Rollins College tips hat to Mister Rogers
Concert looks at lesser-known side of beloved alumnus
Rollins College will pay tribute to one of its most beloved alumni, Mister Rogers, with a program celebrating his music — from the classic “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” to selections from his opera “Josephine the Short-Necked Giraffe.”
The Winter Park college will announce the program honoring the television icon today.
“He sure is missed around here,” said John Sinclair, chair of the music department. “This is a labor of love for us.”
Assisting on the program, which will have three performances the weekend of Nov. 8, is Dan Crozier, a nephew of Fred Rogers who is a member of the Rollins faculty. The music professor joined Rollins more than 20 years ago partly because of his uncle’s history with the school.
“That’s a big part of the reason,” said Crozier. “When there was an opportunity to come, I did.”
Rogers graduated in 1951 from Rollins, where he met his wife, Joanne, and his portrait hangs in the college’s Tiedtke Concert Hall, where the tribute program will take place. He became an institution of countless childhoods as host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which ran nationally on PBS stations from 1968 until 2001. Rogers died in 2003.
Though Rogers is known for many things — tying his shoes, wearing cardigan sweaters and calming Daniel Tiger, a nervous puppet who now stars in his own spinoff series — many are unaware that he was a fine musician. His Rollins degree was in composition, the subject his nephew now teaches there.
“He had really good taste,” Crozier said. “He loved classical music and knew it well.”
As a young composer, Crozier would turn to his uncle for inspiration.
“I would show him the com
“They’re going to be able to see another side of Fred Rogers. They’ll be able to see him as a concert composer, as well.” Dan Crozier, a music professor at Rollins and a nephew of Fred Rogers
positions I was working on,” he recalled.
“He had a very critical ear, but he said things in the kindest way possible, as you’d expect from Mister Rogers.”
For the Rollins program, titled “Mister Rogers: The Musician,” Crozier is choosing the musical selections. Audience members might be surprised.
“They’re going to be able to see another side of Fred Rogers,” he said. “They’ll be able to see him as a concert composer, as well.”
Rollins faculty, alumni and students will be joined by a cappella group Voctave for the event. Pianist Gloria Cook will play Rogers’ senior recital piece, “Variations on Chopin.”
As for the opera, it reflects Rogers’ lifelong interest in making children feel included and special.
“At first, she doesn’t fit in,” said Crozier of Josephine the giraffe, whose short neck sets her apart from her peers. “But she feels good about herself at the end.”
Sinclair said he had been thinking about such a concert for a few years, and planning really kicked into high gear after he watched the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
“I was so moved by that,” Sinclair said. “It was so powerful.”
Next month, Tom Hanks will star in a movie about Rogers called “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Sinclair and the Rogerses were friends for years. Early on in their relationship, Sinclair asked Rogers to sit in on an orchestra rehearsal, expected a little casual feedback.
“The next day, the notes I got were along the lines of ‘Your second bassoon missed an F-sharp in measure 23,’” he recalled. “He was really specific, and I realized the man really had ears. I had no idea that this guy was the real deal.”
As a fellow musician, Sinclair appreciated how Rogers elevated the art form for children on his TV program.
“He never brought second-tier talent on his show,” Sinclair said. “It was Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Watts, Branford Marsalis, Rita Moreno. He said to me once, ‘Don’t you think we should provide our children with the best musicians?’”
Crozier remembers watching tapings of the TV show alongside jazz great Johnny Costa, who performed the tinkling piano underscoring during the episodes.
“He even let me play once,” Crozier related, “something from the ‘Neighborhood of Make Believe’” — the popular segments featuring such puppets as King Friday, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, Henrietta Pussycat and X the Owl.
Costa’s original jazz arrangements will be used by the musicians in the Rollins program, which will feature songs from the show such as the bouncy “It’s Such a Good Feeling.”
Crozier and Sinclair wonder whether the audience might be moved to sing along.
Sinclair recalls an evening in 2002 when he was conducting a rehearsal of Epcot’s Candlelight Processional chorus in a large tent backstage at the Disney World theme park. Rogers popped in to say hello — and was instantly recognized by the 300 or so high school students who were practicing.
“The tent went ballistic,” Sinclair said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
Rogers expertly took control of the situation.
“Fred walked over to the microphone and started singing, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’” Sinclair said. “And the kids joined in and sang along.”