Photo courtesy of Donovan Harris
A Woodlawn Warblers performance in 1972.
The Woodlawn Warblers, a men’s choral group made up mostly of alumni from Woodlawn High School who were part of the singing group at the school decades ago, is having a reunion performance at Samford University on July 12.
The performance will be at the Wright Center from 6 to 8 p.m. and will include the Three on a String band and “Sam Banana and the Bunch.” Tickets are $30 and can be obtained here.
The Warblers, which have numerous members spread across the metro area, date back to 1929, but the group ceased to exist as a high school organization in the 1970s.
There were sold-out reunion performances at the Alabama Theatre in 1988 that kickstarted periodic performances ever since.
The first Warblers performances were more like a Vaudeville variety show with a mixture of music and comedy. Over time, the performances evolved into a minstrel show, but the minstrel show ended in 1963 due to “evolving cultural norms,” according to a written history of the group. From that point until the last high school show in 1972, it became a “hobo show.”
These days, the reunion performances continue the tradition of four-part harmony men’s choruses.
