Village Squire, 1977-07, Page 4The Dumbells reached the peak of their fame when they played the Ambassador Theatre on
Broadway. Jack McLaren was part of the troupe.
60 years later the genius of Jack McLaren
and his Dumbell pals is recognized again
For most of us, our work is something that's done today and
forgotten by tomorrow. A few of us may even see reminders
of their work a year, or even five years later. Very few of us,
however, will have tributes paid to our work 60 years later.
Yet June 27 Jack McLaren of Benmiller was brought to the
stage of the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island to be lauded by an appreciative audience who
had just seen some of his work of 60 years earlier.
The occasion was the opening night of the musical The
Legend of the Dumbells at the Charlottetown Festival, a show
recalled in the genius of Jack McLaren and his comrades from
the Dumbell troupe that began entertaining the troops during
World War 1 and ended up being so talented that they stayed
together long after the war was just a memory and played in
PG. 2. VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1977.
such prestigious places as London, Broadway and command
performances for royalty.
The new adventure for Mr. McLaren on his old work began
this past winter when Alan Lund the Festival's artistic
director and the Festival's Administrator Robert Dabberly
arrived to ask his permission and sign a contract to use some
of the material he had written for the Dumbell shows. The
visit couldn't have come at a better time, Mr. McLaren
recalled in the warmth of a June afternoon at his home beside
the Maitland River. He's just been ill from a stroke and
needed something to pick up his spirits. The visit was just
what was needed. By June, with the opening of the
production just around the corner, the old trouper was about
as nervous as an apprentice actor before his first show. He'd