Yale's Whiffenpoofs are iconic: "gentleman-songsters off on a spree, damned from here to eternity." (They were simply"doomed" in the Rudy Vallee version of the Whiffenpoof song.) The "tables down at Mory's" reopened this fall after a year-long refurbishing, and the songsters have hit the road.
There are a dozen or so a capella singing groups at Yale, a peculiar Ivy League tradition in these days of rap and flash. In addition to the Whiffs, reserved for male seniors, there are Alley Cats, Spizzwinks and Baker's Dozen on the male side, New Blue and Proof of the Pudding on the female side, and Mixed Company (among many others) of mixed company. (More information here.)
Groups are typically comprised of 10 to 20 singers, led by a "pitch" who conducts while singing. A group founded 55 years ago called The Duke's Men ("Da Doox") is wrapping up its winter tour in Seattle, at Town Hall Friday (Jan. 7).
If you go: The Duke's Men, 8 pm. Friday (Jan. 7), Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, 206-652-4255. Tickets cost $10 for adults $5 for students, and are available at the door. Additional information at townhallseattle.org or dukesmen.com.
