News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters High Desert Chorale is deep into their rehearsals for their spring program.
This year's performance will include "Hernando's Hideaway," from "The Pajama Game," a play based on the novel, "7-1/2 Cents."
The musical play opened on Broadway on May 13, 1954, ran for over 1,000 performances, and was eventuality made into a movie.
The lyrics of "Hernando's Hideaway" describe a sleazy, dark, raunchy and secretive nightclub where alcohol and prostitution are the order of the day. It was sung in the stage and film version of the musical by Carol Haney.
The song has had a curious afterlife. There are (at least) 15 Finnish versions of "Hernando," by different artists, the first and most popular by Olavi Virta, in 1956. "Hernando's Hideaway" also became a nickname of the smoking room used by British Parliamentary politicians in the House of Commons.
Stephen Pound, Labour member of Parliament, told the House during a smoking debate on February 14, 2006: "I refer the House to the despotic hell - 'Hernando's Hideaway' - that is the Smoking Room on the Library Corridor. It is like the Raft of Medusa most nights, with great groups of people crammed into it."
There won't be any smoking - nor will it be like the Raft of Medusa - in Sisters Community Church on Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m., or on Sunday, May 5, at 2:30 p.m., but there will be a variety of music performed by the Sisters High Desert Chorale and other local musicians sharing their talents with residents of Sisters Country.
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