The Kenley Players' 1976 Summer Season

Did Harvey do Norman, Is That You in blackface? Because otherwise, I'd like a refund on that one.

I wouldn't give you a refund.

From Wikipedia:

"During the period The Phil Donahue Show was broadcast from Dayton, celebrities appearing in Kenley productions appeared regularly, giving Kenley national publicity."

Did Phil first meet Marlo in Dayton when she was a Kenley Player starring in "Bajour"?

I'd never miss Jo Anne Worley in Gypsy!

(I hear it's "zippy.")

Oops

Ah, I was born too late to experience Arlene Fontana and her fabulous eyebrows ...

Season Pass!

At first I thought this was a pastiche, like the Jim Nabors/Ann B Davis version of “Camelot,” but this looks legit. It must have been (we don’t see this type of entertainment much anymore) exhausting. Always on the road, knowing that this gig is paying the bills if not satisfying the creative itch. Sort of like lower tier vaudeville. Hey, it’s work in your field, I guess.

I saw a lot of this sort of thing in the Music Circus summer tents when I was a kid in the mid-70s: Jose Ferrer in Man of La Mancha, Howard Keel and Karen Morrow in Annie, Get Your Gun; Can Can with Jo Anne Worley, who'd break character and chat with the audience during intermission. A prop fell on Ferrer's head quite hard and he just kept going without a pause, completely uninterrupted.

I live in Dayton, OH and the Kenley Players were the real deal. They played a couple other cities in Ohio and drew big crowds. Most of the productions were barely tolerable, but for us folks in flyover country, it was a fun evening.

Anyone know what it was like for a star to do the Kenley circuit? Did they get nice hotel rooms? Did the travel in limos? Did they have to do the whole circuit? It seems as if one could get the same exposure by doing one episode of Match Game; so, there had to be some payoff.

I saw Arte Johnson in Stop the World I Want to Get Off back when the Cherry County Playhouse was in Traverse City, Michigan.

This was the life of an actor folks. Who ever thinks if you were in a hit TV show in those days you were set for life was greatly mistaken. Actors act and Kenley, Summer Stock and Dinner Theaters all over the country were great traditions and is how people all over the country got to see the stars.

DL fave Marilyn Michaels recounts how she was recruited at short notice to sub for Carol Lawrence in a Kenley tent production of FUNNY GIRL. Michaels had done the national tour.

Kenley also created the Lakewood Playhouse, a summer stock theater in Barnesville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania which existed into the 1970s.

Anyone out there see Ann Miller in Panama Hattie?

I'm glad that ad made it clear that "The Mitzi Gaynor Special" starred Mitzi Gaynor.

[quote]Anyone out there see Ann Miller in Panama Hattie?

Oh, that was somethin', lemme tell ya! We even played this one dinner theater in Mizzurah that served nothin' but CARN! Needless ta say, Carol Channing told me, "Annie, this here is HEAVEN!"

Marilyn Michaels was talking about The Westbury Music Fair which was owned by Barbara Walters husband who had a bunch of Music Fairs . They would have their own tours with stars "in the round" and Westbury was just 20 minutes outside of New York on Long Island. I saw Angela Lansbury in "Mame", Carol Lawrence and her then husband Robert Goulet in "I Do! I Do!" and Mickey Rooney & Bernadette Peters in a workshop tour of a show called W.C. a musical about WC Fields as a kid in the 70's.

John Kenley was an interesting person. He was female by birth, dressed and acted like a man for business purposes during the season. During his winter breaks, he would retire to California for a few months and dress and act as a woman.

My parents used to take my brother and I to see Kennedy shows all the time. The first musical I ever saw was Oliver! with Vincent Price. I thought it was all so glamorous and cultured.

Many years later, when I was in college, they tried to bring it back for a season or two. I saw Mariette Hartley in A Little Night Music then and it was just dire. I’m sure the old shows were, too, I was just too young to know.

R20, he was not female, he was intersex. Apparently he had both male and female genital characteristics. His father decided it would be easier for him to be raised as a boy, rather than as a girl.

[quote]John Kenley was an interesting person. He was female by birth, dressed and acted like a man for business purposes during the season. During his winter breaks, he would retire to California for a few months and dress and act as a woman.

