For some reason, I don't have much to distinguish this year. That's odd... nothing in my Theatre Resume, either??? Let's see...I was 17. Well, that must be why...{;-) No Goodyear shows...must have been working. That's it: I got a job working for Leo SMERGLIA, Karen SMERLIA's father. He owned a Gas supply company and a Welding School. I did some tedious inventory work at the Gas Supply Co. After we (another apprentice & I) finished the inventory, I was shifted to the welding school...this was the summer of '67. My main job there was to stand outside in the scorching heat, using an Acetylene torch to cut 16' pipes into 10" sections to be used by the students for their welding lessons. THen, at the end of the day, I had to sweep up the taklings and drops that had fallen on the cement floor. This was awful work, not difficult, but to be using a torch to heat up pipe so it could be cut while standing in the hot sun all day was torture...or should I say, "torcher"... {;-) [Sorry] Anyway, I HATED IT ! The molten hot, melted, pipe drippings would hit the ground and bounce back up to hit my levis, burning holes in them, to mention burn my skin, as well ! Then one day. not too far in the future, Leo asked if I knew anything about remodelling houses. I said "Yes!".. .How much does a 17 year old know about remodelling houses? Cheap labor. Though, I did help build & paint sets at Goodyear Musical Theatre. That and watching my grandfather work wood and build kitchen cabinets did give an edge. Dale BECKETT joined me, as we began to remodel a smalll house recently bought by Leo's sister, Angie. This house was built by a welder...go figure why the newer half of the house was a quarter of an inch lower than the older half??? And he put rows of nails EVERY 18 inches into the siding. He used a couple of Bandaids to cover up two holes in the inside walls and painted over them. The front of the house was lower than the back by at least 6 inches, so there were NO square angles ANYWHERE ! It's a wonder he got doors put in some of the rooms. Dale & I painted walls, refinished ALL the moulding in every room. Put up wall-paper in the kitchen. It was not a bad way to spend the summer. Angie's mother would come over and cook an evening meal for the four of us. She was a small, Italian woman. She measured spices and ingredients by pouring it into her cupped hand...no measuring spoons or cups. we LOVED her spagetti sauce. One meal she made stood out. She took steak that was over and inch thick, beat it flat with an old, thick, glass coffee cup. She then took hamburger and wrapped it in the flattened steak pieces. She placed the beef and Italian Sausage in a large pot of sauce cooked it. It was THE BEST Italian meal we had EVER had ! The steak was so tender, it fell apart. The house was quite attractive after we got done with it. We both recieved a couple of hundred dollars each...I can't remember exactly how much, but it sure made us "happy campers!"
I took my share of the money we made from remodelling the house and decided to take a trip OUT WEST...remembering my strong feeling for The Tetons when I was out there in 1963. I was determined to live Out West ! When Dale realized how serious I was about leaving, he asked if I could use some company...even though the only other place, outside of Akron that he'd EVER traveled to was that graduation trip (summer of 1966) that Mom & Dad hosted for me and my best friends I was elated ! I said, "I SURE COULD."
On the morning we planned to leave, we packed up all my "stuff" into his 1955 Chevy and went over to his house to pack his stuff. It was very early in the morning...about 2 a.m. As we got his things from his basement, we noticed that his mother was standing the the shadows of the living room... weeping...very dramatic. I knew she didn't particulalry like me, but that morning, she must have been feeling even stronger feelings of distaste for me because I was "taking her boy away from her"...Dale's girlfriend, Sioux DOONAN, (and also one of my closest female friends) came over and SHE began weeping as well...it was not going well for either of us. Two women loathing me because I was taking Dale away from them. Dale had been very enthusiastic about the trip from the moment he decideed to accompany me...now he was having second thoughts. I stuck to my guns and said I was going, regardless. So we left his house around 3 am. We approached Rt. 224 ( I had been SO used to turning right on 224 whenever my family went to Pennsylvnania during my childhood...MANY trips...It was EARLY, I was tired and I was arguing with Dale as to which way we should turn....BAD Paul !...While we were arguing, he turned left: the correct direction...and didn't notice the red light. At 3 in the a.m., we didn't care much. No sooner than he got the car straightened out, we saw Red Lights Flashing behind us and heard the Police Siren. "Oh God, what had we done?"...The nice Policemanm noticed that we had our belongings stacked in the back seat & said, "Where are you boys heading?" We both said "California"..to which the Policeman replied, "Well, you're not gpoing to get there at this rate...you just went through Red Light..." I explained our previous dilemma and he let us off with a warning: "Just Watch Where You're Going" and with a fatherly smile, let us continue.
We first stopped in Council Bluffs, Iowa to spend the night at my Uncle Floyd's house. He and Aunt Minnie weren't at home, but Cathie was. It was a beautiful day, so We decided to go for a walk along the gravel country road. Dale was antsy and kept talking about "Home"...so much so, that it bothered me to no end. I said, "Look, I'm sorry, but I can't stand hearing you moan about "Home" every day! If you want to go home, LET'S GO HOME. I can't take this any longer. He quietly said, "No...........let's keep going."...so we both shut up and decided to keep going. Looking back, I can see where Dale was apprehensive about leaving home...he wasn't used to traveling like I was. Cathie offered to let us "bunk" on her living room floor for the night.
Early the next morning, we said thanks and goodbye and headed for Gordon, Nebraska. We stopped at Uncle Levi's for the night. It was late afternoon, and Dale & I went for a walk in "downtown" Gordon. We first encountered a VERY drunk Indian who tried to talk to us, but we couldn't understand a word he said !??? We walked on....a few moments later we heard whistling...???... we looked across the street and a few. actual Cowboys were laughing and whistling at us...."Nice Legs ! they crowed...Dale and I, being suburb-bred, were wearing Bermuda shorts... a piece of clothing, no self-respecting Cowboy would touch, let alone wear ! They were teasing us. We quickly turned around and walked briskly back to Levi's.
The next day we drove to The Black Hills. We drove around admiring the beautiful scenery, so unlike Akron, it was exotic! Pronghorn Antelope and Bison everywhere! We stopped at a Look-Out Station and walked up the many steps of the observation tower. We were SO loving the new perspective. We talked to the Forest ranger on duty and told him of our trip west. He knew we didn't have a lot of money (to pay for a camp-site), so he said, "If you come back after 5 pm, though it's against park regulations, I'll let you park your car below the tower and bunk up here with me for the night. We thanked him and left to do some more site-seeing. we stopped at a gas station in a near-by town and Dale bought some gas and 10 cans of oil for the car. We then went back to the park to drive around. We noticed a car parked by the side of the road. The driver had the hood up and by the smoke that issued forth, was obviously in trouble. We stopped to give a helping hand. Dale was, among being a great guitarist and electronics buff, very handy with car repairs. Dale realized that all they needed was oil...and what did we have in our trunk?: 10 quarts of oil ! The driver paid us for the oil he used and told us that they (he, his wife and giggling pre-teen daughter) had rented a cabin. After they had heard of our trip, they asked us to join them for dinner...and during the ensuing conversation, told us that we could park our car next to their cabin for the night. We were going to sleep in the car regardless of where it was parked, so we decided to save on some gas by not driving back across the park to the tower and said "Thanks, we will."..and did so.
Early the next morning, we left for Murray, Utah, to see my Uncle and Aunt, John & Mildred ROTH_SPRINGMAN. We decided to stay there for a night or two.. .the offer of a REAL bed to sleep in was eagerly accepted. We ate dinner & converesd with them for quite a while. Then we went to bed. SOOOOOOOOOOO comfortable ! The next day, we visited the Mormon Tabernacle & Church, bought some Salt-water Taffy after seeing the Great Salt Lake. and drove up the mountain to the Utah State Capital. It's parking lot overlooked the entire valley and the mountains beyond. It was night by the time we got up there and the valley was all lit up. It was a beautiful site. Since we were out of $$, John & Mildred gave us each $25 (for a "Belated Graduation Present") which was SOOO nice of them! Something they did NOT have to do. They offered to let us stay in their guestroom if we chose to look for employment in town. We eagerly accepted and went to an agency, which sent us both out to a Folding Door Factory. We both were accepted there for work! On the way home, we stopped at a music store and Dale also got a job teachihng guitar there. He was that good! That night before we went to sleep, we talked about our plans...and Dale realized that he was still home-sick...he missed Sioux.
And where did that leave me?...a day away from California, a total of $25 in my pocket and I could possibly be vehicle-less...So we pack up the next morning, call the businesses that were going to give us jobs, said thanks for everything to John & Mildred and left for points east.
The trip home was swift and uneventful...sort of: Once we got to the flatlands, Dale put his 4-barrel carburator back on the engine. Across Nebraska, Dale was driving in excess of 100 miles per hour! Straight, empty roads...NO police in sight...I wasn't so brash..I only drove 100 m.p.h. Nothing of note happened until we got to Chicago Heights...a southern suburb. Dale was driving 30 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h.zone and the police pulled us over. He took Dale into his car and I sit there for over an hour !??? Dale finally the policeman got out of his car and came over to me. He asked if I had a valid driver's license. I said, "Yes, I do" He said, "Follow me", turned and got back in his car...???!!!?? WHAT WAS HAPPENING???? I followed them to the station. we parked our cars, then I see the policeman take Dale into the station and I don't hear a thing for a couple hours more. I finally went into the building to see if Dale was OK. After another long wait, they finally let Dale tell me what was going on. They fined him $35.00....which we didn't have, having spent our Graduation presents from John & Mildred on gas...So I said, "I can call my Uncle Bill KELLERMAN, in Glen Ellyn, north of Chicago." I call him and tell him what had happened and could he PLEASE loan me the $35 until I got back to Akron and got the money to pay him back from my parents. He said he'd come down to the station and pay the fine for us. Uncle Bill had an "all-business" personality and though we were always pleasant to each other, I never felt very close to him. I though it was VERY decent of him to help us out. I thanked him profusely and we left for our last leg of the trip home to Akron. I was depressed at NOT being "Out West" until:
I'd been a dancer in the shows since 1965. One earlier rehearsal night, the director called my name and motioned for me to follow him up to the lobby...I thought I was in some sort of trouble...WHAT, I couldn't imagine??? Turned out that he wanted me to read for the "Voice Of The Book" part ! He wanted to know if my usually quiet speaking voice could project! It could...and I got the part ! {:-) All my friends who saw the show couldn't believe that I had a potential to be an announcer ! They didn't recognize my voice ! My only problem was that almost every speech came right after a dance number and I'd be out of breath. I barely had time to take one deep calming breath and begin my speeches !
