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Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 1:44 pm
by Steve Marcus
It has been documented that the late Debbie Reynolds played the French horn.

IIRC, Debbie Reynolds appeared on at least one talk show (Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, etc.), making an entrance with a bit of her Vegas show in which she PLAYED (not just held or danced with) a fiberglass sousaphone before she sat down next to the host's desk. The song might have been a novelty such as "Hello, My Baby."

Does anyone else remember this (or better yet, have video or still photos)?

Have there been any other actors who have played tuba publicly, such as Patty LuPone in "Sweeney Todd" and Andy Griffith? (really played, not faked like Patty Duke)

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 1:52 pm
by sousaphone68
Tom Wilson aka Biff Tannen played the sousaphone https://youtu.be/PR_hh8ong_k" target="_blank

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:26 pm
by David Richoux
Here is Debbie playing the French Horn (or so says the caption.)
IMG_0469.JPG
No luck so far on finding her with a Sousaphone.

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:42 pm
by Walter Webb
Check, on the French Horn thing! http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/4795 ... -Roll.html" target="_blank

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:05 am
by Three Valves
WOW!!

She is so young she doesn't look like herself!!

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 3:16 pm
by David Richoux
Walter Webb wrote:Check, on the French Horn thing! http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/4795 ... -Roll.html" target="_blank" target="_blank
Jane Powell can't lip-sync to save her life!

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:53 pm
by DonShirer
One of the web obits said that Debbie played the French Horn and Bassoon in a youth orchestra, presumably while in high school.

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:22 pm
by sticky_valve
Have there been any other actors who have played tuba publicly
Peter Falk as Columbo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhQzAN3eqTM

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:00 am
by GC
Andy Griffith played "Melody in F" on tuba on a variety show when I was a kid. At that point he was still best known as a comedy act. I remember that he played it quite competently.

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 12:38 pm
by David Richoux
GC wrote:Andy Griffith played "Melody in F" on tuba on a variety show when I was a kid. At that point he was still best known as a comedy act. I remember that he played it quite competently.
He was a North Carolina state champion high school tuba player and as I recall he also played through college. He was a big Trad/Dixieland enthusiast all of his life, but I don't know if he played regularly in any group. He also sang and later on came back to his old school to lead the Glee Club. There are some pictures of him in high school band somewhere on Tubenet.

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 8:45 pm
by proam
sticky_valve wrote:
Have there been any other actors who have played tuba publicly
Peter Falk as Columbo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhQzAN3eqTM
Funny! That episode was on last night. Peter Falk was not really playing, though, just miming along.

And I didn't like that particular episode very much, either. It was from the 2nd iteration of Columbo, after a 10-year break. Falk was making Columbo a caricature of what Columbo had been.

Re: Debbie Reynolds...and the tuba(?)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:42 pm
by GC
Didn't Tommy Johnson teach Bill Murray a bit about playing the Sousaphone for the first Charlie's Angels movie?