Stu Bykofsky: Mummers planning parade shake-up
THE MUMMERS get it, they finally get it. The annual New Year's Day Broad Street celebration is too long, too slow, too bumpy, not fan-friendly enough.
THE MUMMERS get it, they finally get it.
The annual New Year's Day Broad Street celebration is too long, too slow, too bumpy, not fan-friendly enough.
They get it, and for the last several months the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association has been meeting quietly with other Mummers divisions and the city, scheming to launch a faster, more agile, more traditional parade, especially in South Philadelphia, Ground Zero of Mummery.
As an expression of glasnost (openness), the String Bands invited a persistent parade-lover/critic - that would be me - to sit in on some idea-bouncing, planning sessions. Out of the meetings came changes for the Jan. 1 parade.
The biggest String Band change will affect South Philly. The traditional performance at St. Agnes Hospital will be axed, leaving guaranteed performances at Shunk Street, Methodist Hospital, Washington Avenue, Pine Street, the Union League and City Hall. In South Philly below Washington, String Bands will perform without their giant props, which will be stored at Washington and put into play only north of there.
The move is in response to complaints from fans that the props had gotten so big that spectators' views were cut off, and the music was hard to hear, String Band Association President John Pignotti says.
In South Philly, "We want more people dancing in front of the bands, the way it used to be," he says. "We're trying to bring it back to the people, to return to the parade's traditions."
This being Philadelphia (and despite Barack Obama's mantra) not everyone likes change. Everything new will be on a one-year trial, Pignotti says.
The parade will keep what works, discard what doesn't. Pignotti also promises that the String Bands will entertain by playing music when they march up Broad Street. No more long, silent blocks of pantomime Mummers.
A chronic parade problem lies in the gaps between String Bands and, worse, between String Bands and the three other divisions - Comics, Fancies and Fancy Brigades.
One bit of salve is having entertainment and sports celebs in open cars between the divisions. Calls are being made to Our Town's many music and athletic stars.
In another attempt to attack the gap, division starting points have been shuffled, with Pignotti and associates hoping a new flow will close the gaps. The first-to-go Comics will line up from Washington to Morris. Following the Comics, the wench brigades will come to Broad from east on Washington, then turn north toward City Hall (and the broadcast booth they love to rush). Fancies will line up from Morris to Snyder, the Brigades at Oregon. The String Bands will form at Shunk Street, and the first band (Aqua) will start to play at 9:50 a.m., about 40 minutes earlier than usual.
For the first time, vendors will sell String Band Association T-shirts and sweatshirts, and performance CDs. The Mummers have an idea for a Family Fun Zone, with activities for kids, around Washington Avenue.
With the Brigades marching up Broad and exiting at Washington to head to the Convention Center, with String Bands picking up their props at Washington, and with wenches joining the parade there, all that makes Washington a new "center" for Mummery. It's the only place you will be able to see it all. (The city needs to add additional bleachers there.)
The city recognizes the importance of the parade as a Philadelphia institution, but has leaned on the Mummers to eliminate gaps and hold the parade to eight hours, says Recreation Department Deputy Commissioner Leo Dignam, who also holds the title of Mummers Parade director. "That's been our goal for 10 years," he chuckles ruefully.
This year, he says, it took 3 hours and 1 minute for the String Bands to pass the judges at City Hall. The year before it took 3 hours and 44 minutes. That's a savings of 43 minutes.
"There wasn't more than a three-minute gap at City Hall," boasts Dignam. Elsewhere along the 2 1/2-mile parade route, the news wasn't as good. Like a 20-minute gap, in some places.
"In the past, I think some String Bands had the idea they could go when they wanted to go," says Dignam, in his third year as parade director. He will have marshals to "encourage" Mummers to keep moving.
"Cattle prods?" I ask. Dignam chuckles.
Running the parade is "kind of like Brigadoon," Dignam says. "You only live it once a year. I've been involved for 15 years, so I have 15 days' experience."
With the Mummers' cooperation, that might be enough.
E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns:
