Yesterday in La Crosse
A hypnotist, and lip sync…must be Riverfest, 30 years ago
La Crosse’s Riverfest was still fairly new in 1988…only in its sixth year. The 4th of July festival attracted big-name talent, such as singer John Prine. But it also featured the “Tromso Singers” from Norway, acrobat and juggler Bobby Hunt, and crowd favorite, hypnotist Jim Wand. The ’88 Riverfest also marked the first appearance of the “Puttin’ on the Lips” contest, modeled after a syndicated TV show that had just been cancelled. The lip sync show was a staple of Riverfest for about 15 years.
La Crosse had an unusually warm and dry summer in 1988. The average temperatures for May, June, and August that year remain among the 10 warmest for those months. And there was less than an inch of rain for all of May, leading to brown grass throughout the city when it was time for Riverfest.
The Summerstage show at UW-La Crosse that year was “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” directed by Richard Tinapp. It had recently been done as a movie musical with Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Kyrst Hogan played the madam of the Chicken Ranch in the La Crosse version, and the Reynolds character, Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, was played by future Riverfest Commodore Michael Hartigan. That was 30 years ago, 1988, yesterday in La Crosse.