Paula CINKO went on to become one of Dean MARTIN's "Gold Diggers" performers
Goodyear Musical Theatre, back in operation after a two-year break, has handsomely framed the Broadway musical comedy hit "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying." There's a professional touch in effects achieved by imaginative sets, the dazzling coors in costuming and in other technical production areas.
And with two reservations, the musical side of "How To Succeed" comes off splendidly in Director, Jack HORNER's show.
The production numbers are particularly effective, the performer's boisterous enthusiasm dellighting the audience. At these times, "How To Succeed" is very entertaining.
But (unfortunately, there's a "but"), this is a comedy as well as a musical. If "How To Succeed" is to succeed at this level, it's all in the lap of J. Pierpont FINCH, that artful, ingenious, disarmingly deceitful young schemer who becomes a corporation chairman almost overnight.
And Robert MANZARI, for all this charm and skill in song (the voice really is quite good), does not master the comic subtleties of FINCH. Where FINCH is supposed to register slyness, MANZARI is rather transparent. Where FINCH might give you the faint, self-pleased smile of a young boy who has pulled off something naughty which has fooled his elders, MANZARI gives you a silly, look-what-I've-done smirk.
Hence, some of the best comedy moments don't come off, and "How To Succeed" falls short of being as blithely entertaining as it should be.
That part of FINCH which eludes MANZARI, coupled with Ron CORBIN's lackluster performance as the blustering, foolishly domineering J. B. BIGGLEY, take some of the fun out of this musical comedy.
However, this only diminishes, and certainly does not spoil, a first rate attempt at transmitting the rowdy good humor of this Frank LOESSER-Abe BURROWS hit.
Alma LAURENTZ is capable as FINCH's earnest, love-sick lady friend (though Alma's voice is too small for Rosemary's vocals). Joe DiGIROLOMA capers nicely as Bud FRUMP, the willful, All-American spoilsport who is a comicly loathesome example of coroporate nepotism.
Paula CINKO is very good as Smitty, here a tall, brassy blonde as Rosemary's confidante and co-conspirator. Bobby WHIPPY wiggles and minces appropriately as Hedy LaRUE, the slapstick sexpot.
I got a job through a employment agency in Akron...Got the job as "Assistant Manager Trainee" for "PERMATONE TILE CO." on Mancherster Road, owned by a Mike KISHA. I learned all about ceramic, vinyl tiles. I got to the point of being left alone with the secretary...I was officially the Assistant Manager...but certain dubious activities by Mike, caused me to not want to be there. I so wanted to be a professional musician. On a Friday, I signed the paychecks for myself and the secretary and left a note to Mike that I was leaving his employ.
Though my personal Summer Stock years began in 1968, the story actually begins in the summer of 1965: my Sophomore year at Ellet High School in Akron, Summit Co. OH.
My oldest brother Dan and his wife, Joanne were at Cleveland Ohio's "Musicarnival", a large, theatre-in-the-round, outdoor, summer theatre as part of the acting/singing chorus. This was their second season there.
Two of my High School best friends were Garry WYCKOFF and Lenore DiFIORE. They were also spending the summer there as an Apprentices.
I spent part of the summer with Dan & Joanne, living in their 35 ft. House Trailer on the theatre's lot.
One of the shows they would be doing was "110 in the Shade". Dan & Joanne had given me the score to "110" for my 17th birthday, that Spring. I loved the music from the show very much and one day, I was sitting at the rehearsal piano on the rehearsal stage in back of the "Big Top" practicing on the score to another show, when this guy burst onto the stage, saw the score to "110" on top of the piano, thinking it was theatre property, grabbed it, saying "I need this for the Ballet light cues" and immediately whirled away before I could stop him and tell him it was MY score! I asked Dan to get it back for me... which he did that night. The ballet section was covered with hastily written lighting cues...I thought, "Oh well, it would be a neat momento of my summer there"...The guy who "borrowed" my score was the company's Assistant Lighting Technician: I noticed his name in the programs : Lance Crocker. He was always hanging lights, so I had no other contact with him for the rest of the summer. Subsequently, whenever I played through the "110..." score and saw those lighting cues, I remembered Musicarnival and Lance.
I had missed the first show: "Sound Of Music", but saw the rest of the shows:"Show Boat", "110", The Music Man", "South Pacific", "Sing Out Sweet Land" (A musical, historical review with music arranged by Musicarnival's Musical Director, Wally Harper (a fellow Akronite!...a Central High School, graduate). I missed the last show: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". What a wonderful, enlightening summer. I learned a LOT about Summer Stock that summer, saw how much WORK was put into it by EVERYONE, including the Tech. Crews ! AND met a lot of VERY talented actor/singers. Among them was John SCHUCK: TV's future, "MacMillan & Wife" co-star!
The last show I saw was "My Fair Lady". Since I was going to be "Alfred P. Doolittle" in Ellet High School's production of "My Fair Lady" in the fall, Dan arranged for me to speak to the actor that was doing the "Doolittle" part. He was impressed with my English accent and gave me some pointers in characterization. It really helped me later when I performed the part.
Summer Stock Story moves quicky ahead 3 years to 1968 : Remember Garry Wyckoff?...He had moved to Boston after his stint at Musicarnival. He called me in March of '68, asking me if I wanted to come up to Cape Elizabeth, Maine and be the accompanist for "The Downeast Players", a summer stock company headed by Lance Crocker ! That name sounded familiar...but I didn't remember where I heard it???. Garry was to be the Musical Director and didn't want to play for the shows as well ! Lenore DiFiore was to be the company's Costume Mistress ! What a WONDERFUL way to spend the summer...making music whilst working with two good friends and live on a 3,000 acre estate on the Atlantic coast!...So I said, "No thanks (OUCH!), I have just gotten a new job and am making payments on a new-used car!...I'm SO sorry !...But thank you for asking anyway..."...(BIG SIGH HERE)...I had to consider my parents, since I was living under their roof...and Dad had co-signed for my car loan. ..they wouldn't like it if I left a "good" job for a summer job !
Four months later...: I COULDN"T STAND MY JOB ANY MORE !...The Boss was more and more, NOT there...which was the reason for my training...BUT: he was having an affair and spending more time with "Her" than with his wife, who was always calling the store...putting me in an embarassing situation in which I had NO wish to be put! I was constantly thinking about the theatre job I turned down...A plan was taking shape in my mind...ie. I called Garry and asked him if the position was still open...(I HOPE, I HOPE, I HOPE!). Fortune was with me at that moment: Garry said "Come on up...BUT...the budget is already set and you'll have to split a paycheck with me. That would mean you get $30.00 a week..."...not much...infinitely LESS than what I received at the tile company...but room and board with no rent to pay...Atlantic Ocean...theatre work I LOVED...I could just make the car payments...I said "YES! YES! YES!..I'll be there in a few days!".
Now...the problem would be arranging to leave. That Friday I wrote a letter to the boss...left it in his office where he would find it and went home to pack.
I knew Mom & Dad would disapprove heartliy, so being young and impulsive, I didn't tell them I was going. So, while Mom was doing the laundry downstairs, I sneaked (snuck?) my suitcases, stereo and a few of my favorite records out to my car in the garage, knowing full well, that I was doing something that would get me into to hot water with my parents, I told Mom I was going for a ride and drove off toward Maine.
I didn't call Mom & Dad until I was at my brother Dan's apartment in New York City. Dad was not happy to hear of what I had done and refused to talk to me (I don't blame him...but I didnt know what else to do about my situation). Mom was not happy either, but sympathetic with my needs and dreams...I had previously spent the past four years in association with Akron's Goodyear Musical Theatre, performing in two shows a year, as a dancer/chorus member, one show in the Spring and the other in the Fall of each year....Plus doing the role of Alfred P. Doolittle in Ellet High School's Senior Musical, "My Fair Lady" n 1966. Mom eventually calmed Dad down.
My next stop was Ram Island Farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine:
The winding route eventually led me south, out of Portland. I got lost, but eventually found the entrance to the farm, which was very picturesque and also a Private estate: The road winds along for a few minutes and suddenly, I saw a large, crescent shaped beach and the infinite ocean beyond. What a sight for a person who grew up in Akron, Ohio ! It was incredible!... alternating pebble and sand beaches...a town on the southernmost edge where the land juts out into the sea, the smell of salt water permeating the air... and the constant sound & sight of seagulls! I thought I had died and gone to heaven ! My excitement heightens considerably ! A few more turns in the road, past a few quaint houses, I passed a long straight driveway leading to a two story grey-shingled house whose back yard was a tangle of shubbery, a very short distance from the ocean !!! I was in love with the place immediately! I passed two more houses before I got to the entrance, proper, to the Farm.. .Two square brick pedastels flanked the road into the Farm, each supporting a statue of a charging ram ! Imposing ! Just past the rams, the driveway split right and left...? Which one to choose?...I took the road to the left which led to a large white, two-story farmhouse with two medium-sized greenhouses behind it. I got out of the car, walked up to the door and knocked. A teenage girl answered and called for her father (later I, was told that he was the caretaker, Mr. MacIntosh and the girl was one of his daughters, Laura). Mr. MacIntosh gave me the phone number of the theatre's owner, Mille Monks. She gave me the theatre's number and Garry answered. He told me how to get to the theatre...follow the road past the caretaker's house, past the farm's equipment barns which would lead me to the main barn/theatre. Garry was standing at the foot of the stairway leading up to the theatre entrance on the second floor. I got out of my car and greeted Garry, whom I hadn't seen since we graduated in June '66. He led me up the steps to the theatre entranc...through the double doors and I saw a small stage (16' X 16' with a 2' wide ledge/step surrounding the square) on my left at one end of the room and a bare, black, wooden floor. Directly opposite me I saw an organ and an old upright piano..."My Orchestra"!!... in an alcove with a half-round window above a large windowseat. My first impression was EXREMELEY favorable ! I WAS in Heaven !...and NOT AT ALL unhappy with my choice of leaving Akron, Ohio !!!
Above us, in the rafters was the Director/Electrician/Set Designer/Lord High Everything Else, Lance Crocker, positioning some lights. Garry asked him to come down and meet me...As he descended the ladder, the second I saw his face, I remembered Musicarnival and I quickly searched through an armful of music, found my "110 in the Shade" score opened it to the Ballet section, shook Lance's hand and showed he and Garry the hastily written lighting cues THAT WERE IN LANCE'S OWN HANDWRITING!...Lance was incredulous ! He said, "Where did you GET this score?!?"...I then asked him if he remembered grabbing a score off of the rehearsal piano at Musicarnival the summer of 1965...He thought for a moment and then said, "Now I remember ! That was Your score ?!...This is Incredible!...Dan told me that score belonged to his brother...". There was a strange feeling of interconnectedness that rivited us to our spots for a few moments...who would have known, in 1965...in Cleveland, Ohio, that the three of us would be working with each other in a summer stock theatre on a farm in Maine three years later???? A POWERFUL omen of things to come...
