The Beau Hunks In Rehearsal

For many years, when blowing out birthday candles or on other occasions that gave me a free wish, I wished that someone, somewhere, would re-record all of the wonderful LeRoy Shield tunes heard as background music in the Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and Charley Chase Hal Roach Shorts. I don't know which wish-making opportunity yielded the results: the incredibly wonderful recordings by The Beau Hunks Orchestra.

I still have birthdays, so I've switched over to the next impossible dream - seeing The Beau Hunks at a live performance.

I've talked to Piet Schreuders and Gert-Jan Blom about playing here in the U.S., and the financial implications of a tour are staggering. Not out of the question; just staggering.

Perhaps inspired by the concept behind stem cell research, Piet Schreuders informs me that there may be a solution that allows the sound and spirit of The Beau Hunks to travel. According to Piet, the formula is that the "...Beau Hunks 'inject' a few key members into existing local orchestras, bring their charts, rehearse for three days, and bingo, a good time is had by all. This opens up new possibilities -- for instance, a performance on Roy Shield's birthday in Waseca, Minnesota someday!"

Sounds great to me, as does the recent rehearsal above. According to Piet: "The Beau Hunks orchestra and the German Filmorchester Babelsberg recently combined to give a performance of Leroy Shield's music and to accompany two silent Laurel & Hardy films. The performance was in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, on August 24, 2007. This clip shows a rehearsal of the tune "Let's Face It" the day before, conducted by Scott Lawton. Beau Hunks leader Gert-Jan Blom watches from the front row."