Wow just wiki'd him. How has his/her story never been told?

[Quote] How has his/her story never been told?

If G has G's way...

I saw the Kenley production of " Bye Bye Birdie" with Gene Barry as Albert and Totie Fields as his mother. Genius.

Some Kenley memories are here, long old thread.

I remember seeing Carol Lawrence on Dinah Shore's talk show in 1976 talking about doing Funny Girl. All she said was, "I'm not ugly...Barbra Streisand ugly. Did I say I'm not ugly?"

[quote]I remember seeing Carol Lawrence on Dinah Shore's talk show in 1976 talking about doing Funny Girl. All she said was, "I'm not ugly...Barbra Streisand ugly. Did I say I'm not ugly?"

Can you provide a link please?

I don't have a link, R28. It's what I remember.

r25 Gene Barry was 10 years older than Totie Fields. That must have been interesting.

Kenley wintered in Florida, not California.

The base was in Warren, Ohio for decades. Dayton and Columbus didn't last that long. The tent circuit included Musicarnival in Cleveland. Carousel was a small town dinner theater in Ravenna, in between Youngstown and Akron.

My dad's sisters would drag their husbands to this stuff---the aunts knew it was fluff (at best) but liked a night out and didn't want something more serious like Cleveland Playhouse or Dobama (experimental theater)---not all of flyoverstan is that deprived.

The summer/dinner circuit always seemed to have Mitzi Gaynor, Howard Keel, Robert Goulet, Carol Lawrence, Ruta Lee....later on, they also had Gary Sandy, Jamie Farr, and Loretta Swit. A road show production of a Broadway hit was a step up from this stuff. Now, over the hill performers do voice work.

A high school friend had a former neighbor who was appearing in Musicarnival's production of " Sweet Charity," starring Chita. We went, two little gay high schoolers on our night on the town. After the show, we invited his neighbor out to get something to eat. She said sure, but could she invite Chita? Of course. So, we had sandwiches with Chita.

Ricardo Montalban looks very handsome.

I think it was 1978 when Helen Lawson did Happy Cunting.

I remember seeing a Kenley Players production of Oliver with Vincent Price at Vets Memorial Theater in Columbus Ohio. There were always ads in the Columbus paper for their upcoming productions, always packed with "stars".

South Central Pennsylvania has a version of this called Totem Pole Playhouse, which is actually located inside a state park. The artistic director was William Putch for many decades, he was the husband of Jean Stapleton who starred in productions each summer and helped bring Hollywood talent to the theater. Apparently, they can’t stop talking about that 2014 production of Steel Magnolias starring Little House of the Prairie’s Melissa Sue Gilbert!

[quote] Apparently, they can’t stop talking about that 2014 production of Steel Magnolias starring Little House of the Prairie’s Melissa Sue Gilbert!

Oh, dear!!! You've conflated two actresses who detest each other!

I waited tables at The Parlor, the bar at the Park Place hotel in Traverse City in the 1970s. The Park Place was the site of the Cherry County Playhouse, which featured summer-stock editions of popular plays. Stars such as DL royalty Vivian Vance and Betty White, along with less-revered entertainers like Morey Amsterdam and Pat Paulsen performed throughout the summer. I, personally, waited on dreamy Doug McClure and the Doublemint Twins (!!!) and I met fab Tab Hunter at the marina, where he stayed on his boat during his play's run. Naturally, many of the Playhouse actors and production workers were gay and when Ron Pallilo (Arnold Horshack from "Welcome Back, Kotter") starred, he cut a wide swath through them. There was a lot of gossip among hotel staff. I was an unworldly college kid at the time, totally lacking gaydar, and I was so surprised to learn that that Horshack was gay!

I remember seeing Hal Linden and Delores Gray in a Kenley production of Kismet when I was in elementary school. I even got their autographs!

I can't imagine Ron Palillo cutting a swath through any group of people sexually.

Please tell us more about meeting fab Tab, R38.