Lance returned to his work and Garry then took me to that two story grey-shingled house I passed on the way in. It was called "Spurwink House" and would be the company lodging for the summer. Through the front door, was a medium sized kitchen where most of us would be eating our daily breakfasts. Next was a large, painted, barefloored living room with a few sofas, chairs and a large picture window looking out over the dense bushes in the "back" yard...with a small path leading towards the ocean. What didn't show as we looked out of the window was a craggy 20 foot drop-off on the sea-side of the bushes...large striated cliffs and a large pebble beach. To the right of the living room was a hallway that led to two large bedrooms, one to be used by Lance, his wife Cathy. The other large room was to be used by Stephen and Diane Vega-Snow and their daughter, Robin, who had the largest blue eyes with long lashes and dark curly hair. To the left of the living room was a stairway that led to the two upstairs bedrooms (one on the left for the guys, the one on the right for the girls of the acting company and a communal bathroom. I took my belongings upstairs and chose one of the many beds close to a window. My good friend from high school: Lenore Difiore had arrived with Garry, Lance & Cathy, his wife, earlier, but was in town with Cathy when I arrived.
Next, I was to meet the theatre's business manager, John DOBBINS as well as the stage manager, Van McLEOD and the Tech. Director, Tony PERRONE. Cathy CROCKER was company's Production Manager and Lenore, the Costume Mistress also a singer/actress. Van & Tony also acted & sang.
The Estate: Ram Island Farm : 3,000 acres of prime land, two islands: Ram Island : small rocky island shaped like a ram's head, covered with seagulls and at the northern end of the property was a huge rocky breakwater leading to Richmond Island. When the tide was in, you could only see the tips of the highest rocks. The mainland property had long sandy beaches, several pebble beaches, sand dunes, pine forest, an orchard, a small pond surrounded by moss-covered trees, a small log cabin deep in the forest...deer and other wildlife all over the estate, all belonging to the Sprague family.
A barnyard theater? That's what you'd think if you took a look at the location for the newly established DOWNEAST Theater in Cape Elizabeth (ME).
The theater itself is an authentic old barn at ther SPRAGUE Corporation's Ram Island Farm overlooking the scenic Cape Elizabeth shoreline. The farm animals are an unplanned special effect.
The strictly nonprofit theater is the summer home of the newly organized DOWNEAST PLAYERS, a group of 12 professional actors, singers and dancers from Portland, ME and Plymouth, NH.
Aside from producing a schedule of top-notch summer plays, the group also conducts a series of workshops designed to educate interested people to the various aspects of theater art. Regularly scheduled workshops run Mondays through Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. Special workshops are run every Monday and Teusday nights starting at 8 p.m.
Lance CROCKER, Deering High School graduste and president of the PLAYERS, trced the idea of the DOWNEAST PLAYERS back four years. "We wanted to initiate some kind of program (theater art) for the Portland area in general," he said.
The group's decision to incorporate the Ram Island Farm facilities into their plans was a result of the SPRAGUE's generous offer to allow the use of the barn while renting them a house to stay at.
CROCKER said that the group's primary goal is "education, not only for ourselves, but also for as many people as we can reach." They feel that Portland has good potential for becoming a major art and culture center.
The education CROCKER speaks of is free of charge; it is also professional. All of the PLAYERS conducting the daily workshops are profsssionals and most of them teach at public and art schools during the off-season.
Obviously, a group if stage players cannot perform without financial resources, whether their organization is profit or nonprofit.
Because the group perfoms and instructs in a residential area and cannot, therefore, charge admission to their performances, they are forced to rely on donations for their existence.
CROCKER said that the group would continue productions and workshops at the Ram Island Farm next summer, regardless of this season's success. But they're hoping more people in the Portland area will become interested enough to venture out to the farm and take advantage of their summer program.
While you're out there, you may hear a rendition of "Talk To The Animals".
The special workshop schedule for July is as follows:
For additional information and the summer play schedule call 799-0043.
The Acting Company for the first half of the summer was to be:
Ram Island Farm residents made up the rest of the chorus: Mille's son & daughter, Bobby & Melinda MONKS; Mille's sister, Ellen HIGGINS & her daughters: Kate & Charlotte & the farm's caretaker's daughter, Laura MacINTOSH. The kids were apprentices; the work was hard on them, but I think we all got along well.
I had learned what an Electrician's and a Theatre Apprentice's lives were
like, by observing Lance & Garry and Lenore at MusiCarnival (1967). They
were allowed to be chorus members, plus they had to do all the "Grunt Work"
around the theatre. Assisting Professional Department Heads and also
learning from them, while they worked. It was a difficult, exciting and
profitable summer job. They kept their weight down and learned a theatre
craft or three in the process. I heard that some theatres charged their
Apprentices a Fee for learning their craft. Might have had to do with
joining the Actor's Union ("A.F.T.R.A.")?
First day of rehearsals: Lance told us we were to play some "theatre-games" to test how the ensemble worked together. The first game was called "CONCEPTS", which consisted of Lance choosing a concept...ie, the color "Red," and an "It" person: (Phyllis) was singled out to guess what concept the rest of us were trying to convey. I don't remember who did which:
We were all getting a bit tired expending a lot of energy with no positive results, so we relished the idea of loosening Phyllis up a bit. However, we didn't realize just how uncomforable she was. WHAT could we DO??? Our final attempt was to portray gang violence with Phyllis as the victim...operative word here is PORTRAY...Well...Phyllis Freaked Out! She thought we were actually going to beat her up !...So Lance quickly called a recess...We apologized to Phyllis for scaring her. But I don't think she trusted us for the rest of her stay that summer.
Later, another game : we'd lift a person into a horizontal position in the air above our outstretched arms and tried to make that person feel like they were riding an ocean wave...trying to get that person to relax enough to trust us. That one worked better and everyone was laughing after a short while. We were all feeling very good about the coming summer.
Everyone got one meal a day as part of their contract. Since I arrived after the budget was approved, I had to cook that meal for the rest of the company to pay for MY meal. So...as well as learn all the music for each show, I had to leave the afternoon rehearsal early in order to have dinner prepared on time. As a result, I learned to play the music VERY quickly!... I cooked (Thank you Mom, for showing me how !) the dinner in "The Picnic Basket", a large cement floored building a few hundred yards from the theatre overlooking the ocean. It had a large wooden deck the entire length of the seaward side of the building, built over a very large, deep cliff/alcove, with a tall, metal safety fence to keep the many family members/children from falling to their deaths...I mean it was a long way to fall! The seaward side of the P.B. was all glass so one could enjoy the view. The side facing the theatre was barely one story with several picture windows and a door. The kitchen end of the building had two large picture windows behind the sinks, overlooking a few pine trees and the vast ocean beyond. Made washing dishes enjoyable!.The whole building was faced with large pieces of slate. It had a full kitchen, many picnic tables, sofas, chairs and a piano. When Lance needed the theatre for building sets or hanging lights or blocking scenes, the rehearsals were held in the P.B.
I'd get up at 8 a.m. every morning, eat breaksfast and head to the theatre for the first rehearsal of the day at 9:30 a.m. For each show, we'd use the first rehearsal to read through the script to see what we'd need to do for the characterization, sets, props, etc. We'd then take a 10 minute break and then Lance would take some of the actors and block the first scene, while Garry & I would take whoever Lance didn't need to the P.B. and teach them the vocal numbers. We'd rehearse until noon and then break for lunch... sometimes I'd drive as many as could fit in my car to the local B. & W. Rootbeer stand and pig out on coney dogs and root beer. the rehearsals resumed at 1 p.m. I'd have to leave that rehearsal around 4 .m. to prepare the dinner. We'd eat around 5 p.m. and the rehearsals would again resume at 7 p.m. and last until 10:30 or 11 p.m.
Each performance would run for two week-ends, four performances...on Frinights and Saturnights. Sundays were our days off.
Don't ask me when I found time to practice...I don't remember...We rehearsed the first show for two weeks during the mornings...break for lunch...give classes in Theatre Arts: Acting, Singing and Dancing, for area residents...adults, teenagers and kids...break for dinner, then rehearse until time to quit. We performed the first show on the second weekend. On Monday of the third week, we began rehearsing the next show...We also gave children's theatre performances...And so went our summer.
I discovered that the musical scores were handwritten...NOT the printed scores I was used to reading...chicken scratches! What FUN!...NOT!!!
What a delightful show! : Full of "Mom & Apple pie, down-homey sentiment".. .O.K., I know it was the late '60s, free-love, etc., but I grew up with the 50's outlook: Dad works, Mom takes care of the kids and the house, two week vacation every year, we did everything AS A FAMILY...church every Sunday... vacation Bible School...barbecues in the back yard...FAMILY reunions every few years...So "RIVERWIND" "struck familial chords" in me AND with the appreciative audiences !
Phyllis gave an excellent performance as the young girl in love for the first time. Lenore was touching as the Mother as well as VERY funny in her drunk scene with Diane, the middle-aged woman trying to rekindle a spark in her marriage. Ronnie did a good job as her husband. Dallas was great as the awkward boy, "John" who was in love with "Jenny". Stephen and Richarda were hysterical in their roles. We also performed in a banquet room at the Sheriton-Eastland Hotel in Portland. We had great audiences! Our first HIT!
At first, the company members were only allowed on Spurwink House grounds. ..the road TO the theatre...the area immediately surrounding the barn/theatre...the field between the theatre and the P.B. and the P.B. itself...remember, this was a private estate and we were the first "outsiders" to enter the property...EVer !..."Dont trust THOSE Theatre PEOPLE!"...
Double scores...! : "Double your pleasure, double your fun"....NOT!... NOT!
Again...if I DO say so...in my own "humble" opinion/imoho we did an excellent job! We were drawing more and more audience members to our theatre. "Carnival" was a another hit. Dallas was dark and brooding, Diane was brassy, Stephen was gentle and touching, Phyllis was very good, J.Dennis was funny. [ He would do impressions of Groucho Marx and Professor Erwin Corey and keep us in stitches all summer! ]
Since I was/am a self taught pianist (except for three years of lessons in grade school) I wasn't familiar with EVERY musical term...and in the Ballet number, there were notes written at the top of each section...One said : "Dragon"...another said "Duck"...I wondered, "What can these terms MEAN???"...After we began blocking the Ballet...I discovered that there was supposed to be a Dragon and a Duck appear at certain strategic sections of the music...so much for musical terms...(Blush)...
