Giving Voice to His Talents

As a musical director, arranger and conductor, George Wyle worked on television productions with Andy Williams, Dinah Shore, Flip Wilson, Jerry Lewis, David Copperfield and many others. Now retired, he is putting on musical shows for parents, starring enthusiastic students at Dixie Canyon School in Sherman Oaks. Wyle, 74, and his wife, Gertrude, live in Tarzana.

I came out to California in 1946 to conduct a radio show. I eventually went into television. In all these years I worked for probably everybody on the West Coast.

I retired 4 1/2 years ago. At age 70, I thought it would be a good idea for me to stop working.

A few years ago our temple had a 50th anniversary, and I was involved. The couple in charge of the project said, “Would you be interested in teaching music at an elementary school?”

When I met the principal, he said, “If you could come over here one day a week, it would be wonderful.” I said, “Would it be all right if I came over two days a week?”

After about two weeks of that I said to the principal, “Would it be all right if I made a glee club, a chorale, for children who really like to sing?” It started with 15 or 16 kids. Last year I had as many as 26. This year when I started I had 40.

I have little children at Christmastime doing all sorts of Christmas songs. We’ll do “Feliz Navidad” for the little Mexican children, because the school has a wide variety. Last year I said, “Let’s do ‘White Christmas,’ ” and a little Jewish boy raised his hand and he said, “I can’t sing ‘White Christmas’ because I’m Jewish.” I said, “Well, I’m Jewish, too, and the man who wrote ‘White Christmas’ was Jewish, and he wrote the song.” He said, “Oh, all right, then I’ll sing the song.”

Last year, on my mother’s birthday, I came into the kids and I said, “Today we’re going to sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ And after we sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ I’m going to tell you what that’s all about.” When we finished, I said, “Today’s my mom’s birthday. She’s 92, and that’s why we all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.” One little kid said, “Then you must be 100.” Only a kid would say that.

I met a girl in the hall who is a sixth-grader this year, and I said, “You’re not coming to chorus this year.” And she said, “No, it’s no fun. There are no boys. If you could get more boys in the chorus, I would come.” So that was kind of a cute insight. In third, fourth and fifth grade it didn’t make any difference, but once you’re into sixth grade, boys are important.

Sue Robinson is a mother who’s in charge of all the plays there, and she and I have now written our third original play. I’m writing original musicals with scores and all. Now I’ve got all the time in the world. Working at this amateur level nobody says, “I wish it could be faster, I wish it could be longer.”

When you work for professionals, you earn quite a bit of money, but no professional ever says, “Boy, that’s terrific! That’s the best thing I ever heard in my life.” But when you do it for a kid he’s saying, “I really appreciate it.” That’s better than money.

The kids want to learn. They’re little sponges. Some are more talented than others, but everybody gets a shot. Some talk better than others, so they get good talking parts. Some sing better. Some are terrible singers, but they’re wonderful little dancers. We have a little Chinese boy, must be a second grader, and he’s a clown in our play, because this play’s about a circus. He came over and he said, “I hope you’re not going to make me look funny, because I want to look handsome.”

I’ve taught myself everything I know in music, and I’ve worked since I graduated high school in ’33. I feel after over 50 years in music, that I’m finally giving back something, and the kids are wonderful.

I think the best part is that I’m really doing something with the kids that they would not have if I were not there.