THE TROUBLE WITH ETHEL
by Bob Foreman © 2013
The trouble with Ethel began at the Atlanta airport on a summer Sunday in 1963 when a surrogate for Mayor Ivan Allen presented, then rescinded, the Key to The City to Miss Merman who had arrived here to play a week of The Ethel Merman Show at Chastain Park.
The star of Broadway countered in her trademark bellow, “Aren’t you going to let me keep it? I thought it was mine!”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the only one we have,” dithered the disconcerted deputy, who then added, “but I’ll see that another is made especially for you.”
“So much for your Southern hospitality,” fired back La Merm, “and don’t forget your promise, I’ve got witnesses,” waving an arm toward the delegation that had gathered to meet her at Candler Field.
Included (and pictured here with Merman) were Dobbins Air Force Base Brigadier General George Wilson and his daughter who immediately applied salve to the brassy but bruised Diva Ego by naming Merman MISS SONIC BOOM, a reference to the glass-shattering shock waves created by USAF jets when they broke the sound barrier. In recognition of her limitless range of vocal talents, unsurpassed decibel levels, Mach II renditions, and a super-sonic personality, Ethel Merman is hereby proclaimed MISS SONIC BOOM by the officers and men of the 445th Troop Carrier, Dixie Wing, it read to her delight.
Meanwhile Atlanta’s social transgression flashed onto the wire services and went national.
While Merman’s was the only legit show playing Atlanta that week, among the fifty single-screen movie houses, competition included PT 109 at the Loew’s; Cleopatra reserved seats only at the Roxy; How The West Was Won in Cinerama at Martin’s; Lawrence of Arabia in its 15th week at the Rhodes; and topped off with the grand opening of the new Rialto Theatre with Bye Bye Birdie, a Princess telephone “in color” given to certain lucky ticket holders.
Parents might be too tired to attend if they had toted the kids to see the rear-animated talking figures up at Story Land in Marietta or out to the State Farmer’s Market for Watermelon Day with a free slice for all and a live TV remote featuring Ray Moore and Officer Don.
Others might find Merman tame compared with Little Egypt playing live at the Domino or the “torrid revue” Too Hot To Handle at the Playboy Club located where the Clermont Lounge is now.
Nevertheless, The Ethel Merman Show opened Monday night for Chris Manos’ Theatre Under the Stars to excellent reviews and good attendance, and according to Merman’s autobiography, Mayor Allen himself showed up backstage with a huge floral key made up of chrysanthemums and orchids, “comparable to presenting me with a common cold (she was allergic to flowers) but since I’d given them such a rough time the night before, I accepted it graciously.”
Not quite as gracious was her reaction to being told that Met Opera mainstay Blanche Thebom was to replicate Merman’s stage and film role in Call Me Madam on the same stage in three weeks. All Merman could muster was, “No!”
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