By now we had proven we COULD be trusted and they let us use a section of beach at the northern edge of the property next to Two Lights State Park and we were also allowed on the breakwater leading out to Richmond Island...so we went on a Sunday picnic on the island. When the tide was "OUT" we could walk on the sand bars next to the large boulders that formed the breakwater...BUT we had to make sure we left the island BEFORE the tide came back IN or we'd have to SWIM! Well, we had SO much fun exploring the island : w/ a large field of wheat, a pebble beaches, a small freshwater lakelet and a caretaker's cabin at one end of the lakelet, plus some granite cliffs on one end., us landlubbers didn't quite judge the time correctly and indeed, we had to swim a bit AFTER we TRIED to walk ON the boulders/cement pieces with chairs, blankets, coolers etc...WHAT a scene. I'm glad the "natives" weren't around to see us fall and scrape our knuckles & shins in slippery stones!... We spent many Sundays exploring Richmond Island
I also spent as much of my free time on the rocks below the P.B. watching the tide fill the numerous tidal basins and studying the equally numerous basin inhabitants...or just lazily watching the hundreds of seagulls soaring in the sky...or watch as a gull would land, pick up a crab, fly 20 or so feet in the air and drop the crab on the rocks, then quickly plummet down before another gull stole his meal...We all took many long walks on the sandy beaches, sometimes we'd walk to the State Park. It was all magical to me....
CAPE ELIZABETH - The Ram Island Arts Center provides one of the most scenic settings imaginable for a summer theater and its accompanying poetry readings anmd art shows.
Located on the SPRAGUE Estate, the theater is in a marvelously refurbished barn and it seemed a real shame to see only a sparse audience in attendance last night for The DOWNEAST PLAYERS opening performance of Harold PINTER's "THE HOMECOMING."
The resident company, mostly Emerson College students or recent graduates, is a talented and lively group and may go down in history for their heroic effort in bringing PINTER to Maine. In mid-August the group will perform the similarly demanding task of presenting Peter WEISS' "MARAT/SADE."
The inscrutible PINTER is a giant among modern playwrights and the DOWNEAST group must be highly comnmended for taking on the project of dealing with him. In the hands of director Lance CROCKER, they showed a more than competent understanding of this difficult but exceptionally rewarding English "absurd" stylist.
They brought to life the penetrating comic effects of PINTER's biting, sardonic wit with a nicely self-assured ease and grace.
"THE HOMECOMING" is an old, brooding allegory on contemporary life. Its successful production depends on establishing a sure-footed feeling for PINTER's off-center rhytms of speech and being able to conjure his astonishingly enigmatic images. Happily, Lance CROCKER's crew is proving, especially as they unwind a couple of the kinks, capable of the demanding task.
The story is hard to describe without it sounding ridiculous, which was PINTER's intention. His extraordinary belief in the theater seems to be that is has to be seen to be believed.
A rather schizophrenic old man lives in a rambling house with his two ne'er-do-well sons and brother. He oscillates explosively between requesting and demanding their familial affection and berating them for not accomplishing anything of significance and not addressing him with proper respect.
Into this decaying, sterile male world comes Teddy, the apparently successful son, and his attractive wife. Teddy is a doctor of philosophy at an American university and while on a vacation to Europe they drop in unannounced after a six-year absence to visit the old man.
The revelation of the fact that she has perhaps come from a similarly corrupt background is only one element employed to bring about her submission to their low level. She never loses her composure or integrity throughout and via PINTER's vision the outrageous transition seems perfectly natural,
The alegory has much to do with the success syndrome of modern day life and the jealousy deriving from unprincipled competitive feats among individuals. It is couched in the particular reference to American material accomplishments versus the relative English privation.
PINTER's pregnant pauses of speech and intricate undercuttings of normalcy provide the major thrust of the play. Like Groucho MARX's famous angular double exposures of everyday cliche phrases, in PINTER's hands a typical enough comment strikes peculiarly off-key note every time. He's a master of inverting a common phrase to give it an entirely new meaning.
The cast, with the best performance coming from Stephen SNOW as the old man, works well together to do a nice job of bringing off PINTER's static humor with a curious undercurrent of the absurd. SNOW makes an especially believable old man and deploys a number of stage tricks with engaging accuracy.
Cynthia WITHAM has a difficult role to play as the deadpan wife and is thoroughly in command of the situation.
Dallas MAYR as "Lenny", starts off a bit too fast for his own good, but by the second act he has contrived a perfectly convincing characterization. Robert VOGEL as Teddy, Van McLEOD as "Joey" and Dennis GREEN as "Sam" all do admirable portayals.
The production is running through Saturday.
Stephen was Excellent!...Our third HIT! One faux pax...one performance, one of Sir's songs was over 10 pages long and John Peter was a bit tired and forgot the lyrics...he sang the first page...skipped to the last page... finished the song...THEN went back to the BEGINNING of the song, did the WHOLE song from beginning to end perfectly !...my fingers were flying trying to find out where he was...rehearsing those songs over and over put the music in my mind's "Automatic Pilot"...my hands seemed to take over as with "a mind of their own" and I followed him !...The audience never knew there had been a mistake made!...
One of the non-theatrical highlights of the summer happened when Stephen's parents arrived to see "Roar". It seems that Stephen had this mischievious fixation on discussing certain indelicate bodily function comparisons...at the dinner table !...We all thought he was funny...in an odd sort of way...Gross, in a gross sort of way..."Stephen!..WHY AT THE DINNER TABLE!???...But he was determined to see if he could shock us... wondering WHY we were so uptight about something so NATURAL!???...So we were usually entertained by this sort of discussion at many meals...Well, one morning, we were all eating breakfast and Diane brought Robin down to the kitchen for her breakfast. She was just learning to talk and was seated in her high chair with a small bowl of Cherrios and milk in front of her. Stephen's mother was nearby, watching her granddaughter feed herself... Robin's LARGE blue eyes (with their beautiful long eyelashes) flashed as she lifted her cereal bowl in the air over her head, TURNED IT OVER ON THE TRAY and SHOUTED her FIRST WORD !: "FU_K ! An imp-ish grin was on her face... she was much too young to understand what she had just said, but I swear, the look on her face said "I just said a naughty word...were any of you listening?"...Grandma looked at Diane and said: "Diane! WHAT did she say!?.. .we all quickly stifled an outburst of laughter as Diane, whose cheeks were VERY RED explained to Grandma that "Robin said "FORK"...and whisked the little darling away to change her milked-soaked clothes...Whew! THAT was a CLOSE ONE! {:-)
Now we are to share the rest of the summer and the theatre with another company made up of "posh, upper-crust" college students (Yale-Vassar types).. .seemed to be moneyed kids with Attitudes... Directed by another director : James GREAVES. They were to do this non-musical play and then the two companies were to unite for the final musical : The Boyfriend"...So we had a vacation for a couple of weeks!
"The Pottingshed": Mrs. Ellen Higgins, Mille's sister, was cast in a major role. She was superb! Andre, Pope and John who were NOT "stuck-up" like the others, were very good in their roles and the three of them got along well with the rest of us...not so, their peers.
With "THE POTTING SHED," The DOWNEAST PLAYERS of Ram Island Farm have at least equaled their "CARNIVAL" which was, during its second week, not only beautiful, but very comeback after last week's "ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT," which was spoiled by weak voices in the lead roles.
"THE POTTING SHED" comes as a surprise after reading or seeing "THE COMEDIANS" by the same writer. For "THE POTTING SHED" is almost an affirmation of God while "THE COMEDIANS" told of a world where God could not exist.
Graham GREENE's play at first appears to be a psychological melodrama. "JAMES CALLIFER", an outcast from his family, tries to learn what happened on a certain night in the potting shed when he was only fourteen - an event which has made him the family outcast. With the unasked-for help of his niece, "ANN", he learns that he had hung himself and perhaps, died on that night.
If, somehow, he had come back to life some minutes later, it would have been a miracle. And a miracle would have been a repudiation of the doctrines of his famous father who believed in a theory of evolution without God. (Skip from here to the end if you do not wish the melodramatic aspects of the play to be spoiled for you.)
His uncle, a priest, had also been in the potting shed that night. And in the scene where James finds him, still a priest, but drunk and without faith, the play leaves melodrama behind. Thank goodness, because the scene before is overly melodramatic and silly.
In that scene, with the uncle, we first have a touching portrayal of a devout Irish maid played by Diane VEGA. This is by far Miss Vega's best performance as an actress to date. Then we have the outstanding performance of the evening by James GREAVES, who also directed. As "FATHER CALLIFER," he paints a poignant, all too credible portrait of a priest who, of necessity, continues to do his job but has lost his faith and gone to drink.
We learn that when James had died, Father CALLIFER had promised God the thing he loved most in return for James' life. Perhaps God, had made the swap and taken his faith.
The final scene also lifts the play out of the realm of melodrama. After the mystery" has been worked out, the family has a discussion. Then, James asks everyone to leave so that he may propose once again to "SANDRA". Their first marriage had ended in divorce because James had been without feeling, without purpose. It is a well-written scene, unlike the usual last minutes of a melodrama.
And though the play makes us want to believe in God, it leaves the question hanging. We fear that James' father was a fake, that he had believed in the miracle but could not face the truth because his life's work would have been in vain. But "MRS. CALLIFER," his wife, who had protected her husband's secret, does not believe in the miracle. She is, however, prepared to question.
"THE POTTINGSHED" is a little dated; but it is a relatively good play and, with this outstanding production, it stands up very well.
Ellen HIGGINS, as "MRS. CALLIFER," cuts a fine figure of a stalwart mother torn between love of her husband and love of her son. Her emotional build-up to the final disclosure, does not seem quite strong enough.
Stephen SNOW does a grand job, accent and all, as James's doctor, "DR. KREUZER". Lenore DiFIORE, Van McLEOD and Roger KOZEL are all fine in small roles.
Finally, Andre BISHOP is a welcome new member to the PLAYERS. As James, his performance seemed at first to be a bit stilted and overdone on the night I saw it. But as the play unfolded, it became increasingly apparant that he was playing his role as it was written.
Once again at DOWNEAST, the production is technically flawless. Fine set, excellent lighting.
As with any new company, the DOWN EAST PLAYERS have had and still have room to grow. But, in this production at least, they prove to be one of the best now in residence in Maine.
The next day, at 3 a.m. someone caught the boozy-boy & the blonde-vacante in a MOST indelicate position on the beach next to Mr. Sprague Sr's. home!!! What Incredible bad taste! We (Downeaster's) at Spurwink House got a call at three a.m. the "morning after" and are told that the guilty twosome were hustled off the estate and that we had 48 hours to come up with a show to replace the next scheduled show!!!
