Hollywood legend, wife put on a performance at Wilson Hall
Posted on October 25, 2007
Despite career ups and downs over 83 years, Mickey Rooney has still got it. His charisma and desire to entertain has carried Rooney through the years.
Wilson Hall auditorium was filled last Thursday night with students and Harrisonburg residents eagerly awaiting the start of Rooney’s latest show “Let’s Put on Show.”
“We came here by chance,” sophomore Sean Sharff said. “We saw the sign at box office in Harrison Hall and did a little research and ended up here.”
The evening began with an opening video montage announcing Rooney as he appeared on stage. This short Hollywood legend brought audience members to their feet simply by walking on stage, a testament to the impact of his career.
“This is what’s left of Mickey Rooney,” Rooney said.
The first half of the show passed with cheesy jokes and tidbits about his time in Hollywood, littered with classic Hollywood tunes sung by Rooney such as “But Not for Me” by George and Ira Gershwin. Rooney spoke of how he met his first wife Ava Gardner saying, “On every date I asked Ava to marry me and every time she would say ‘No, I don’t want to marry you,’” but didn’t mention his next six wives except as a group.
The first half of the show was dedicated completely to Mickey and the recapping of a long career. The best moment of the night came towards the end of the first act when Rooney did a tribute to his long time friend, Judy Garland. He sang a few songs, one called “Judy,” which Rooney wrote himself when he heard that Garland had died, and showed a heartwarming clip of a comedy routine the two did together on Garland’s television show.
The second half of the show began with the evening’s other performer finally taking the stage. Mickey’s eighth wife and co-producer of the show, Jan Chamberlain-Rooney, came out singing “Making Whoopee.” Chamberlain-Rooney is an actress, musician, composer and artist. Her witty personality and talent affected the audience immediately.
“Well here I am,” Chamberlain-Rooney said, “Number eight. I never counted on marrying a serial spouse.” Despite her husband’s marital history the two have been married over 25 years. It is easy to see that the two are more than just actors who work well together – they are happy together. They sang a number of duets together during the evening including “I Remember It Well,” “Side By Side” and “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off.”
Jan may be a better singer than her husband but the two work well together to put on show. Rooney showed more clips from his impressive film career and explained how each helped get him to where he was today, indulging the audience with the best of times when he was being called “the world’s greatest talent” and the worst of times when he was “getting paid $100 to go to parties in order to support his family.”
The show concluded with Rooney playing a jazz number on the piano and Mickey and Jan singing a final duet, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.”
“Our show has been very long and I am very short,” Rooney said. After taking one last bow to a standing ovation the curtain fell. However, Mickey and Jan signed programs for fans following the show. By the number of people who stood in line to receive Mickey Rooney’s autograph it is obvious that his fans span generations.
“I loved it. I thought it was great,” sophomore Shelby Arnette said. “I’m surprised more students didn’t take advantage of this.”
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