Sigma Alpha Iota

one-woman show Will Rogers's Romance with Betty and America By Hazel Rowena Mills and Heather Davis A ward-winning singer, actor, and dancer Lynette Bennett, has performed two of her onewoman shows recently in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She presented her musical Will Rogers' Romance with Betty and America on January 26 at John Williams Theatre at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. It was broadcast on Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (a PBS affiliate) on May 21, after the Lawrence Welk Show and before OETA Movie Club, and it was rerun on May 22. Bennett was initiated by Sigma Gamma Chapter and is a graduate of the University of Tulsa. She is a member of the Tulsa Alumnae Chapter and has had a varied career starring in musicals at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, singing on Broadway with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, and playing reporter Mary Sunshine in London's West End production of the Broadway musical Chicago. The enthusiastic audience gave a standing ovation on January 26 for Bennett's period songs, dance, and storytelling in a script that she had written. Bennett presents the Will Rogers bio/ musical from the point of view of his beloved wife, Betty Blake, starting with the moment they met in 1899 at the railway station in Oologah, Indian Territory, before Oklahoma statehood. Lynette was kind enough to share some of her experiences with us as a composer and performer in a brief interview. PAN PIPES: Why did you choose to set the musical from Betty Blake's point of view? Lynette: I'm delighted to talk about Betty Blake Rogers and her influence in shaping the public Will Rogers that we know and love. When my husband, Rev. Dr. Warren Danskin, and I lived in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, we participated in celebrating the 75th anniversary of that community. We lifted up outstanding citizens of Pacific Palisades. Since Will and Betty's ranch, now the Will Rogers State Park, is in Pacific Palisades, I gave a cutting from Betty Rogers' biography of Will and included arrangements of his favorite songs, The Old Chisholm Trail and O, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie. The other performers included our actor-neighbors Peter Graves and John Raitt. Sigma Gamma initiate and Tulsa Alumnae Chapter member Lynette Bennett performs as Betty Rogers in her one-woman show, Will Rogers' Romance with Betty and America. While Warren and I lived in London again in 2006, I realized the 2007 centennial of Oklahoma statehood was approaching. Even though I was then living abroad, I wanted to participate in the celebration when we returned home. I thought about that earlier cutting and decided to expand it into a full, one-woman show, with additional music, based on Betty's book. Also, I thought it would be unusual to tell Will's story from his wife's point-of-view. I didn't think that had been done. PP: What types of challenges do you face doing a one-woman show? Lynette: As the writer, I had to keep the show moving and use plenty of contrasting moments to hold the audience's interest. The Rogers had a romantic courtship and happy marriage with Betty serving as the "glue" to hold the family together during Will's absences. In a national or international emergency, he was the person who arrived on the scene before church groups or the Red Cross. If he had the time free from his work schedule, he would fly to a disaster site on a moment's notice. In 1921, the year of the Nicaragua earthquake, he went there and gave benefit performances. In the second year of the Great Depression, he traveled for three weeks giving four to six performances every day to raise money for those hardest hit by the droughts of the dust bowl. In his absence, Betty filled the roles of both parents. BENNETT continued on page 19 sai-national.org SPRING 2011 PAN PIPES 17

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