Kroks of the 1980s

Krok 60th Anniversary DVD Available!

If you’re a Krok, a Krok alum, or an Honorary Krok, you should have received a 60th Anniversary DVD in 2007. If you would like to purchase extra DVDs, please send a request to Steve Dostart ’86 at dvd@kroks.com for ordering instructions.

Click photos to enlarge.

Kroks of 1980: Alexander L. Aldrich (Director), Grant C. Bue, Mark B. Slaughter (Gen. Mgr.), James A. Bundy (Tour Mgr.), George M. Overholser, Steven L. Zelinger, William G. Adams, Joel T. Mazur, Patrick E. Harris, Scott M. Bradley, Timothy E. Woods (Asst. Dir.), John L. Koenig.

Kroks of 1981: Back Row: Steven L. Zelinger (Gen. Mgr.), Gordon M. Bloom (Tour Mgr.), George M. Overholser (Director), Thomas R. Walsh, Stephen R. Latham, James A. Keyte. Middle Row: Eric P. Kaldjian, Grant C. Bue, Terry R. Robinson. Front Row: James A. Bundy, Frank D. Chaiken, William G. Adams, Michael T. Casey.

Kroks of 1982: Back Row: Rex R. Dean, Marc R. Clinton, Thomas R. Walsh, George M. Overholser (Director), Gordon M. Bloom (Gen. Mgr.). Middle Row: Frank D. Chaiken, Thomas Uskali (Tour Mgr.), Bryan E. Simmons, Stephen R. Latham (Asst. Dir.), William J. Thomson Jr. Front Row: Joel Wachman (Numa), Jeffery B. Frye.

Kroks of 1983: Back Row: Bruce A. Williams, Bryan E. Simmons, Daniel G. Adamian (Gen. Mgr.), Jonathan A. Lieberman, Paul Sagawa, Marc R. Clinton. Front Row: Joel Wachman, Marc A. H. Lowenstein, Frank D. Chaiken (Director), Stuart C. Malina, John T. Redd. Missing: C. Chandler Bryan Jr.

Kroks of 1984: Stuart C. Malina (Director), Steven P. Dostart, David M. Rosenweig, Jeffrey Korn (sst. Dir.), Mark W. Shone, Paul Sagawa (Tour Mgr.), Michael G. Golder, Peter F. Miller, Philip L. Harrison (Numa), John T. Redd (Gen. Mgr.), Jonathan A. Lieberman, Robert L. Parlin.

Kroks of 1985: Back Row: Stephen J. R. Cass, Jeffrey Korn (Director), John N. Axelrod, Steven P. Dostart (Ori), Philip S. Resnik, Philip L. Harrison (Asst. Dir.), Christopher D. Pilcher. Front Row: Peter F. Miller, Robert L. Parlin (Scribe), David M. Rosenweig (Tour Mgr.), T. H. Culhane (I.O.), Paul Sagawa (Gen. Mgr.).

Kroks of 1986: Back Row: Roy P. Sinai, David M. Rosenweig (Tour Mgr.), Nicholas A. Miller (Asst. Dir.), Christopher D. Pilcher (Ori), Kevin S. Wattles, R. Bradford Daley, Guy M. LaCrosby, Tucker McCrady (Numa), Ken T. Oshima, Philip S. Resnik (Scribe). Front Row: Stephen J. R. Cass (Gen. Mgr.), Mark A. Shone (Director).

Kroks of 1987: Top Row: Som-Lok Leung, Daniel J. Cloherty, Mischa A. Frusztajer (Asst. Dir.), Thomas A. Shields Jr. Middle Row: Ken T. Oshima (Tour Mgr.), Stephen J. R. Cass (Gen. Mgr.), John M. Salera (Numa), Nicholas A. Miller (Director). Bottom Row: Paul S. Sherman (Ori), Brooke A. Van Dyke, Kemin S. Tsung, Roy P. Sinai.