Through Lance's foresight, Andre, John and Pope are asked to remain and join us. Garry and Lance decided to do a musical review of Cole Porter's music...one that we must put together from "scratch"...To make a short story shorter: The Review opens two nights later with Garry as a narrator and it turns out to be ANOTHER HIT! Period costumes frantically put together by Lenore, who also had to learn new vocal numbers! and a LOT of talented singers put on a blockbuster musical review! It's hard to miss with Cole Porter's music !
But before that was to begin, Garry had a very bad asthma attack and is rushed off the Farm...Too much pollen in the air...One of his lungs had collapsed so he can't return, so I am made Musical Director ! I was very concerned about Garry, but there was nothing I could do for him except do the best job I could. This was my First year of doing summer stock...I was blissfully overworked, but I was up to the situation !
What a SHOW ! Mille was excellent ! She had a natural grace of movement, which she revealed when she took our dance classes and a very nice soprano voice. She was nervous about singing some of the higher notes her character required, but I didn't let the fact that she was our Patroness/Angel get in the way of our Musical Director/Singer relationship. I mock-yelled at her: "You CAN do it!...when you vocalize, you sing higher notes than the ones you have to sing in your songs!" "Stop hesitating!...Just DO IT!". She saluted me, smiled and said, "YES SIR!" What a trouper! She WAS "Madame Dubonnet"! Everyone did a first rate job. WHAT A FANTASTIC SUMMER !
Cape Elizabeth- "The BOYFRIEND" is a musical spoof in which the "oohs" and "aha" and other affectations of the 20s, as well as a "boy meets girl" story and some fantastically corny songs are deliberately exaggerated to the point of absurdity"
And it's all good fun at The DOWNEAST this week. The production has some problems, but it also has some delightful high spots, thanks to its talented director, Weymouth CROCKER.
Together with a marvelous kazoo in the orchestra, the entire cast has captured the spirit of this foolish little thing.
The DOWNEAST is primarily an acting company with a a few outstanding lead-voices- most notably owned by Diane VEGA, Millicent MONKS, Peter JAHN (John Peter BUMSTEAD) and Lenore DiFIORE. The nonsinging actors are relagated to the chorus where it is evidently hoped that bravado will carry the ball.
Because most of the company is well equipped to handle just about anything on the stage, it almost does-almost. Unfortunately, the chorus numbers are the show's downfall - especially because the dancing that goes along with them is only adequate. Kristin GRAY's choreography isn't only simple (*as it should be); it seemed on opening night a bit under-rehearsed.
But CROCKER's staging is, as usual, superb. The stage is always frightfully, delightfully, obviously balanced in keeping with the way musicals were no doubt put together in the 20s. Anything and everything is punctuated. The end of Act 2 is a particular delight; the curtain call during which boy and girl "march down the aisle" is a nice touch. And the production as a whole is well-paced.
Diane VEGA as the girl, Polly, affects a caricature right out of the 20s. And, although it is only a caricature, it is unique. Sometimes deadpan, sometimes coy, she provides a nice contrast to the other flappers. She looks lovely from the stage and, as the outstanding vocal talent of the company, she is a treat.
Millicent MONKS has a beautiful, obviously trained voice. As "Madame DUBONNET", the headmistress of a girl's boarding school on the Riviera, her mannerisms are sometimes very funny, but, it seemed to me, could have been exaggerated even more. A very attractive woman, she is giving her first performance of the summer and, for the most part, it is a good one.
Marilee WYMAN as "MAISIE", a flapper, John TATLOCK as "TONY", a poor little rich boy who gets the poor little rich girl, and Andre BISHOP as "LORD BROCKHURST", a wobbly-kneed old gentleman who likes his girls young, are the remaining memebrs of the cast who deserve special mention.
It has come to this writer's attention that a "mixed" review is often considered by readers a "kind" review. Such is never the case from this end; and it is certainly not the case here, especially since the DOWNEASTER has presented two of the most outstanding productions of the summer season. In spite of some flaws, "The BOYFIREND" provides a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
However, it was with GREAT sadness that I left that totally Magical place.. .Back to Akron, Ohio and Goodyear Theatre.
Fall of 1968 Akron, Ohio...after my FIRST GLORIOUS summer of Summer Stock Memories with "The Downeast Players" at Ram Island Farm:
Goodyear Musical Theatre's production of "SOUTH PACIFIC". Directed by William Boehm former director of Cleveland's Musicarnival. I don't remember why founding director, Jack Horner isn't directing? I am in the chorus, dancing and doing the minor role of "Yeoman Herbert Quayle". Had a fun time.
One night, I dreamed (again) about Ram Island Farm and in the process of waking up, I was pushing myself up off my mattress, which was on the floor of my room and I turned over to see a shadow of a man and a shorter woman standing at the top of the stairs leading into my room. A mental picture of the farm immediately enters my mind along with a bit of information about the man...ie, he was 35 years old...??? WHAT????!!!!!! and as quickly as they had arrived, they vanished ! But there remained, in my heart, an intense longing to return to that magical place !?????
A couple of days before Christmas ('68), I secretly packed my bags... AGAIN...and drove to the Akron/Canton Airport, bought a ticket to New York City and left the car in the parking lot, intending to call my brother, Bill and ask him to retrieve it the next day. Don't ask me why I'm doing this??? Young and Stupid?...and confused...I wanted to be closer to Ram Island and the closest safe harbor is at my brother's apartment in NYC.
As I sat there in the airport waiting for my flight, I was in INTENSE emotional pain...Why was I doing this??? Knowing it will cause my parents grief??? I just knew I HAD TO BE AWAY from Akron...People everywhere around me were COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS...and I was leaving mine...???
To remind you, here: I was into Art and Music since grade school. That was "MY thing"...My father (Bless him), worked in Accounts Payable at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the very company that had been hosting my newly discovered world of musical theatre, couldn't understand that music was becoming my "Life Work". To him, music was a dessert to be ejoyed AFTER you spent your day working at a "REAL" job. I wanted music to be my "meal".. .my "entree" as it were. Dad didn't forbid me to be involved in theatre... he just didn't support my doing it....UNTIL he and Mom came up to us after a performance beaming and offering congratulations. So I was getting mixed signals from him that I didn't quite understand.
SO - I'm sitting at the airport seeing all these people coming home for the holidays and warmly greeting their loved ones...all around me...people swirled into waiting, loving arms...and there I was, sneaking away from all MY loved ones...??? Was I CRAZY??? I thought my parents would have tried to stop me from leaving...looking back on that melancholy event, I realized that I didn't give them the chance to try. I just left. I loved my family... but at the same time, I knew I HAD TO DO THIS ! Then again at Newark Airport, it was the same scene magnified a hundredfold ! It was HELL to go through this ! When I got to Dan & Joanne's apartment, I learned that they were driving to Norwich, Connecticutt to spend Christmas with her parents... SO I SPENT CHRISTMAS '68 ALONE IN NYC !!!
I WAS crazy! No doubt about it ! I stayed in the apartment...ALONE...I told myself," I DON'T EVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN !
Then it was on to Cambridge, Mass. to stay with John Dobbins, the Downeast Player's business manager for New Year's Eve. By the end of the week, I realized that I had made a very LARGE mistake and called home to apologize and ask for plane fair home.My parents may not have understood me...and what young person doesn't think that at SOME point in their l ives???...but they were terrific and sent me the money. So I left Cambridge and got on a plane to Akron, more confused than ever! Where did I really want to be? Cape Elizabeth, Maine or Goodyear Musical Theatre, Akron, Ohio or The Tetons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming? VERY Difficult decision.
Opening night, the director, Bill BOEHM walked on stage from the Market Street side, walked across the stage...and no-one paid any attention to him ...they didn't recognize him !...he was wearing a toupee and a green velvet suit coat...he was all puffed up with self-importance and "got the wind taken out of his sails"...he didn't care about Goodyear Musical Theatre... only cared about how it would look on his resume...we gave a great show anyway !
Great music and an equally great cast. Jackie REILLY was a vivacious "Nellie Forbush", Lee DAMBIS ("Emile du Becque") and Russ FORD ("Lt. Cable") sang their parts well, Janette KIRKLAND was an endearing "Bloody Mary" and Jack PETERSON was a funny "Luther Billis".
"This is the only extravaganza staged in northeast Ohio, and it's just delightful."
Rost WARDEN, managing editor of Fine Arts Magazine, offered this comment during the Goodyear Musical Theatre's opening performance of ROGERs and HAMMERSTEIN's "South Pacific."
The musical production, which deals with the lives and loves of an unlikely group of soldiers, sailors, nurses and natives on an island during World War II, is a sparkler
Under the direction of William BOEHM, a well-known Cleveland director, the play sparkles with the lights of 48 stars.
Those 48 stars are members of the musical theatre and each is luminous.
Jackie REILLY plays Ensign Nellie FORBUSH, the small-town girl who fights herself for the love of a French planter.
Her enthusiasm and delightful voice radiate. Here is a performer which cannot be washed out of one's hair.
Jannette KIRKLAND is Bloddy Mary, the loveable native of Bali Hai, whose emotion and characterization brought the island to the Goodyear stage.
Another of the sparklers is Jack PETERSON,. who plays Luther BILLIS, the wheeler-dealer.
And wheel and deal he does. He wheels through his scene like a professional and deals the audience a fine performance.
The play opens with the children of the French planter singing, "Dite-Moi." Lisa ESSARY and Phillip RODRIGUEZ give glittering performances in the youngster' roles.
Lee DANIELS portrays Emile de BECQUE, the Franch planter and Russ FORD is Lt. JOseph CABLE, an ill-fated marine.
The scenes of "South PAcific" add up to a fine evening of entertainment.
Stage settings are great, the dancing, under the direction of Choreographer, Jean SHEPHERD is professional and the orchestra, conducted by Robert COLE, is extremely listenable.
The play will run Nov. 22,23,30 and Dec. 1 Show time will be 8:15 p.m. during November and at 7L30 p.m. on Dec. 1. Tickets are ojn sale at the Employees Activities Department (ext. 4382). Prices are $3.95 and #3.50 for the main floor and $3.25 and 2>25 for balcony.