Tab was handsome and very polite and affable. My aunt and uncle' had a slip in the same marina and they hung out on their boat there a lot in the summer. Tab was really charming to them and they all enjoyed cocktails together a time or two. There wasn't really any naughty gossip about Tab, as there had been about horny Horshack. I seem to recall that Tab was in a relationship at the time,. although he was solo on his boat. I'm not even sure if Tab was officially out then but my aunt and uncle were arty, educated, and free-spirits. They knew he was gay and were, of course, fine with it.

test

R1, the idea of a queeny comedian playing a stereotypical Jewish character in blackface made me spit take my granola this morning.

I needed the laugh. Thank you.

R38 I mentioned before, I rode on a flight from Ohare to Traverse City next to Frank Sutton on his way to do the Playhouse .about 1970-ish. I remember Imogene Coca being a regular each summer and she was funny.

I spent early years in Warrensville Heights(before the upgrade to Cleve Heights!) and remember Musicarnival .Seems like a tornado went thru there or something like that. I was quite young but do know I have attended there.

Kenley appears around the 3 minute mark. Ann Miller describes the “Six Egg Diet.” For Dancers Only!

R36 a friend apprenticed at Totem Pole for her Equity card. Bill Putch always paid special attention to the male apprentices.

Every June, The New York Times had schedules of Summer Stock theaters. What killed Summer Stock?

The VCR killed summer stock. Do you want to pay $10 to see Sally Struthers in "Hello, Dolly!" or rent the movie for $2?

R49, Not true. Several things severely wounded summer stock. Many of the same things that killed Catskill resorts and holiday camps. However, summer stock is not dead. Yes, you can go to the Ogunquit Playhouse and see Sally Struthers in something. Peterborough Players are still going, thought they no longer have stars.

One thing was air conditioners. It used to be that in a big city such as NYC, half the city would leave during the summer because of the heat and the smell. With air condition, people could stay in their air conditioned apt and go to an air conditioned movie theater... and even see a play in an air conditioned Broadway theater. Summer Stock tended to be near a place where people from the city "summered". When other options appeared, the summer stock theaters were hit hard.

Another is cheaper travel which allowed people to travel farther. Why go to the Catskills when you can go to Club Med? Note that Carnival Cruises started in the early 1970s. Again, there were al lot more options for potential audience members.

On the other side of the coin, there were changes for actors as well.

First, many of the old summer stock actors got started in stock or vaudeville. Barnstorming was in their blood. It also could be a huge ego boost to be the "big fish in a small pond".

As a part of this, actors saw personal appearances and interacting with the public as part of the job. It was like being a politician and shaking hands and kissing babies. Most actors would go to the opening of an envelope if it meant press.

Another contributor was changes in actor's contracts. The actors on most of the early TV shows were not paid high salaries, and even though residuals were negotiated in the early 1960s, many actors still did not receive them. TV actors actually need to work during the summer.

By the 1970s, TV actors increasingly did not have a stage background. When they were not filming TV, they were trying for a movie, not summer stock. Parallel to this, is the control of managers and agents. Obviously, a percentage of a film is better than a percentage of summer stock. There were/are "no summer stock" clauses in some contracts.

Lastly, the sexual revolution had a bit to do with it. In the old days, out of town was out of town. Summer stock was a place to have a summer fling away from prying eyes, the press, ...and often, one's spouse. When sex became out in the open, that dies down a bit, though The Williamstown Theater Festival was pretty much known as a sex club way into the 1990s.

Sophistry, R50. Every word of it. You are possibly be least insightful person ever to post at Datalounge. 50 years ago there were Summer stock theaters all over the United States of America that had nothing whatsoever to do with people escaping Big East coast cities for the summer. St Louis Muny Opera. The Starlight circuit. The Kenley circuit. The tent theaters like Melody Top and Avondale. They were all over the country.

They were labor-intensive and resource-intensive. Cheaper forms of entertainment became available and the summer theaters were squeezed out.

What about those Waffle House productions with Joyce DeWitt?

R51, for all of you big words, you are the idiot. I never said that each and every point applied to each and every theater. I also never specified East Coast. It could be any large city.

