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Photograph courtesy of the Sacred Heart Men's Club
Legendary Hollywood icon Debbie Reynolds took the stage at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga on Dec. 1 for an intimate performance at the 10th annual Sacred Heart Men's Club Ecumenical Celebration Concert. Following her performance, she stayed for more than an hour in the school gym to greet fans and sign autographs.
'Unsinkable' Debbie Reynolds performs in Saratoga
By Jennifer M. van der Kleut
For the past decade, the Sacred Heart Men's Club has built a reputation for bringing renowned acts to Saratoga through its Ecumenical Celebration Concerts, and this year's installment was certainly no exception.
For the 10th anniversary of the concert series, the Sacred Heart Men's Club decided to pull out all the stops and book a real Hollywood legend. On Dec. 1, Debbie Reynolds took the stage and performed an intimate concert to an audience of approximately 1,000 members. The 74-year-old icon proved she still has it; even at $50 and $60 per ticket, Reynolds sold out every seat--plus an additional 50-plus chairs behind the pews--for an unforgettable show.
Reynolds performed numbers from her most famous movie roles, such as Tammy and the Bachelor, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Singin' in the Rain; did comical impressions of such celebrities as Zsa Zsa Gabor and Barbra Streisand; and even poked fun at herself with jokes about her many failed marriages and what it's like to be 74 when your heyday was in your 20s and 30s.
Reynolds also acknowledged the group that brought her to Saratoga, however; in fact, at the end of the show, she shed a few tears as she thanked the Sacred Heart Men's Club and recognized "all the wonderful work" it does for the community.
The Sacred Heart Men's Club has been thriving in Saratoga since its rebirth roughly 20 years ago. Such longtime members as Bruce Hodgin and others have worked tirelessly to reestablish the club since it fizzled back in the 1970s.
"It kind of died off back then," says Hodgin, "but there were still a few of the older members like myself and Paul Conrado who wanted to see it keep going. So we got it going again ourselves."
Hodgin says the club is a social outlet for the male members of the church as well as a strong support system for many of the church and school's efforts and needs.
The club helps maintain the vineyard out in front of the church, growing the grapes, making them into wine and then bottling and labeling it. The wine is then used for church sacraments and also served at church social events. Other social events the club sponsors throughout the year include a black-tie dinner.
The club is also one of the church's main fundraising arms, sponsoring two annual pancake breakfasts and a spaghetti dinner for the church's Generations of Faith program.
Members of the club then put the funds to work with projects to better the church and school, such as funding educational programs and performing needed repairs and remodeling.
Then, of course, there's the Ecumenical Celebration Concerts.
Hodgin says the series began almost by accident.
Many years ago, Hodgin's wife had tickets to see a woman named Renee Bondi through the Mothers Club at Bellarmine College Preparatory School.
Bondi is a woman of strong faith, Hodgin says. A former music teacher and talented singer, Bondi suffered a serious accident that left her a quadriplegic many years ago. Hodgin says Bondi could have easily given up on her love of singing and performing, but through her faith, rediscovered her strength and lived to sing again.
"My wife was supposed to go with a friend, but her friend cancelled on her at the last minute, so she dragged me to the show," Hodgin says. Seeing Bondi perform and hearing her story was powerful, he recalls. "I thought, 'I'm going to bring her to Sacred Heart so everyone can hear her story.' "
That's exactly what he did, and that show in 1997 went on to be the first annual Ecumenical Celebration Concert.
"It all kind of started from there, and now it's a tradition," Hodgin says.
Throughout the past decade, the series has welcomed acts such as Glenn Yarbrough, Judy Collins, the Yale University Spizzwinks and even the Vienna Boys Choir.
Hodgin knew the 10th anniversary concert needed to be something very special.
"We wanted to reach for the stars, so to speak," he says. "Ms. Reynolds certainly fits that bill."
Reynolds is often referred to as the true "America's Sweetheart." She was discovered by movie agents at the age of 16 when she won the title of Miss Burbank, and was immediately signed to a contract with Warner Brothers, following a bidding war with MGM.
More than 50 years later, Reynolds has starred in more than 40 of Hollywood's most classic, memorable movies. She has toured with many successful theater productions and has appeared in several television shows, including the hit TV sitcom Will and Grace, as Grace's mother. Her many roles have garnered her a nomination for the Best Actress Academy Award and five Golden Globe awards.
Reynolds still tours an average of 40 weeks per year with her renowned nightclub act.
Reynolds' nightclub act delivers a little bit of everything.
"It's a variety show," she says. "I do a lot of singing, a lot of dancing, a lot of comedy."
However, one of the highlights of Reynolds' show is when she treats her audience to a little slice of her priceless Hollywood memorabilia collection, in the form of a video section, in which she plays clips of classic Hollywood bloopers. On Dec. 1, her Saratoga audience was treated to rarely seen moments with stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, James Cagney and Ronald Reagan.
Obviously, Reynolds is still going strong.
"I honestly would like to just continue doing what I'm doing," she says. "If I can just keep doing this for at least a few more years, I'll be very happy."
After her performance, Reynolds stayed for more than an hour to sign autographs for her faithful fans in the Sacred Heart school gym.
Thanks to the show's impressive turnout, Hodgin says the profit the club made from ticket sales will benefit various programs for the church and Sacred Heart School.