Goodyear's Spring show is "GUYS & DOLLS". Again I'm in the chorus, a dancer and sometimes playing piano for rehearsals!. I also am asked to play for a production of "CARNIVAL" in Cuyahoga Falls. A mother decides to shell out the cash to showcase her son in the role of "Marco, The Magnificent" ! Great MOM ! Paid for the whole production. Me, being young and over-confident, say "O.K....I'll do it."...Rehearse "G. & D." four or five evenings a week at Goodyear from 7:30 - 10:30 pm, then rush to the Falls and play for rehearsals until midnight-1 am...get Mononucleosis and play for the first of two performances of "CARNIVAL" with a temperature of 102...thought I was dying...then I can't dance for the first two weeks of performances of "G. & D."...Choreographer, Jean Shepherd has to re-choreograph the dance #s... third and final week, I am OK and do the last three performances of the show.
KIDS! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME ! Mononucleosis is HELL ! Think of swallowing razor blades EVERY TIME YOU SWALLOW !
Jackie REILLY ("Sarah") was very good. Greg GROSH ("Sky") did a good job. Emilie STEELE ("Adelaide") and Ralph VITONE ("Nathan") were great as the comic relief.
I was accompanying for another theatre company...a woman financed a production of "CARNIVAL" just so her son could do the role of "Marco, The Magnificent" ! It turned out to be a good production. However, Thinking I was impervious to fatigue, I had to leave Goodyear Theatre after rehearsals ended (4-5 nights a week) abt. 10:30 pm and drive to Cuyahoga Falls (15-20 minutes) and rehearse with the second company until midnight. I played the opening (and only) performance of "CARNIVAL" with a temperature of 102...I could hardly walk around...the performance was in some school theatre in Kent, Ohio...The piano was near the first row of seats in front of the stage. I hurt so much that I barely moved myself from the piano bench to a theatre seat during intermission. As I was burning up, I asked for someone to PLEASE get me a drink of water.
Everyone was so busy, someone brought out an empty vodka bottle and said I'd have to get the water myself...I staggered up to the lobby drinking fountain, semi-filled the bottle and brought it back to the piano. It was fine for the people who saw me fill the bottle with water...however, for the ones who didn't see me, I was playing what I felt was so poorly and I thought people would hear my mistakes and see me swigging from a vodka bottle ! and think the worst of me...however, some elderly ladies walked up to me afterward and literally gushed about how good I sounded !!!??? Guess I was a bit delirious...I was totally exhausted...
Back at Goodyear I had to do a double turn in the opening dance number. I went to the theatre while still ill and tried to do the turn...failed...got dizzy and fell down...missed the first two weeks of performances of "GUYS" & DOLLS"...but recovered enough to do the last weekend. Jean had to re-choreograph all the dance numbers...bet my fellow dance-mates were ticked off...but no-one said anything...even when they had to switch to the original versions of the dances when I returned.
The first dance number took place in the sewers of the city (Floating Crap Game) and all the guys entered the stage by sliding down a sliding board from behind the set and landing on our feet, do the double turn and dance off so another guy could enter. I got down the slide, but my legs were still sticking straight out and I would have landed on my back-side had I not, at the very last minute, bent my legs so I could stand up and do the turn...the orchestra director thought I was going to slide right into the orchestra pit ! Scared him ! {:-) Got through the weekend with no mishaps.
Damon RUNYON's Broadway "people" always were musical comedy figures, existing more in the imagination than in anyone's experience.
Perhaps that accounts for the longevity of "Guys and Dolls," its capacity to amuse audiences 2 years later.
Since these characters exist only in the imagination, we're able to update them mentally, and shape 'em more to our liking, thus remove some of the obsolescence, and the curse of affected cuteness which clings to RUNYON.
That, and Frank LOESSER's endearing score, of course.
So, Goodyear Musical Theater is amusing audiences presently with "Guys and Dolls."
In a way, it's a tribute to the life which remains in this aging musical comedy. The Goodyear Theater throngs are seeing - and enjoying - a production which, to my mindm is a most uneven one, a production which ebbs and flows.
It's bright and colorful, certainly, with the gaudy, expensive look of professional musical comedy (attesting to the group's production strengths in the technical area, presided over by Kenneth ZEIGLER). And Jean SHEPHERD's choreography provides some of the high spots.
Driector, TANNER might see, for example, that several of the show's numbers which should be done with rowdy enthusiasm, are handled rather dispiritedly.
This happens almost at once in "Fugue For Tin Horns" wherein Nicely-Nicely JOHNSON and pals have a roundelay discussion on improving the breed. The number should have an extemporaneous quality, a display of uninhibited high spirits. But what I see from Andy VENDITTO (Nicely), Steve MESAROS and Don CATRONE are forced gaiety and rehearsed, mechanical movements.
Then, VENDITTO and MESAROS seem to catch the spirit later in a lusty and happy rendition of the title song. But again, still later (well into Act II), the restricted, mechanical quality returns when VENDITTO and chorus perform a somewhat listless"Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat," a number which certainly is carefree and zestfully uninhibited, if any of them are.
Also early in the show, the boys and girls of the Save-a-Soul Mission band plod through "Follow The Gold" (Should be "FOLD"...how much did SHIPPY really pay attention?) with little of the missionary zeal which would be good counterpoint to their failure to convince the sinners.
And that evangelical fervor is missing, too, in Jakcie REILLY's Sarah BROWN. Miss REILLY communicates the sweet wholesomeness of the unworldy, innocent Sarah, but she's weak when Sarah expresses disappointment and righteous anger at having her high resolve and good intentions exploited by the beguilling Sky MASTERSON. What we get from Miss REILLY instead is a childish sort of pique.
Nor do I care at all for Greg GROSH's Sky MASTERSON, either at the acting level or in vocal numbers. GROSH is almost a camp version of Sky MASTERSON (if you're going to play "Guys and Dolls" that way, everyone else should, too).
It's a foolish burlesque of the sly, self-assured deceiver, the swaggering lady-killer who gets his comeuppance.
GROSH is adequate in his duet with JAckie in "Iv'e Never Been In Love Before," but his portion of "Luck Be a Lady" is poorly executed. In contrast, and again pinpointing the uneven qulaity of this production, that portion of "Luck Be A Lady" devoted to the male dancers is one of the two occasions Jean SHEPHERD's choreography is shown to best advantage ( the other being the melee of the Havana cafe scene
TANNER gets an outstanding performance from Emilie STEELE as Adelaide, the brassy, Dumb Dora showgirl who is Nathan DETROIT's long-patient and oft-disappointed lady friend who has flitted through a 14-year engagement. "Adelaide's Lament" is richly comic as performed by Emilie. Also, she teams with the girl chorus to catch the tinsel charm and sauciness of "A Bushel and A Peck."
Ralph VITONE, as Nathan DETROIT, has some deficiencies as an actor which he overcomes as a singer, particularly in "Sue Me," splendidly done in unison with Emilie and with rueful comic effect.
"Guys and Dolls" runs for five more performances in the redecorated Goodyear Theater. There are shows at 8:30 Friday and Saturday; and again May 24.
Actor, Singer, Dancer.
I was accompanying for another theatre company at the same time...a woman financed a production of "CARNIVAL" just so her son could do the role of "Marco, The Magnificent" ! It turned out to be a good production. However, Thinking I was impervious to fatigue, I had to leave Goodyear Theatre after rehearsals ended (4-5 nights a week) abt. 10:30 pm and drive to Cuyahoga Falls (15-20 minutes) and rehearse with the second company until midnight. I played the opening (and only) performance of "CARNIVAL" with a temperature of 102...I could hardly walk around...the performance was in some school theatre in Kent, Ohio...The piano was near the first row of seats in front of the stage. I hurt so much that I barely moved myself from the piano bench to a theatre seat during intermission. As I was burning up, I asked for someone to PLEASE get me a drink of water.
Everyone was so busy, someone brought out an empty vodka bottle and said I'd have to get the water myself...I staggered up to the lobby drinking fountain, semi-filled the bottle and brought it back to the piano. It was fine for the people who saw me fill the bottle with water...however, for the ones who didn't see me, I was playing what I felt was so poorly and I thought people would hear my mistakes and see me swigging from a vodka bottle ! and think the worst of me...however, some elderly ladies walked up to me afterward and literally gushed about how good I sounded !!!??? Guess I was a bit delirious...I was totally exhausted...
Back at Goodyear I had to do a double turn in the opening dance number. I went to the theatre while still ill and tried to do the turn...failed... got dizzy and fell down...missed the first two weeks of performances of "GUYS" & DOLLS"...but recovered enough to do the last weekend. Jean had to re-choreograph all the dance numbers...bet my fellow dance-mates were ticked off...but no-one said anything...even when they had to switch to the original versions of the dances when I returned.
The first dance number took place in the sewers of the city (Floating Crap Game) and all the guys entered the stage by sliding down a sliding board from behind the set and landing on our feet, do the double turn and dance off so another guy could enter. I got down the slide, but my legs were still sticking straight out and I would have landed on my back-side had I not, at the very last minute, bent my legs so I could stand up and do the turn...the orchestra director thought I was going to slide right into the orchestra pit ! Scared him ! {:-) Got through the weekend with no mishaps.
One of the largest community theaters in town, the Goodyear Musical theater, is not primarily for employees of the rubber company, but draws its performers from the entire city.
For example, out of a cast of 72, only six are Goodyear employees for the forthcoming production of "Guys and Dolls" opening Friday and Saturday night at Goodyear theater, and continuing btoh Friday and Satruday nights every week-end until the last week end, when there will be an extra performance, Sunday, May 4th. Curtain time is 8:15 for every performance untilnthe last, when the show starts at 7:30.
Choreographer and fetured player in every Goodyear Musical Theater production sine 1958 (with the exception of '59 when she was ill) is Jean SHEPHERD whose dance studio is at 180 S. Main St.
Jean has had a long history with the dance, having begun when she was two years old on doctor's orders because she was born with one leg paralyzed.
She now passes on the miracle that dancing did for her own handicap by volunteering to help children who are paraplegic or poorly coordinated, carrying on the therapy according to doctor's directions.
Jean began teaching when she was 10 years old and by 13, had her own dance school. "I had about 40 students," she said, "and I charged 50 cents a lesson. We put on shows at churches and clubs."
Jean took time out from her Akron career when she went to Hollywood. She attended high school on a Warner Bros. movie lot while working in films as a dancer and did solo dancing for reviews on stage tours with Tony MARTIN, George GOBE:, Jackie GLEASON and Teresa BREWER, to mention a few.
But Jean longed for her own dance studio and for Akron. She turned down a seven-year WARNER contract to come home.
"I've never regretted passing up Hollywood," said Jean, "We are a close-knit family. MOther was with me in California, and Dad stayed in Akron since he is in business here. It wasn't the right kind of united family life.
Jean now has moe than 200 students, ranging from three years to college age. And in addition, she does the choreography for Goodyear Musical Theater.
