The 1985 Entertainment Committee included brand-new lawyers Martha Hardwick Hofmeister and Rhonda Hunter, both of whom have strong backgrounds in music, dance, and theater. Martha has been the director and Rhonda has been the choreographer for the show since it was first staged in 1986.
At the last minute, the first set of performances was named Bar None. That name stuck, and each year the show has a subtitle. Memorable subtitles include Bar Trek: The Tenth Generation, 101 Damn Motions, Suing Miss Daisy, Lawquaman, and Beauty and the Briefs. Bar None’s two performances in 1986 involved 30-plus lawyers and judges. It was a financial success, raising about $7,000 in profit. What could have been a one-shot special event has continued for more than three decades, typically raising between $50,000 and $90,000 annually.
Auditions for Bar None are held in the spring. All who audition are cast. The directors have full discretion regarding who gets cast in which part. While they ask each person auditioning to indicate a preference for singing, acting, or dancing, the directors use their backgrounds and experience to decide who does what. Bar None is not a talent show! The challenge for the directors is to find a role for everyone yet still put on a performance people will pay to watch.
Bar None’s script committee, composed of lawyers, begins collaborating nine months before the June show dates. The show consists of approximately 20 to 25 skits and songs that have had their lyrics rewritten. While the content is often law-focused, even nonlegal types get the jokes.
The entire cast participates in the opening and closing segments, which are big, Broadway-style song and dance numbers. Due to the magical talent of choreographer Rhonda Hunter, it seems to the audience that all 50-plus cast members are pulling off complicated dancing. It’s always an amazing experience for me as a cast member to see it all come together. One year I was a tap dancer with seven other tappers in the opening number, set to the music of “42nd Street”; Rhonda taught the rest of the cast similar choreography so it appeared the entire cast was tap dancing!
Bar None requires six weeks of rehearsal, leading up to four nights of performances. Rehearsals begin in May, and the show runs the Wednesday through Saturday immediately preceding Father’s Day each year at the Greer Garson Theatre on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). Some 400 people are in the audience each night.
I personally love to participate because the creative outlet of singing and dancing keeps me sane as I practice family law; raising money for the scholarships is a bonus! The commitment of the performers to put on a good show produces a contagious energy, and our cast becomes a family.
Bar None ran for 34 consecutive years until the pandemic of 2020. In 2020, the directors created a music video, “We’re Still Standing!,” to the tune of Elton John’s song of that name; this music video was the basis for 2020 fundraising. In 2021, the directors recorded several remotely filmed skits and songs, which were combined with videos from similar lawyer shows in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Austin. The result was an hour-long video that raised money for all of these shows’ charities.