Two of the theaters you mentioned are outdoor theaters; so, yes the part about air conditioners applies. However, the discussion was what *killed summer stock*. The two of the theaters mentioned are in operation; so, "killed" does not apply. The theaters that you mentioned differ greatly from what actual summer stock was. The New London Barn Theater, Peterborough Players, Ogunquit Playhouse, Corn Stock Theater (Peoria), Bucks County Playhouse are real summer stock. The MUNY, and I assume the Starlight are not summer stock so much as a light opera company such as the LA Civic Light Opera. They really do not belong in a discussion of summer stock. To be really accurate, summer theater festivals are also not really summer stock.

Lastly, true summer stock was neither expensive of labor intensive. It was largely non-union except for the name actors. The sets and costumes were either rented, or more often pulled from stock. Costumes would be made by the local ladies. Again, large outdoor Light Opera companies with huge budgets are not summer stock.

Girls, girls - you’re BOTH intersex!

R4, J. Worley was one of the best Mama Roses I’ve ever seen. Late 80s, some summer stock tent in Milwaukee. Much better than Bernadette Peters. Fun production, and I should know. I have a theater degree from a public university in WI.

[quote] Fun production, and I should know. I have a theater degree from a public university in WI.

Data Lounge GOLD!

You know nothing, R53.

Those performers would always be on Bob Braun's local Cincinnati talk show. Miss those days.

Paul Lynde interview by Bette Rogge. Paul was appearing in Plaza Suite, and he misses his dog very much.

Bob Braun! Ruth Lyons! Paul Dixon! Colleen Sharp! Bonnie Lou!

R59 Dog yes, lover no mention.

R60 don't forget Marian Spellman and Cliff Lash!

Was Arlene Fontana the inspiration for Rizzo in Grease? She would have been awesome!

Was Arlene Francis the inspiration for Rizzo in Grease? She would have been awesome!

Danny....are you bigger than a breadbox?

I had never heard of the show "You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running" before.

[quote]However, summer stock is not dead.

Well the tours are. There were tours with Oscar winners like Shirley Booth that would take a play all the county in the summer going from county to county, sometimes picking up local talent for chorus or background actors.

I'm sorry, we're out of the salmon..

Bob Braun and Mike Sells Potato Chips! I use to go see the Bob Braun show live at the Ohio State Fair and also the Phil Donahue Show!

Bob Braun was really a big ol' queen, right?

I don't see how it would not be so.

r65 It was one of those '60s sex comedies that were plentiful before things got more "overt" a few years later. I think Martin Balsam starred in it on Broadway.

"You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running" is NOT a sex comedy.

It's an evening of four one act plays. They are not related to one another except they have the same playwright. Mostly they examine relationships. One of them isn't even a comedy, if I recall correctly.

I remembered the name but hadn't thought about the Kenley Players for years!

LOL at this story from the article I posted at R72 - when Ann Miller was playing Panama Hattie and visited a restaurant in Columbus.

“She just gave this waiter the hardest time,” Anderson says. “This wasn’t right. That wasn’t right. The meat was too done. The potato wasn’t done enough. And finally she demanded to see the manager. And so the manager comes over and he says, ‘Well, what seems to be the problem, Miss Miller?’ And she tells him. And he turns to the waiter, and he starts to berate him. And he says, ‘Do you know who this is? Do you know who this is? I can’t believe you’re giving her such poor service. This is Ann Miller.’ And the waiter-who’s like 18, 19-turns to her, and he goes, ‘Oh my God...I thought you were dead.’

The actress, Anderson says, was a “perfect lady” for the duration of the evening."

Ann Miller survives on wheat germ and honey. She’s a health nut.

“Vitamins does have something in them.” Ann Miller

Horse pucky!

Some Kenely shows

A similar venue was the Colonie Coliseum in Latham, New York. Only 30 minutes south of Saratoga Springs and its thoroughbred race track (and hidden casinos), the joke among performers was that what they earned in Latham, they’d lose the next day in Saratoga. This venue drew theatergoers from NY, Mass. and Vermont.

r71 Looks pretty sexy to me!

“I can’t wait to see Andrew’s other show Joseph and His Amazing Raincoat”-Ann Miller, not the brightest bulb in the pack.

"I'm Herbert" is the final one act of "You Know I Can't Hear You...."

No, definitely not a sex comedy.