Here's how she plans the routines: "First, I read the script so that I know the play dramatically. Then I read the score and digest the music because you really have to know the tempo and intended impact of each number.
"Then I form a skeleton outline in my mind, which has to be tailored to fit the abilities of te performers. Often the lead in community theater has never danced before and we have to accomplish in a couple of weeks what usually is done over a period of years.
The die had been cast and cast and cast. Nathan DETROIT, Sky MASTERSON, Big Julie, Nicely-Nicely JOHNSON and the rest of the New YOrk gamblers were practicing
Leotarded dancers - many with years of formal ballet training - were gamboling during practice.
Co-star Jackie REILLY, a full-time student who returns each day to the Kent State campus, preferred the solitude of a dark corner while she read and re-read her Save-A-Soul Mission lines.
Then the Director, Philip TANNER, called a break so Homer ALLEN, president of the Goodyear Musical Theater association, could deliver a few impeccably chosen words.
The roles were suddenly reversed. The cast and crew of "Guys and Dolls" became an audience.
"We ARE the Goodyear Musical Theatre," ALLEN told his 127 listeners. "We began on September of 1958. We are non=profit - a Community theater."
Then he began to unpeel the verbal apple.
"We have been trying to do something in this community. We've achieved a great deal of success. We are helping in the cultural developement of Akron."
"What we've done, we've done on our own. We have maintained this theater on our own. We have always given quality performance. We are professional in ability."
This was a pat on the back for some of the "old-timers" like Steve BERG. a 25 year-old computer operator who has been in Musical Theater productions since 1961.
"There is a lot of talent in the Akron area," ALLEN continued, "and we have had some of the best. We have a beautiful theaterm but it takes more than building - it takes people."
Members of the Musical Theater are good enough to attract scouts each season.
Several graduates are on Broadway, Van RIBLETT, for instance, is playing the role of Lenny BRUCE in the forthcoming Broadway musical revue "The Lenny BRUCE Story."
Allan CASTNER, also a veteran of Goodyear Muciasl Theater, is in the cast of the Broadway hit "George M." He was also in "West Side Story" at Lincoln Center.
JOe DiGIROLOMA is in the lucrative specialty field of television commercials and Dan and Joanne ROTH are members of the Harry SIMEONE Chorale.
And most recently, Paula CINKO, 19, was chosen as one of the "Gold Diggers," a group scheduled to replace "The Dean MARTIN Show" on Summer-time TV.
"As a community theater," ALLEN continued, "we do not get paid. People appreciate talent. That's our reward. This appreciation keeps us going.
There is nothing else in the world," he emphsazed, "like being on that stage at the final curtain call and receiving the thunderous applause from 1,500 people. That's genuine - genuine applause and genuine appreciation: That's the best reward in the world."
Veterans in the cast nodded in agreement. The younger kids got goose pimples as ALLEN's words sank in.
The role of the cast - from truck driver, to housewife, to business executive - is two-fold. In addition to the performances, the cast also sells the majority of tickets through personal contact at work or school, via neighbors and in social organizations.
This cast system is augmented telephone ticket reservations and by mail at the Goodyear Hall business office, 1144 East Market St. Akron, Ohio, 44316
"The budget for this production," ALLEN said later, "is $20,000 most of which goes for union stagehands and our orchestra (essentially the Akron Symphony). We design and make our own costumes, but those few we have to rent out of New York have tripled in cost the past few years.
Then of course, we have the rising cost of royalties. When we close "Guys and Dolls" on May 4, we just hope to break even after paying our bills."
Are the personal frustrations and the vast amount of volunteered time by ALLEN and others in the Musical Theater Association such as Ken ZEIGLER, Bob CARSWELL, Ted GREGORY and Doug HUGGINS really worth it?
ALLEN fixed his gaze on the stage where the cast was again in rehearsal.
"On Dec 21 at 8:20 in the morning I received a call," he began, "from an Akron woman who said she and her husband had a special favor to ask.
"Our opening night of "Guys and Dolls" (April 18) is also the night of their 25th anniversary party. She said they always enjoyed our productions and the Musical Theater was always special to them.
"Yes," he said, "this theater is worth it.
A group of high school students and their drama instructor filed quietly past the stage and made its descent to the workshop where ZEIGLER, busy hand-crafting a set for the "Hot Box" night club, picked up the tour of the theater.
"This is where we make our own sets," he explained as the students entered the Spartan setting and closed in around a large power saw.
Minutes later, Mary MARTIN, an actress who makes many of the costumes, explained the problems involved in her specialty area.
Art RYMER, the make-up director, then applied stage makeup to one of the students.
TANNER, 30 years of age anmed a drama instructor at Green High School, is a patient but persuasive director. He has an almost effortless method of working with a cast and not just working a cast.
"People come here for rehearsal after an eight-hour workday," Phil explained, "and nobody wants to get jumped on.
"Besides, community theater is a learning experience. If a line isn't being delivered properly, I show the actor how to improve it and why."
What does TANNER think of the theater itself, one of the most modern in the Midwest.
"The facilities here are excellent," he stated. "We have 10 overhead microphones which pick up every breath of sound and a synchronized speaker system which saturates the theater.
"The lighting is among the finest I've ever seen and the ultra large 60-foot backdrops make it possible to use scenery which is prohibitive in most theaters, be they community or professional."
The theater itself is 49 years old, but a $200,000 modernization program transformed the interior in the 1965. When "Guys and Dolls" closes on May 4, the second half of the rebuilding program will begin.
A #100,000 beauty treatment will remodel the inner and outer lobbies, the arcade and the theater entrances on Market St. and Goodyear Blvd. Two modern marquees will top off the project.
Community theaters usually are representative of the area they serve and Goodyear Musical Theater is a perfect example.
In the cast are 16 Akron-area professional people, 4 housewives, students from 16 high schools, students from Akron U and Kent State, 6 Goodyear employees and employees from Firestone, Mohawk, Goodrich and General Tire.
They have devoted three nights and Sunday afternoon each week since Jan. 19. When the curtain goes up on Friday night at 8:15 each member of the show will have logged nearly 170 hours of rehearsal time.
"This is what we mean by involving people in the community," said ALLEN.
In 1966, Musical theater activity was suspended. "Those of us in the association had too much to do," ALLEN explained. "We needed time to reorganize and reevaluate the theater and its proper role.
"Some people wanted us to drop the community concept and bring in touring companies. But this was vetoed by Goodyear officials because it didn't fulfill the purpose of out theater - to culturally stimulate the community through involvement.
In December 1967, the decision was made to resume the Musical Theater but with a larger staff to help ALLEN. In addition, a planning and advisory council was named.
Auditions began Jan. 19 for "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" and the Goodyear Musical Theater was back in business.(End)
I was anxious for the 1969 summer season in Maine, but Goodyear Theatre constantly pulled me back to Akron. This constant pull between the two places pull of the Atlantic Ocean very calming and exhilarting at the same time. A dilemma is brewing.
(Jul-Aug): Downeast Players, Cape Elizabeth, ME.: Accompanist & Musical Director:
I receive a contract from the Downeast Players for MORE MONEY!...I get $40/wk. THIS time ! A ten buck raise ! I sent the signed contracts back to Lance and Mille with a happy heart...I WAS ASKED TO COME BACK ! I drove back to Ram Island Farm. When I arrived, Lance told me that we were to stay at another house : "Gayfields", a LARGE rambling farm house with attached garage and barn (Those Downeast Winters are COLD!!!). The guys room was in the end of the house, farthest from the barn, upstairs to the left. To the right were two small suites w/shared bath. One for Stephen, Diane and Robin and the other for Lance Cathie. Next, through the door from Lance's suite was a small room w/sloping ceilings and one small 2'x 3' window, floor level, on each side of the room. This was to be my room which I shared with the Tech. Director, Van McLeod. Through another door on the opposite side of our room was a stairway of three steps leading to a landing. The wall on the landing could be removed by lifting the panelling up a few inches to clear the groove in the floor. This led to a room above the garage, which had a "ghost story" attached to it...Seems that in the 1800s, a female family member died during the winter. Since they couldn't dig a grave, they propped her up in a rocking chair in this drafty room. She froze and stayed there until the ground thawed out enough to dig the grave...Hey ! It's a Ghost STORY !...then on down to the left of the landing to a hallway next to the kitchen and the back door.
We also were opening a Second theatre : The Kennebunkport Playhouse, a 500 seat theatre owned by Janis Paige's brother! (Ram Island was only a 250 seat theatre) We had to go clean the place up and get it ready for our productions.
This year, Roberta "Bobbie" Babbitt was Mille's new secretery,
We filmed the "Dream Ballet" outdoors, on the farm and I was to play the music while I watched the screen...different. Opening night the projector, which is up in the barn rafters, is turned on...we get halfway into it and the hot projector melted the film ! We'd perform at Ram Island on week ends and then take each show to Kennebunkport Playhouse. Opening night there: No organ !??? It is delivered one hour before we opened...and it is a Hammond Organ. I was used to the wonderful Baldwin Organ at Ram Island...O.K. the keyboards are similar, but the operation of the instrument is NOT! and I have NO REHEARSAL TIME with it!!! I was nervous ! The organ and piano were behind a thick curtain, so I had to play loudly to be heard in the audience ...I begin playing the Overture...not being familiar with the instrument and very nervous, my right foot, which is on the Volume pedal goes spastic !... out of control! My foot wouldn't stop shaking back and forth, so the volume vacillated between VERY LOUD and VERY SOFT!??? I couldn't control it!...I couldn't chance taking my foot OFF the pedal for fear that the volume would either be so soft no-one would be able to hear it...or too LOUD...and the vibration of my spastic foot is causing the score to bounce sideways...off the rack !!!??? NO-ONE is near me and I am going CRAZY ! What do I do!??? Panicksville ! At the last minute, J. arrives for his entrance and sees what's going on and shoves the music back on the rack...He then held the score still until I finished ! I thanked him profusely. I had calmed down and gained control of my foot and the rest of the performance went as planned...
The DOWNEAST PLAYERS opened their 1969 season at the Ram Island Art Center, Cape Elizabeth, (ME) with that old musical standby "OKLAHOMA" and anyone who can live with Tom EWELL or Jane MORGAN in their plays, who can sit through a play without trying to find weak spots and who wishes to be entertained can find a pleasant evening with this show.
Gratefully missing from the production are the slick professionalism and pseudo-Broadway acting so common among our summer theatres. The cast rediates an individual and collective enthusiasm for the production, rather than the desire to hit the big time.
