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[[newspaper clipping]] THE MITCHEL BEACON, Monday, January 10, 1949 Ops Happiness Staged For Mitchel The all-negro musical variety show originating from Lockbourne AFB, Columbus, Ohio, staged two performances for Mitchel audiences last week. On Wednesday, Jan. 5, theater No. 3 at Santini housed the initial show, and the gym at Hofstra college, which is adjacent to the base, was the scene of Friday evening's performance. The first performance was handicapped by a stage too small to accommodate the 18-piece "Flying Band" and by the fact that some of the troop did not arrive until 30 minutes prior to cartain time, due to bad flying conditions, everything went on with great vivacity and the audience clamored for encore after encore. Originally a project of the Tactical Air Command, "Operation Happiness" is now under the Welfare Division of the recently formed Continental Air Command whose headquarters is at Mitchel. Lt. Col. L. L. Layden is Director of Welfare, ConAC. It is quite a task to select any one phase or one individual as the "whole" show because both the band and the variety group are a team in the strictest sense of the word. However certain personalities and acts stand out. For example Corporal Verlin Jones rendition of 'Stormy Weather' Gloria Fussa and Sgt. James Smith rendition of the Samba, an original dance by Gloria who hails from New York City via San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were effectively assisted by the chorines. Prior to joining the Armed Forces, Gloria was a pre-med student at a South Carolina College. Robert Clarke and Stanley Mitchell's provocative act with Rebecca Gilbert got quite a laugh. Miss Gilbert is quite an entertainer on her own. She was with the Von Grona Ballet Troop of New York City. Evelyn Matthews left the Base Choir to join the group. Sergeant Theodore Hunt of Detroit directs and arranges for the Glee Club. His educational and Naval experience are definite assets in doing this work. He is a graduate of Wayne University and Great Lakes Naval "Academy." Pfc. Ivory Mitchell of Trenton, New Jersey,has been chosen by personnel of both the band and the show as the Military Good Will Ambassador because of his showmanship as a pianist and an all round musician. His virtuosity is beautifully demonstrated in his rendition of Tea for Two with his left hand while playing a total of ten other numbers with his right hand maintaining perfect harmony and rhythm. With the band he plays the Glokenspiel. BACKGROUND OF OPERATION HAPPINESS Operation Happiness is a combination of the 766th Air Force Band and Squadron talent from the Lockbourne Air Force Base. Both the band and the show talent evolved from a chain of happy events based on raising Company and Base morale. It is Colonel Benjamin O. Davis' idea that most military morale problems can be solved by the persons who constitute the problems if given the right incentive. Thus Colonel Davis encouraged the personnel from the various groups of his Command to sponsor and stage talent shows at least once a week. Thursday night after the last movie was the chosen ray and hour. Each Squadron from each group was responsible for a show. Even the Officers and their wives staged a show one Thursday night. When Lt. Colonel Joseph Goetz of the Special Service Division, on a routine visit, saw one of these talent night shows he suggested that the group get together and stage a Master Talent Show with the best acts taken from each Squadron's contribution. The task of welding the extravaganza together was left to tap dancers Calvin Manuel and Sergeant Pugh. Not only did these two men put the show together but they starred in it, too. Seeing the Master Talent Show Colonel Goezt felt that this group could do much to raise the morale of the entire Air Force and thus through the Tactical Air Command he and Captain Robert Locke nurtured Operation Happiness. Colonel Goetz is a former director of a RKO Theatre chain and from his vast knowledge of shows and show business he polished Operation Happiness into the finished product it is today. After getting the "go" signal in September the earnest work was begun to have the show ready by November the eleventh. However, it was not ready until November twentieth. Since its very first performance the show has been acclaimed as the best and great things are predicted for it. 1st Lt. Daniel James Jr., is the Master of Ceremonies and W. O. Frank Ruffin is director of the band. Early in 1946 four men were sent from their Kentucky Base to Lockbourne as a "band." Thse four have grown to seventy EM and one Warrant Officer. Of the original four only one, Sergeant George Cobb, is still with the aggregation. Originally it was planned to start a school for band members at Lockbourne bu the death of Chief Warrant Officer John J. Brice somewhat halted the training project but not the band. Mr. Ruffin has drawn his personnel from all over the USA. Several times he has had more than a hundred persons in the band. Its members have come to it from city symponies, big name bands, schools, and even Ringling Brothers Circus. For over a year the band was with the Air Force Recruiting program and had its spot on radio station WCOL and has played many benefits including the Cancer and Red Cross Drives. It has premiered many movies and was used to open the television station at Columbus, Ohio. The band has a nineteen piece "Swing" Orchestra led by Sergeant Arthur Wiggins of Brooklyn, New York. