a courthouse line
The Bard Is Back
Make Sure To See "Back In The Black"
By: The Bard Historians
T
he legal community always anxiously awaits the notquite annual, but hilariously funny all-lawyer original
musical comedy: “A Courthouse Line.” Since the
first group of lawyers and judges took the stage in 1999,
the Courthouse Line series has entertained lawyers and
non-lawyers alike. In the process, it has raised about
$250,000 to support the charitable activities of the Atlanta
Bar Foundation. As the Atlanta “Bard” prepares to present its tenth production, Back in the Black, we thought you
might want to hear how it all began.
It all started in 1998 when Greg Smith, then President
of the Atlanta
Bar Association,
had an idea for a
fundraiser: “Let’s
put on a show,”
he thought. He
knew there had
to be some
talented, funny,
frustrated actors/
singers turned
lawyers out there
in Atlanta. And
he thought putting
them on stage to
sing and dance
would surely
draw a crowd.
As luck would
have it, Greg, a
defense lawyer
with the Federal
Defenders, had a case with Cathy O’Neil, then an Assistant
U.S. Attorney. He walked into Cathy’s office to discuss a
case one day and noticed some theater posters on her walls.
Recognizing a kindred-spirit, the pair became a team. And
the Bard Show was born.
In the first “A Courthouse Line” production, thirty-five
lawyers and judges put on a single performance to a packed
house of 375 people at the 14th Street Playhouse. The
show featured a series of songs and skits loosely strung
together by a group of narrators, including Dekalb County
Judge Janice Gordon and Supreme Court Justice David
Nahmias. A highlight of the evening was a Wizard of Oz
parody featuring Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn Brill as Dorothy,
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
October 2013
District Judge Richard Story as the Scarecrow (singing “if I only
had a brain”), Magistrate Judge Clayton Scofield as the Tin
man (singing “if I only had a heart”), and the late District Judge
G. Ernest Tidwell as the lion (singing “if I only had the nerve”).
The audience howled. The Bard Show was an instant hit, and
the Atlanta Bar Association’s very own stage phenomenon was
off and running.
Of course, with over-achieving lawyers, it was not enough to
sing and dance a little. The Bard decided to take “A Courthouse
Line” to another level and to write a full-length, original musical
comedy. The process of script writing is at least a six-month
process: the Bardians gather at a local bar or restaurant for
several weeks to
brainstorm ideas
for themes and
songs and skits.
Then a smaller
group of writers
takes the ideas
and formulates the
plot for the show.
From there, the
writers meet for
many late nights
and weekends
to develop the
characters, craft
the dialogue, select
the songs and
write the musical
parodies that will
become the Bard
Show. Even after
auditions, the script is sometimes modified to write in new parts
or change out songs to fit that year’s talent.
Over its history, the Bard has produced eight other fantastic
shows:
Puttin’ on the Writs followed a group of would-be lawyers on
their journey from law school to first jobs and, ultimately, to
retirement at the ‘Old Lawyers Home.’ As the lawyers struggled
to choose between a career in a law firm or public interest, and
as they spent sleepless nights waiting to get a callback, the
audience was dazzled by a rousing rendition of “The Devil Went
Down to Law School.” No one will ever forget Ken Zirkman
on violin and Jason Poulos on vocals as defense lawyers Don
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association