Over 40 Years Later, Sing-Out Is Still Making News

It's been over 44 years since the first Sing-Out cast (Sing-Out '65)was formed on Mackinac Island in Michigan.

That's a long time ago, but the group and its Up With People descendants (that includes Sing Out South) are still causing a stir
over four decades later through a new documentary that is making the rounds of film festivals across the country this spring and summer.

"Smile 'Til It Hurts" is the feature documentary debut of Lee Storey, who is a lawyer by profession, as well as the wife of an Up With People alumni, who had kept his participation secret from his spouse. Wanting to know more, Storey decided to produce the documentary because (according to her blog and web sites): "I wanted this documentary to be a critical and objective analysis of the organization in a historical and political context, including the heartfelt and sensitive portrayals of key members."

Up With People made the production possible visually by providing lots of archival footage of the cast. But Storey says she refused any money from UWP or from anyone related to the group in order to maintain editorial integrity for the documentary.

To give you some flavor for the production, here's the promotional trailer and some other clips from the documentary, courtesy of YouTube....

You probably saw some familar names and faces in those excerpts, including Linda Blackmore Cates in several of the interviews and Wanda Ricks Horrell in some of the film footage. If they are reading this blog, I hope they will share any thoughts they have about the documentary by clicking on the comments link below. Or they can e-mail their thoughts to me if they'd like them shared on this blog.

From the chatter I have read on various UWP-alumni related web sites, blogs and chat rooms, reaction is decidely mixed to the documentary. Some believe it's a hatchet job. Others say it is on the whole a balanced account. Of course, most folks, including me, haven't seen the whole documentary, and it's probably not a good idea to form any opinions based on just viewing the promotional trailer and a few other excerpts.

But please feel free to leave any comments or thoughts you have below, or if you have my e-mail address, send them to me direct.

Frankly, when I first heard the title "Smile 'Til It Hurts", it made me laugh. That's because it reminded me of a comment we received when we asked for cast members' memories of being in Sing Out as a part of our preparation for our Sing-Out South Cast Reunion back in 1989.

Denise Whitehead Pound sent in this classic: "I remember some of us putting nail polish on our teeth while on stage so we would remember to always keep smiling."

Talk about smile 'til it hurts!

If you google the title of the documentary, you will find "Smile Til It Hurts" has a web site and a blog site. You can also find it on Facebook and Lee Storey is now available to be followed and communicated with on Twitter.

Some of the reviews the documentary are getting are also posted there, including one from the recent pullquote festival. After a lengthy discussion of all the issues brought up in the film, the critic (identified as cintrix in a posting on June 9) wrote the following:

"Ultimately, what's remarkable and endless engrossing about SMILE is how many of the participants who appear in the doc still cite their time in the troupe as not simply life-changing but positive."

"A final word of warning if you manage to see SMILE (and you should): Good luck getting those earnest, catchy, campy songs---"Which Way. America?" and "What Color is God's Skin?" out of your head."

I don't know about you, but it's nice to hear that these songs still pack a punch so many years later :) and that some of the UWP folks from our day (including some with strong Sing Out South connections) have recently performed a show in Branson, MO where the spirit of Sing Out and Up With People was back on display, at least for one weekend.

More about that in our next posting.