A History of the Ball and Chain
by Bill Kelly

 

Although 30-plus years have passed, people still ask about the Ball and Chain productions and why we don’t have the Ball and Chain now. Much credit has been given to me as the writer and director of eight out of 10 of these shows, but there was no way that these productions could have taken place without the talents of many. Helen Cowie, Alice Jedlicka, Jack and Jane Brady, Joe McEntee, and 90 percent of Little Flower parishioners participated in one way or another.

In 1961, Little Flower had a very active Men’s Club and Ladies’ Club. Vatican II had not taken place, and there was no Parish Council or many of the current committees. In other words, times were sure different, and most people in the 1960s were singing, “If you’ve Got the Money Honey, I’ve Got the Time.”

While the Ladies’ Club was always making money for “Father,” the Men’s Club sponsored youth activities and social events for the parish. Lee Garnier, the Men’s Club president in 1961, suggested that the men of the parish escort their “better halves” to a “high-class dinner dance,” something nicer than an evening in the School Hall. His plan met with strong approval, and arrangements were made with parishioner and Clayton Elks Club “boss man,” Bob Corby, to rent the Elks Club, located at the corner of Hanley Road and Clayton Road, for the last Saturday before the beginning of Lent. This was to be a sit-down steak dinner, complete with elegant silverware, fancy tablecloths, and fresh flowers. Parishioner Jim Bello, with his orchestra, provided dance music. All of this for the amazing price of $5.00 per person.

By January 10, 1961, Lee Garnier was starting to pull out the remaining few hairs on his head because there were only 18 reservations in a facility with the capacity for 250 people. He called an emergency meeting. After several hours of throwing ideas around, I suggested we produce a show featuring parish people, which I would write, direct, and produce. Everyone agreed and thus the Ball and Chain was born. We played to a full house with standing room only.

This first show was simple, strictly a variety show called The Gay 90s. We could not have been prouder had we produced Gone with the Wind. It was so successful, people could hardly wait for the next year. In fact, I ended up writing and directing four or five shows a year. These provided entertainment for special Men’s Club functions like Valentines Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and Christmas, in addition to what became the annual Ball and Chain. The net result was that the parish could not have a party without a show. The participants started thinking they were “good actors,” and I began to think I was really a director.

The second Ball and Chain production was a takeoff on the Veiled Prophet Ball. The “Queen of Love and Beauty” was Frank Goedde. The identity of “His Mysterious Majesty the Veiled Prophet” remained a secret but was none other than Joe McEntee. Another parishioner, Larry Brindley, was fond of stating, “When Bill Kelly got Joe McEntee into the Ball and Chain, he created a monster.”

The Clayton Elks Club enjoyed the Little Flower productions so much they stalled the sale of their property so that the third annual Ball and Chain could be presented there. This show was The Bunny Club, featuring “Mitch Miller” with the Eddie Erbs Orchestra.

In 1964, with the closing of the Clayton Elks Club and the need for a larger venue, the Ball and Chain began to use Carpenter’s Hall on Hampton Avenue. The first show produced in this facility was Disneyland, complete with Frontier Land, Fantasy Land, and Tomorrow Land. The largest show staged there was The Best of Broadway, which included an enormous cast of 148 people, plus the CBC Marching Band, which played “76 Trombones” for the Music Man skit.

The Ball and Chain productions continued to grow each year in terms of players, scenery, costumes, and the size of the orchestra. Parishioner Bob Mullen was a genius with scenery. Bob and his crew would construct stage settings in the church basement, eventually adding wheels to the sets to facilitate scene changes. Perhaps the ultimate design was Snow White’s house for the Disneyland performance. Bob Mullen designed and built this structure, and it was such a perfect reproduction that it was donated to Cardinal Glennon Hospital so that the children could play in it.
Another Bob, namely Bob Walden, did an awesome job of recording these shows. In fact, he did such a good job that many times the shows sounded better on tape. He was such a perfectionist about this that I called him “Bulldog Walden.”

Jim Holloran served as director for the only Ball and Chain production to be performed at the Colony Hotel (now the Sheraton) in Clayton. This play was called A Tour of St. Louis, with Ed Clancy serving as tour guide and bus driver. Jim’s approach to directing was a break with past tradition. He let the cast members create their own parts in the show. There also was no scenery on the stage, and there was very little dialogue. This facility could only seat 300 people and it was filled to capacity, so it was decided to return to Carpenter’s Hall the next year where seating capacity was 500.

The 10th Ball and Chain was directed by Father George Griesedieck, associate pastor at Little Flower. This show included a takeoff on “Laugh In,” a popular television program at that time, and highlights from Camelot. It was during this production that the parish discovered that Bill Wells had a great voice and could really sing.
The final Ball and Chain was produced for the 50th Anniversary of Little Flower Parish. I had the pleasure of directing this performance, which was held in conjunction a dinner at the Top of the 7’s Building in Clayton. This show, based on Thorton Wilder’s Our Town, featured Bill Pennington as Monsignor Tammany. According to orchestra leader, Ed Morris, this was a “show to end all shows.” When Bill Pennington sang “I Did it My Way,” people thought he sounded better than Frank Sinatra.

So, why was the Ball and Chain so popular? In part it was because so many people in the parish participated, including all the parish priests. There also was some talent and certainly a lot of dedication. Times, too, were different. It was a tremendous amount of work, but it was a tremendous amount of fun!

THE DELI THEATRE

During the 1980s, I produced a series of shows for what we called “The Deli Theatre.” These productions were on a simpler scale than the Ball and Chain and were held in the School Hall. These shows I called “show boat” style, featuring banjo music by the “Jim Dandy’s” and parishioner Alice Jedlicka on the piano. My “better half,” Jeanne Kelly, led the singers in the orchestra pit and starred as Sister Mary of the Angels. Other parishioners who shared their talent for three years of shows were Bill Pennington, Ronnie Heinz, Father Jim Grady, Father Bill Koester, Barb and Mike Jones, Syl Santen, Joe McEntee, Mike Mourlee, Bill Wells, Jack Brady, Joanne Fehling, Jamie O’Connor, and Don Mueller.

No one enjoyed writing and directing this “nonsense” as much as I did. However, when people started asking me what I did for a living, I knew I had better start devoting more time to real estate.