The flock is gearing up for a big weekend in Fall River when Jill Dalton’s Lizzie Borden Live comes to town at the former Eagle Restaurant. On Saturday trolleys will make a circuit of restaurant stops for guests dining out prior to the 8 p.m. curtain for the play. The Noble Order of Mutton Eaters will be on hand in various character roles and costume, to welcome and chitchat with guests, man the trolleys, and to pose artistically at #92 Second Street. What fun for all of us! – Read about it here http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x2122537493/Mutton-Eaters-have-a-taste-for-history
Some more photos courtesy of Ted & Lorraine N.O.M.E.-sing along with the Muttonpoofs as we trek to see Lizzie’s courtroom, Marion and high jinx back at the Borden House. The house being renovated is on Green St. in Fairhaven- Emma Borden’s alibi abode! Our Victorian destination this year was historic Blithewold mansion and gardens for Daffodil Days in nearby Bristol.
To the tables down at Rogers’
To the place where Lizzie dwells
To the dear old Second Street we love so well
Sing the Mutton Eaters assembled with their glasses raised on high
And the magic of their singing casts its spell
Yes, the magic of their singing of the songs we love so well
“Can’t chop your Poppa Up” ,”Took an Axe” and all the rest
We will serenade our Lenny while life and voice shall last
Then we’ll pass and be forgotten with the rest
We’re poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, baa, baa
We’re little black sheep who have gone astray
Baa, baa, baa
Mutton Eaters, songsters, - off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
God have mercy on such as we Baa, baa, baa
The Whiffenpoof Song”is based on a tune written by Tod Galloway (Amherst 1895)and adapted with lyrics by Meade Minnigerode (Yale 1910).
The word “whiffenpoof” originated in the 1908 opera Little Nemo by Victor Herbert, based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay.
The Whiffenpoofs have performed for generations at a number of venues, including Lincoln Center, the White House, the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Oakland Coliseum, Carnegie Hall and the Rose Bowl. The group has also appeared on television shows such as Jeopardy!, The Today Show, Saturday Night Live, 60 Minutes, Gilmore Girls and The West Wing.
Throughout the school year, the Whiffenpoofs traditionally perform Monday nights at Mory’s, known more formally as “Mory’s Temple Bar,” circulating from room to room singing.
The Whiffs’ best-known alumnus may be Cole Porter, who sang in the 1913 lineup of the Whiffenpoofs when he was a student at Yale. Today the group often performs Porter songs in tribute.
The Whiffenpoofs donate part of their proceeds each year to the Whiffenpoof Children’s Literacy Initiative, which aims to create 15 literacy centers in 12 countries, including the U.S. They travel extensively during the school year and take a three-month world tour during the summer. At one time most members were full-time students, but today many members take all or part of the year off and are effectively full-time professional Whiffenpoofs. (Wikipedia)
Just today an email arrived from our old friend Pilar at the Abbey Grille to tell us we could no longer have our annual banquet there as the building is in foreclosure! The prospects are hopeless for a reprieve and sadly Lizzie’s former Central Congregational church is in peril. We have many wonderful memories there and all our best wishes to Chef George and the incredible staff! We will miss you.
This year, a goodly number of the Mutton Eater flock will be joining staff regulars at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast annual re- enactment. This will be the largest cast ever, in the 12 year history of the house.
Along with all the family members, (even Emma who will “return from Fairhaven”), Dr. Dolan, Mrs. Churchill. Mrs. Bowen, Detective Seaver, Alice Russell, Miss Manning from the Fall River Herald, and even the family undertaker, Mr. Winward will be appearing on the scene. The script will be more interactive this year, with the house visitors helping police search the cellar for weapons and interacting with the costumed actors. Mr. Borden will already have been found on the sofa, but the tour guests will have to find the body of Mrs. Borden when someone suddenly realizes she is “missing”. Tour times are approximately on the half hour from 11 to 3:30 on Monday, August 4th.
“I’m pleased to see some crossover interest between the Lizzie Borden case and Jack the Ripper. The 2008 JtR Conference wil be in Tennessee, and we’d be thrilled if you might make a similar announcement this year. Information can be found at ripperology.com/conference, and I’d be glad to answer any questions (ripperconference@gmail.com). Good luck with your Borden research!” Kelly Robinson.
Sung to the tune of the Whiffenpoof Song