Director Weymouth CROCKER began by cutting a lot of extraneous material. Recognizing the limitations of his young cast - they're mostly area college students - he played down the musical numbers and dumped most of the choreography. The result was a performance that moved easily in and out of the songs.
Characterization was the only glaring weak point to the performance. Lenore DiFIORE ("AUNT ELLER") spent most of her time on stage in a marvelously definitive imitation of a hen, strutting, pecking, mothering. To a great extent the role calls for this but Miss DiFIORE kept it up when she was supposed to be merely on stage. The result was a tendency to upstage and distract from the perfoemances of others.
Charles ROSEN ("WILL PARKER") struck poses when he was not the center of attention; when delivering his lines, he came through with enough physical motions to play three complete roles.
At times it semed as if everyone was overplaying his part, except the two leaders, Jay McAULIFFE ("CURLY") and Diane VEGA ("LAUREY"). As characters, they were the only major parts not intended to be to some degree eccentric, and while good in their own right, their restrained performances stood out. Along with Stephen SNOW, as "JUD FRY," they represented the best amateur theatre. Andrea MARTIN, was often endearing as "ADO ANNIE," and Van McLEOD, as "ALI HAKIM," avoided being stereotyped in what could have been a stock role as the frontier peddler.
If "OKLAHOMA" was generally a good amateur theatre show, it should be immediately pointed out that there was nothing amateurish about the performance. Such detractions as missed cues, inaudibility and poor timing that might ordinarily be expected, were not in evidence, to the credit of Director CROCKER and his hardworking crew.
What was to have been an honest and beautiful attempt at mixed media - the projection of a filmed dream sequence during Miss SNOW's number "OUT OF MY DREAMS" - was unfortunately snarled by technical difficulties. Nevertheless, the idea represented CROCKER's recognition that film can and should be used to enhance a stage performance. The technique often competes with the actors but in "OKLAHOMA," it is used sensitively.
It is refreshing to be sitting and watching a show with a western setting and to hear real horses whinney on no particular cue. This seems to sum up the unostentatious approach to theatre - and the arts - that is taken by The DOWNEAST PLAYERS and the Ram Island Arts Center.
It is the first play during an ambitious summer program planned to include five more shows, among them "THREEPENNY OPERA," next week, and the revolutionary "MARAT/SADE," a music festival, film series, dance concert, poetry workshop and art exhibits.
Dallas is at the farm by now. I am also "REV. KIMBALL" since I'm not needed at the piano during that scene.
The show is another success.
Did we surprise the summer audiences with THAT one! {:-) They came expecting some nice musical and got the S__T scared out of them ! A VERY powerful piece of theatre ! Lance decided to change things around a bit...he made J. the Musical Director, Bob played "MARAT" and I was one of the "Inmates at the asylum"...It was INCREDIBLE! Lance had us live in our costumes...my hair was growing long enough to pull it back in a ponytail... For the performances, I'd "starch" it with seawater and let it dry windblown.. .scary...
Lance had us all go, in costume, to Orchard Beach, a resort community nearby, to pass out flyers about our show. We looked VERY dangerous and scared the summer residents a bit with our mere presence. But we had GOOD audiences for the run of the show !
Lance told us to use our imaginations and decide what we'd do if thrown into an insane asylum...Lenore became a chipmunk...Charlie would sit on the floor, rocking back and forth and sometimes approach another inmate, sit next to them and while still rocking, poke them in ther upper arms with his index finger incessantly...THAT HURTS!...loudly cackling gibberish...I chose something totally against my normal character. I'm outgoing, love to work with people and am a friendly person...(Honest !) So I wore an old pair of corduroy pants and s-l-o-w-l-y ripped the material of the legs up to my knees in thin strips, concentrating on that endeavor...and had NOTHING to do with anyone else, except to drive them off if they tried to interact with me. I'd sing my songs...Yes ! It's a musical ! and go right back to being antisocial. By the end of the run...at Kennebunkport, I had managed to shred my pants to the knees thread by thread!...Anywho, Opening night happens and we are all supposed to come into the theatre along with the regular audience members...sit in an unclaimed seat and when called by the narrator, get up and walk to the stage and get into character as soon as we touch the stage... We'd be sitting there as people were coming in and notice the reactions, as they suddenly realize that NOT EVERYONE LOOKS LIKE AN AUDIENCE MEMBER... we're all in scruffy, dirty costumes...we'd see a fellow actor on the opposite side of the room and the person next to them would be fidgetting, trying to get a good look at the actor, without looking like they were staring !...and we'd notice that the person next to US was doing the same thing ! They were quite nervous !
Time passes...and passes...and passes...WHy isn't the Narrator calling us to the stage???!!! What's going on??? We think Lance is just trying to get us psyched up for the performance...Well...it's working!...More time passes. ..???...Our business manager walks on stage and anounces that there will be a delay, due to technical difficulties...we're all thinking...."O.K....get it fixed! We're READY ! More time passes, the audience is getting restless and we're on edge...Lance is a genius!...we're all psyched!...Then he comes on stage and tells everyone that the company is extremely sorry, but the performance will have to be cancelled!...HAVE TO BE CANCELLED????? WHAT IS GOING ON????...So we sit there as the audience members slowly get up and leave the theatre...we're all still sitting there...STUNNED... WAITING to be told what had happened !???
After the last person is gone, Lance tells us that Bob Vogel, Our Musical Director, who was playing the LEAD character, "MARAT"...is MISSING!??? We are FREAKED OUT, ROYALLY...Where could he be?...and later : all our hard work down the tubes...Here, he had freaked out himself and got into his car and drove to his parents home in New York ! Explanation: Bob had told Lance from the beginning that he DIDN'T WANT TO BE ONSTAGE! ...and Lance, thinking of the total show, knew that we didn't have enough actor/singers to fill out the chorus, so he put Bob in the shows as a chorus person, which he suffered, stoically but did his extra job...But with THIS show, he was given a LEAD role...in which he must sit in a wooden tub for the entire performance !... and just wasn't ready for that responsibility...So he just LEFT ! We were glad to finally hear that he was O.K., but were very concerned for the time we hadn't heard from him.
Lance re-arrange the roles, giving J. Dennis the role of "MARAT", Lance, himself, took over Dennis' part of the Narrator. and we opened the second night of scheduled performances with Lance reading his part, which worked out fine! WHAT a scare!
Charlie finally worked his way around to me with his poking finger routine. He got two or three good jabs in my arm and I suddenly balled my fist, straightened my arm, hit him in the chest and knocked him in a backwards sommersault...he left me alone for the rest of the run...
We were told that every member of the English company that first did the show had to be admitted to rest homes to recuperate from the effects of performing this production ! I can see why ! Our production, while shocking and unsettling to our audiences, was tame compared to the English and Broadway's versions. In those versions, one inmate had to spend the entire run standing in a tall, plexi-glass tube...that WAS to be MY fate, but we couldn't find a tube...thank God ! So it was fitting that WE had our own version of the production problems.
Now we, once AGAIN, had no Musical Director for our final show...J. McCauliffe had to do the role of the elder "Patrick", so he couldn't be M.D....In steps YOURS TRULY...again...Having such talented and gifted performers made it easy.
The show was another success ! A fitting end to another glorious season with The Downeast Players. My parents, sister, Marcia and their good friends and next door neighbors, the TYRELLS and their three kids came up from Akron to see me, the farm and the show. I was SO glad to see them ! They LOVED the farm and the show.
I finished the run and again left Ram Island Farm reluctantly.
Fall 1969: Goodear Musical Theatre's fall show: "THE SOUND OF MUSIC". I was again in the chorus and a dancer. Wonderful show !
Top Notch Cast. Richard & Emilie did an outstanding job. Cindy ROSS was an adorable "Leisl". Gary a formidible "Max", Alice, an elegant "Elsa". Dorothy sang "Climb Every Mountain" eloquently. It isn't in the program, but I have a vague memory that Jean BLAIR did the part of the Mother Abbess for one weekend???. Jean did a beautiful job also. Not much for the chorus to do on this one...the party scene was it. I danced the waltz with Cindy LEGGO. "Climb Every Mountain" at the end of the performance brought the house to it's collective feet !
One of the most enduring of myths is the legend of the omnipotent power of the Theatrical Director.
Actors and playwrights say the director jas power that is absolute, final and without appeal.
It is his show
Year after year, Jack HORNER's efforts strengthen the comviction of the myth-makers
"The Sound Of Music," which opened at the Goodyear Theater last weekend, was Jack HORNER's creation.
It shouted with his enthusiasm and responded to his musical direction.
Naturally, he needed help, and an inspired case gave that.
The sugar-sweet, song0filled story of the TRAPP family is the GOodyear Musical Theatre's most sucessful show.
As the show opens, "The Sounf Of Music" breaks that long-revered musical custom. There is no overture.
A group of nuns are chanting offstage as others go about their duties. They start discussing a young postulant named Maria, who seems too exhuberant for abbey life, and they break into a song that asks, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" And they go on asking, "How do you hold a moonmbeam in your hand?"
From the opening scene the show gained a momentum of its own, which was halted only by a crescendo of applause and the final curtain call.
Maria, played bt Emilie STEELE, suffused everything with her charm - and the whole show was like a Thanksgiving dinner, full of delights and ggodies. Richard RESSEGER gave a superb rendition of the austere Captain Georg Von TRAPP, who melted before Maria. By the time "THe Sound Of Music" was over, Maria was still something of a moonbeam but had her future well in hand.
The presence on stage of dozens of nus (and what at times seemed like dozens of strong-voiced children) proved lastingly attractive to the jam-packed house which witnessed the opening. Somehow Jack HORNER got these kids to sing together and every parent in the audiencewas probably wondering how the director could even get the children to sit down for a minute, much less master seven different songs.
Special plaudits are reserved for Dorothy SARVER (the Reverand Abbess), the children of Captain Von TRAPP, Cindy ROSS, Henry ZUCHEGNO. Vicki LASTOCY, Frank RAPOLLO, Tatiana ALBRECHT, Rachel SWEET and Colleen FLYNN, and Eddie EPLEY for a fine preformance of Rolf GRUBER. Special acknowledgment also should go to the fine supervision from technical Director, Kenneth ZEIGLER, production designer, Ernest HARRIS and choreographer, Jean SHEPHERD.
The story is based on the true adventures of the TRAPP family, who escaped from Austria in 1938 and became a celebrated troupe of singers in America. RODGERS and HAMMERSTEIN have written the varied score, ranging from a catchy music-lesson song called "Do Re Mi" to a reverentchant in Gregorian style.
The Goodyear Musical Theatre production of "The Sound Of Music" certainly echoed the sound of success on opening night.