Kroks of 1988: Daniel J. Cloherty (Gen. Mgr.), Bentley J. Tolk, Som-Lok Leung (Tour Mgr.), Thomas A. Shields Jr., Jan C. Larsen (I.O.), Ken T. Oshima, Eric M. Westby (Scribe), Paul M. Lincoln (Asst. Dir.), Stephen C.P. Lyne, Paul S. Sherman, Kevin M. O’Halloran, Mischa A. Frusztajer (Director, Ori).

Kroks of 1989: Eric M. Westby, Todd J. Fletcher (Asst. Dir.), Jan C. Larsen (Gen. Mgr., Ori), Brian D. Bumby, David L. Duff, Laurence C. O’Keefe, Thomas A. Shields Jr. (Tour Mgr.), Paul E. Anfinsen, Mark H. Rubenstein, Adam J. Freed, Kevin M. O’Halloran (Tweedwalker), Paul M. Lincoln (Director).

Deep in Pusey

If they hadn’t been discovered in a rare office cleanup by Steve Dostart ’86, the posters, photos, notes, and souvenirs of the Kroks might today be entertaining only the dust bunnies and rodentia of the 12 Holyoke basement. Due to Steve’s vision and astonishingly tireless efforts, the Krok Archive is now a permanent part of the Pusey Library — and is festooning the pages of this website. See a list of the Pusey holdings here.

The history of the Krok Logo

The beloved Krok-in-the-pot logo was originally inspired by an image, drawn by none other than Fred Gwynne ’51, which graced the cover of the first Krok album (click on any of the images below to enlarge):

The image was simplified by Arthur Nichols ’48 into a logo that the Kroks used for nearly 30 years:

It was the artistic inspiration of Alan Wachman ’80 to give the Krok some added presence and whimsy (not to mention a hefty stein of brew), yielding the familiar symbol we know and love today:

Stu Knows Conducting

His performance at Carnegie Hall is one highlight of an amazing career. Stu Malina ’84 is Music Director of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra), and he's conducted the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Greensboro, Charleston, and Indianapolis; the Eastern Music Festival; Nashville Symphony Pops; and Opera Delaware … to name a few. Stu is also an accomplished pianist, having performed throughout the USA, the Netherlands, and with the acclaimed Piccolo Spoleto Contemporary Music Festival. His Tony-award-winning collaboration with Billy Joel has continued, too: recently Stu conducted the world premiere of Mr. Joel's "Symphonic Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra." After graduating from Harvard, Stu received degrees from the Yale School of Music and Curtis Institute of Music. Is Stu a good musician? Probably. (Check out his website, just to confirm.)

Kroks of ’82 with Bernstein

George Overholser ’82, Frank Chaiken ’83, and Gordon Bloom ’82 discuss the finer points of "Doot'n Dooba" with Maestro Leonard Bernstein...

But He Has to Go Home to New Haven

James Bundy ’81 has been Dean of the Yale Drama School since 2002 (read more about him here). Although in his tenure no Kroks have been accepted, the quality of education and programming is reported to be top-notch.

Krokus Ex Machina — Kroks from Scratch

The Kroks, unlike certain senior spree-seeking gentleman songsters we know, assemble their members from all academic classes, thus immunizing themselves from ever having to create a group from scratch — well, almost always. Twice in the group’s history, the Kroks suffered an attrition of 11 members, leaving one hapless, heroic Krok to perform magic. The first time was the Krok group of 1976-77, whose one holdover was musical director Peter Lerangis ’77. The next time was three years later — 1979-80 with Alex Aldrich ’80 at the helm. Clearly neither has fully recovered.

Monotreme Dreams

Alex Aldrich ’80, who would have reached the dizziest of heights on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" but for a question on monotremes (hint: if David Binger had given our fledgling group the name "Platypusoes," Alex may have gotten it right), is currently Artistic Director of the Vermont Arts Council in Montpelier, VT. (Read more about Alex — and, if you're so inclined, about monotremes.)

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Krok 60th Anniversary DVD Available!