The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - In 2001, when TVAC Productions prepared to put on its first fall musical production at the newly reconstructed Liberty Theater, it chose to present "The Music Man," the popular musical written by Meredith Willson. The musical was directed by the late Steve Edwards and was such a success that it started a tradition that is still going strong.

One of the prominent features of The Music Man is its barbershop quartet. The obvious choice for the local production was the Waitsburg Quartet, a working barbershop quartet, which at the time included Jack McCaw, Chuck Reeves, Randy Pearson and Bob Patton.

"Chuck called me and said they were putting on a little play at the new theater over there in Dayton," McCaw said recently. "They needed a quartet to sing Lida Rose. I said let's do it."

There was more to it than that though. "He didn't tell me there were speaking parts," McCaw added. "There was a lot more to it than just Lida Rose."

McCaw said he enjoyed being part of the production so much that he signed up for the next year, and has been involved every year since. The quartet has performed in other productions, including in 2010, when The Music Man was reprised.

McCaw sings bass in the Waitsburg quartet and is the only original member still singing with the group. "We started out as the Lions Club Quartet back in the sixties," he said. "Bob Patton was also an original member. Chuck and Randy joined later." Patton had to stop singing with the group about three years ago, and was replaced by Dr. Kyle Terry.

Reeves and Pearson both joined the quartet in 1983, according to Reeves. "The quartet had been in hiatus for a few years, and Jack found out I sang and suggested we get it going again," Reeves said. The quartet has performed several times a year since.

Both Reeves and McCaw said that the 2001 Music Man production was the first time they had performed in a theater production since high school. Reeves has had leading roles in several of the plays including Oklahoma, Beauty and the Beast, and, as Daddy Warbucks, in Annie.

Reeves pointed out that other people, including Jim and Laura Thorn and Mary Luce, have been involved in support roles for all of the fall musicals, though not always performing.

Reeves and McCaw have also performed in every spring Variety Show that has been held at the Liberty. "The quartet has sung in several of those," Reeves said.