What novel is this?

[mamselle]

He may have been over-stretched.

He ran a famous ballroom, I think, "The Totem Pole," maybe? And I want to say I think he was a full-time big-band director, depending on the time frame. (Or am I thinking of "Les Brown and his Band of Renown"?)

Some performers can fold all those in together, for others, it might have been a struggle.

I can't look up the details now, but I suspect at least some of those things may have had some input.

M.

[nebo113]

This thread winz!!!!

[mamselle]

OK, correction (my dad's probably doing swing dance turns in his grave...)

Monroe had a different club, not far away, called the Meadows. He was indeed a band leader and recording artist, and among the 300 ceramic discs in my sister's storage room are his best-known "Racing with the Moon," "In the Still of the Night," etc.

My dad would be mad because he knew Monroe's guitarist, Bucky Pizzarelli, who later went to play for the Tonight Show, from their Army days in WWII. I even have the original sheet music to "Moon" in my 1940s piano/vocal folders.

So, Monroe was indeed busy, and that could have affected his acting.

(Sorry, dad....)

M.

ETA: For those interested in the Totem Pole at Norumbega Park, this book is out recently:

    https://books.google.com/books/about/Norumbega_Park_and_Totem_Pole_Ballroom.html?id=AiY8zgEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description

It occurred to me that my dad might not be too mad at me for mixing them up, after all; he did go there, too, when he was laid over from the merchant marine ship he served on before the US entered WWII (ferrying horses to England).

He used to tell us about the Zoot suits they had to rent to get in, because they didn't have a suit and tie in their kit...  - M. 

[James]

You might want to check the movie out because he croons a couple of tunes in it. I would add "hence the title," but I don't remember any singing from the book, so maybe the movie's writers got creative.

[mamselle]

It was fairly common to add musical numbers to a show, especially if the actor(s) could sing or play instruments (or both).

Not a big deal if it weren't in the original book; a film script would have been expected to incorporate music in those cases.

M.