BOYS WILL BE “PONY BOYS” (1915)
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The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
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In the early part of the last century, a Brooklyn school boy could put on a dress with nary a thought of it.
Cross-dressing – for one night of the year, at least – became so popular with some prep school boys, that they looked forward to it eagerly every year, along with their admirers.
This cross-dressing showcase was known as the “Pony Ballet,” the most popular part of the fundraiser put on by Poly Prep which was performed by the pre-pubescent boys of the Poly Prep Country Day School.
At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the spectacle was celebrated annually, it was not only acceptable for every 10-year-old boy to wear a dress – it was expected.
“In 1915’s show the ballet was composed of a dozen youngsters from the lower grades of the school made up as girls. They made the liveliest and most attractive collection of ‘ponies’ seen on the stage in a long time.”
A few years later, in 1917, such songs as “I’m a Regular Man Down Here,” and “Hello, Mr. Dream Man,” were sung with bravado in the show “Three Queens.”
But the cake must have been taken by the Poly Prep boys in 1914 when the “girls” came out in “doll baby dresses of white lingerie.”
But no matter the year, the boys would always bring down the house with their final song. As it was performed onstage, the rest of the company paraded through the house, up and down the aisles of the orchestra – to the extreme delight of the entire audience.
A number of the “non-performing” senior and junior boys served as program “girls” at all of the performances.
Proceeds were used to assist the school in a variety of ways, such as in 1917 when they went to furnish the Alumni Room at the new Poly Prep Country Day School in Dyker Heights.
It is not known when the Poly Prep school boys ceased to perform the Pony Ballet, but it is expected that its finale had something to do with all of the “horsing around” and the “jockeying for attention” that seemed to always go on backstage…
Ahem…..
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