Attraction: The Golden Horseshoe Revue
Park: Disneyland
Debut: July 13, 1955
When the cast of the Golden Horseshoe Revue took their final bow on October 12, 1986, the show had the distinction of being the longest running musical of all-time. Not just at a Disney Park, but anywhere. With 39,000 performances, it was honored in the Guinness Book of World Records for its achievement.
Curiously, the show actually predates Disneyland by a few days. The park opened on July 17, 1955, but the Golden Horseshoe Revue debuted four days prior. The cast had staged a special performance in honor of Walt and Lillian Disney’s 30th wedding anniversary.
At it’s opening, the show starred Judy Marsh, Wally Boag, and Donald Novis, with Boag and Novis teaming to write its script. Music and lyrics were provided by Charles LaVere (who also performed as the show’s pianist) and Tom Adair, including the opening number, “Hello, Everybody.”
Lavere, a jazz pianist, bandleader, vocalist, and composer, was a regular on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show before eventually relocating to California in the late 30s. There, he began working on shows like Bob Hope’s The Pepsodent Show and performed with artists like Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Edgar Bergen, and others.
In 1955, he was contacted by Donald Novis about the possibility of working for Disney as part of a musical group in the Golden Horseshoe. He was hired along with others to play in the Golden Horseshoe’s band, but he also went on to write its music.
For his part, Tom Adair had already established himself as a successful songwriter, penning numbers for artists like Tommy Dorsey, Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, and Frank Sinatra. For the Golden Horseshoe Revue, he provided the lyrics for LaVere’s music. Over the years, he would also write songs for Sleeping Beauty, The Mickey Mouse Club and The Country Bear Jamboree.
While the show featured popular songs like “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey,” and established Disney tunes like “The Ballad of Pecos Bill” LaVere and Adair contributed several original pieces.
Though Judy Marsh was the show’s original female lead, Betty Taylor would be the woman most associated with the Golden Horseshoe Revue and the role of Slue Foot Sue. She’s also the featured performer on the Disneyland album Slue–Foot Sue’s Golden Horseshoe Review. On the record, she performs “Hello, Everybody” with Donald Novis.
A noted actor and tenor, Novis previously worked with Disney as the man who sang the Academy-Award nominated “Love is a Song” from the animated feature Bambi. He was also an uncredited performer on the Lady and the Tramp track “Peace on Earth.”
He remained with the Golden Horseshoe until 1964, when he was replaced by Fulton Burley. As members of the cast, Boag, Taylor, and Burley would all go on to be named Disney Legends. The song (and the rest of the Golden Horseshoe Revue) would be immortalized on screen when it aired in a 1962 episode of The Magical World of Disney to celebrate the show’s 10,000th performance. The number was also included on the 2015 album The Legacy Collection: Disneyland.
Make Mine Music 