My Favorite BC Memory
by Denis Campbell '79

It was a warm spring day with temps in the low 90s. OK, it was hot! And we spent most of it inside the stifling Roberts Center basketball arena constructing a makeshift stage and lighting grid above the center court circle where later that evening Bob Hope would entertain alumni at an exclusive dinner.

Where we normally watched Bobby “Smooth” Carrington glide to the basket, the arena was magically transformed into a five-star restaurant and dinner theater where the king of all live headliners would regale one and all.

The occasion would raise in excess of $300,000 for the Robsham Theater complex. Until that opened, we staged plays and musicals on the smaller-than-tiny stage in the School of Education’s Campion Hall under the direction of Fr. Larkin and Dr. Marcoux. The stage sat at the far end of a very small gymnasium and limited what one could do. But it was all we knew.

The other part of the evening’s event was a surprise 75th birthday party and cake for Mr. Hope, who looked 50 at the time. I was perched high above the southwest corner of the arena where the heat from the follow-spot brought temps up to the sizzling low 100s. I was very dehydrated, having had surgery just three days previously to remove my wisdom teeth. Nothing but nothing was going to keep me from being a part of this crew.

Mr. Hope electrified a room simply by entering it. There was a buzz and huge shift when he entered and walked to the stage (and this was for the sound check!). We were locked into position in our dark T-shirts and pants while the alumni, looking resplendent in their black tie and evening gowns, dined on five courses.

When the music started, even I was tempted to just sit back and enjoy, but then holding that spotlight that evening as those familiar jokes rolled off his now famous jaw was a great honor and too much fun! I remembering getting a bit woozy at one point, and the director (a young and new professor, Howard Enoch) yelled into my headset that the saxophone soloist was actually one row behind the place my spotlight hit. That was, thankfully, the only gaffe for this rookie crew member. The strike of the set later that night was further gratified when we learned that Mr. Hope was so touched by the birthday celebration that he donated his considerable appearance fee to the theater effort and handed it back to Fr. Monan.

Not a bad day by any standard and an urging to those who use that theater complex every day to remember those who never had the chance to even walk across its stage and how it all began – in a pair of buildings no longer there on my favorite day on the Heights.

Photo courtesy of Boston College Archives, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Editor's note: Robsham Theater celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2007.

Back to the February issue of Alumni Connections.