Veta Louise Simmons, I thought you were dead!

That is one of many funny bits from the play Harvey. Elderly, yet still glamorous, snooty Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet knows how to make an entrance.

Her niece, Veta Louise, also up there in years, is mortified that Aunt Ethel might find out about Harvey. Veta’s brother, Elwood, has befriended Harvey, who just happens to be a 6’3″ white rabbit, visible only to him.

If you haven’t seen the 1950 movie, rest assured it’s a classic. In fact, it’s the perfect choice for some levity during this time of pandemic malaise. Here’s the trailer:

That’s iconic Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Down and the inimitable Josephine Hull as his sister, Veta Louise (whose husband in real life, I just learned, was fatally stricken by the 1918 flu, poor thing).

I don’t see that Harvey is available to stream free anywhere, but don’t let that stop you. Cut loose a bit of that stimulus check and enjoy this sweet film.

Did I mention I played Veta Louise in the Old Schoolhouse Players summer production of Harvey in Carmel, Indiana, back in 1976? We had an absolute ball – even when the bat flew down from the rafters and took the attention off of yours truly (I got it back once crew members chased the pesky critter with brooms and it flew out a side door). I only screamed once.

Aunt Ethel’s line popped into my head the other morning when I heard we’d lost another musical legend this spring.

Why, Little Richard – I thought you were dead!

I don’t know, is that a sign of age when you can’t remember who’s still around? (I probably shouldn’t admit that my next thought was: Oh, I’m so glad Little Richard was still alive! But … now he’s dead, so …)

Tributes continue to flood social media. Elton John, Paul McCartney, even stuck-up ol’ Pat Boone!

There’s a common theme: Little Richard’s hell-raising performances deeply inspired a large array of performers during the second half of the 20th century.

Including John Werne.

John was about four years old when we picked up a VHS copy of the weird kids movie called The Brave Little Toaster. In short, it’s the story of five household appliances who feel abandoned by the young boy who used to play with them at his family’s summer cottage. The appliances venture out into the real world to find him.

Early in the movie, the toaster and the radio decide the gang needs to tidy up the cottage a bit. To charge up the energy level, they blast Little Richard’s iconic “Tutti Frutti”:

Really.

Even Kirby, the grouchy vacuum cleaner, gets in the groove.

Four-year-old John not only loved the movie and watched it repeatedly, he totally dug “Tutti Frutti.” No nursery rhymes for him, he was all about “aw rooty” and sang along at the top of his voice. Danced, too.

Early one morning, John crawled into bed with Gary and me, snuggled up, and was soon out cold.

Our clock radio came on about 15 minutes before it was time to get up. John was still fast asleep. All of a sudden, “Tutti Frutti” came on. John immediately sat bolt upright in the bed and sang along, at full volume.

A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom!

As soon as the song was over, John dropped back on the pillow and resumed sleeping.

It was one of the freakiest things Gary and I ever experienced as parents.

It took the sad passing of Little Richard for me to learn that he performed the theme song to one of John’s favorite childhood cartoons, too:

Watching John grow up singing, playing piano, drums, guitar, bass, trumpet, and even teaching himself saxophone, it never crossed my mind that a perky little toaster and his maladjusted friends might have been the start of it all.

Thanks, Little Richard. We know there’s a “house of boo yight” up in heaven, where you’ll be rocking evermore.

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