everything done in this department with minimal resources, and with good conscience, I can't keep using half of staff resources to support the group."
There are four staff members to help the faculty and 11 student ensembles, Husser said. The New Virginians use two of those, Spencer Allen, technical director, and a secretary, Lila Eakin. The group pays for its costumes, trips, lighting and equipment with the proceeds from its shows.
When a state budget shortfall left all departments dealing with less, the music department found itself in a tough spot. Faculty members were redefining the program, working on beefing up the technology for educating. Meanwhile, the chance of gaining new staff resources faded.
The allocations, Husser said, were out of balance.
The New Virginians feel they have a right to their staff members, in part because the group was formed before the music department.
But the group has always been a part of some department, Husser said. And when he went to the provost to discuss just which resources were his, he was told the group fell under his academic jurisdiction.
"The administration is sensitive to the fact that the New Virginians have been a kind of ambassador for the university in the past and that people have a nostalgia for them," said Larry Hincker, head of university relations at Tech. "But we have to make sure we're doing the right thing with popular music."
The New Virginians believe they are doing the right thing, visiting towns as Hokies, performing, and turning people on to Tech.
"It's been a good thing," Howell said. "People tell me that when your football team is 2 and 8, and your basketball team loses to Liberty, you need good PR."
Marvin McNeill, a trombone player from Christiansburg, had to be hauled to his first New Virginians show.
"I thought, `Oh, no, mom's dragging me to another concert. It's going to be like the Ice Capades.' "
But when he realized everyone playing was a student, McNeill started to respect the group.
There is even a small amount of fame, he has learned, that comes with being a part of the New Virginians.
Wetzel sometimes stands in front of the microphone with his sax, wondering how he ever got the chance to play to such a large audience.
"I just remember the magic," said Cathy Burnley, a singer and dancer who has admired the group since she 5 years old, growing up in King George. She and her sisters would run around with New Virginians Programs or albums, begging the performers to sign.
She thinks about that, when little kids walk up to her, program extended. "It seemed so untouchable to me at one time. When I got in, it was a dream-come-true type of thing."
It seems, now, that the dream is ending. Tech isn't sure what will happen next with the group.
Husser envisions something smaller, something flexible that can appear on a small stage or a big one.
"It won't be as glitzy," he said. "But it will be able to go places without having to have a stage that's a certain size or take a semi to carry it around."
But the New Virginians don't want to go on as a group if they can't maintain the professional quality they're known for, said Bob Edmison, a student leader of the technical staff.
"Even the best group in the country can't go on without leadership," added Charisse Hill, dance captain and a Tech senior in family and child development.
The students are still fighting.
A week ago, they sent a letter, written by Howell, talking about the situation and asking for alumni support.
They plan to pass out petitions at their 12 remaining shows.
And they plan to bring the administrators to the Feb. 19 show in the Roanoke Civic Center, to have them sit and mingle with the audience afterward.
The music department needs the positions it's pulling away from the New Virginians, Howell said. "There's no question. I just find it very sad that the only way they can do that is to dismantle a very successful program."
He hopes that somewhere, somebody will have a change of heart. But the action seems inevitable, irreversible.
"I can't believe this is going to happen," Mellon said. "I can't."