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1948 OHIO STATE JOURNAL Show Set By Airmen The Lockbourne Air Force Base will present its All-Airmen musical show. "Operation Happiness" at Memorial Hall on Wednesday evening. Sponsored by the United States Air Force and assigned the mission of bringing "happiness" to military personnel stationed in the United States and abroad through entertainment, the lavish "Operation Happiness" production has a cast of over 85 airmen, including WAFs (Women in the Air Force) and enlisted men, who normally work at the tasks of being Air Force mechanics, clerks, radio operators, teletype operators, physical training instructors, parachute packers, cooks, typists, etc. These performers were selected on the basis of ability to make up the cast of this musical show that is being widely touted as the first post-war entertainment troupe created by the USAF. The Columbus presentation is being sponsored by a group of professional and business organizations in Columbus who are interested in bringing the show to the attention of the general public. This All-Airman musical will not be seen by the public at large since it will entertain only military personnel, here and abroad, and their civilian guests or relatives. Admission will be free. *** [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] OHIO STATE JOURNAL 12 Thurs., Dec. 16, 1948 Civilians Given Preview Of 'Operation Happiness' Civilians caught their first (and only) glimpse of "Operation Happiness" last night when the Lockbourne Air Force Base-United States Air Force sponsored musical played a one-night stand at Memorial Hall. And the enthusiastic audience on hand for this free offering obviously enjoyed what it saw. As its name implies, "Operation Happiness" is simply a musical revue designed with only one motive in mind- to make somebody happy for a while. It presents a wealth of talent in a variety of entertainment that's sparkling, nicely paced and well spiced with humor. Music and comedy are the principal ingredients of this all-airman show. The Flying Band (which knows its Be-bog) is heard in scintillating interpretations of "Gangrene" and "Brushes." Too, it provides the background music for Evelyn Matthews' "I'll Close by Eyes"; Bill Chatman's "It's Magic:" Verline Jones' "Stormy Weather" and "Nick's Blues." Also featured in the music department are two pianists, Pfc. Mitchell and Lt. Downing, who know how to tickle the ivories. And an outstanding portion of the program is devoted to "The Skylanders" a male chorus. Dances by the Lockettes, feats of magic by Sgt. George Crawley and comedy skits round out the program. Following its showing here, "Operation Happiness" will continue its tour of Army Air Bases and eventually entertain overseas units. -MARY McGAVRAN KOEBEL. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] The Washington Afro-American, January 15, 1949 'Operation Happiness,' Airmen Revue, Makes Big Hit in Bolling Field Theatre Fast-Moving Production of 64, Featuring 17-Piece Orchestra, Vocalists, Chorus "Operations Happiness," an all-airmen musical review, composed of personnel from Lockbourne Air Force Base, Columbus, Ohio, moved into Bolling Air Force Base theater for a four-day stand begenning Tuesday night. "Happiness" is just what the name implies and the cast of 64 really attain their objective if the response at Bolling Field is indicative of the show's success. Representatives from the weekly press were invited to attend the local premiere because the top brass in the air force were disturbed over the lack of publicity in the colored press concerning the revue. Critics Praise It Their worries about the weekly press giving it a "bad" notice should be over, because all of the critics were unanimous in their praise. It's a fast moving production featuring a 17-piece orchestra that shows its versatility in playing everything from "bop" to the "classics." Lt. Daniel (Chappie) James, the master of ceremonies, although lacking the poise of a professional em cee, kept the action moving at a rapid clip by mixing in some clever quips without resorting to the use of off-color gags. Has Continued Chorus Lending glamour to the production was the elaborately costumed chorus made up of eight WAF's, who showed precision in their "Samba" production number. The star of the show, as far as this reviewer was concerned, was 24-year-old Pfc. Ivory Hunter, an excellent pianist, who brought down the house with "Warsaw Concerto," and "Holiday for Strings" as an encore. The musical highlight of the show was the signing of "The Lord's Prayer," a number dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the nurses corps, by the troupe's glee club, "The Skylanders." Girl Vocalist Scores Pfc. Evelyn Matthews, the vocalist with the orchestra, was shown off to good advantage with an old song hit, "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good." She was ably supported by the "Airmen," a quartet. Pfc. Stanley Mitchell, the crooner with the orchestra, who handled the male vocal honors for the band, did a nice job with "Old Black Magic." All in all, the show was superb and could be appraised so according to professional standards, even though the entire unit was composed of rank amateurs. Lauded on Premiere "Operations Happiness" made its debut during October at Lockbourne and was so well received that provisions were made to have it presented at most of the bases throughout the nation. Following the Bolling Field performances the show will move to Texas, California and up into Alaska and finally taken to Europe to entertain the heroes of Uncle Sam's famed Berlin "Airlift." It's one of the finest shows that the Armed Forces have produced since the war and should bring plenty of laughs to the guys in the GI togs fortunate enough to see it. It's first-class entertainment that doesn't hold the race up to ridicule. The members of the cast are serving in special services and will receive excellent theatrical training for a post-military profession. – AL SWEENEY [[/newspaper clipping]]