It's all fun! Just hahmless cahrn!

Let’s face the chicken gumbo, and dance!

A girl's gatta eat!

By the late 80s, early 90s, touring broadway became much more institutionalized, with subscription series and shows that were planned way in advance, as compared to sort of just happening. That's what really killed a lot of stock theatres, that and the slow rise of LORT theatres that began in the late 60s.

Montalban! Fine Corinthian leather!!

R85, that's not true. National Touring Companies never 'just happened," nor did their marketing. Theaters in every city in America marketed full Broadway subscription seasons looooong before the 1980s.

r26 Thank you so much for the link to the older thread. I'm old enough to have seen some of those shows in the 1970s, but I was a terrible snob back then and would only see my semi-has-been stars at the Kennedy Center. Wish I had spent my time and money instead at Shady Grove and Olney and the other one in Montgomery County, can't recall the name (Harlequin?).

Does anyone recognise the male singer on "Just In Time" (circa 11:00)?

" Bells Are Ringing saw the return of Vancouver favourite Susan Johnson after starring in The Most Happy Fella and O! Captain on Broadway. She can be heard on both original cast albums. Starring opposite Susan was Larry Douglas who was Lun Tha in the original Broadway production of The King and I."

Do you recognize that voice as Larry Douglas'? The uploader doesn't seem sure about the source/production.

My head exploded reading the shows at R77 's link

Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in CALL ME MADAM.

Ann Miller in HELLO, DOLLY!

Molly Picon in MILK AND HONEY

Virginia Graham in BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

And, although it looks like promised original star Carol Bruce dropped out, who could miss DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, with ...Anita Bryant!

Most people don't know that Jean Stapleton had a fine singing voice and played in several major musicals during the 1950s, including the original productions of Damn Yankees and Bells Are Ringing. Anyway she regularly appeared in husband's summer stock productions. She slowed down her participation as the years went along but after All in the Family, she tried to make at least one appearance a season, as "Edith Bunker" always sold out the house for the run of the show.

During the 1980s she starred in Hello, Dolly! there. During the title song, she made one tiny change to the lyrics. As she stood there, all glammed up in the red sequined dress, instead of singing "Wow, wow, fellas, look at the old girl now, fellas" she'd sing "Wow, wow, fellas, look at the Dingbat now, fellas" and it usually brought down the house.

I saw Ann Miller in "Hello, Dolly!" at Starlight Musicals. She was terrific.

r92 Wasn't Bob Wright Mr. Anita Bryant?

💃 [italic] Bajour ! 🕺

[quote] Wasn't Bob Wright Mr. Anita Bryant?

No, that was Bob Green.

But they divorced in 1980, because, you know, the sanctity of marriage and all that

I used to have a button that said "I Slept With Anita Bryant's Husband."

Why was Vincent Price reduced to doing this?

The idea of Anita Bryant singing Sondheim lyrics makes me laugh like a little girl.

R99, Vincent Price had that essential skill: he was a good sport who clearly knew how to enjoy himself. He made plenty of schlocky, low-budget horror films, but he managed to appear in some really good movies, too, like 'Theatre of Blood'. The next night, he'd demonstrate an omelet, cooking with Joan Rivers. He didn't seem to take himself too seriously, and I was thrilled with some of his appearances on local TV here in Ohio.

R60 you brought back a memory ... Ruth Lyons. Her "Let's Lite the Christmas Tree" was popular beyond Ohio. Raised lots of money for charities. If I recall, she retired after the death of her daughter.

Shall we move on to memories of the Chatauqua Circuit?

Let’s not and say we did.

R101 my university brought Vincent Price & his wife Coral for a weekend of workshops. He was quite frail but flirtatious & lovely.

I spent time at Chautauqua. What a fucking nightmare. The highlight was going to Wegman’s.

In the late '70s, I saw a touring company of "Charley's Aunt" with Roddy McDowall as Babberly, Vincent Price as Spettigue and Coral Browne as Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez. One could not ask for more than Coral Browne in that role.

[quote] A similar venue was the Colonie Coliseum in Latham, New York

Any relation to Connie Casserole?

Oh, Good Lord! You brought up Paul Dixon, the Mayor of Kneesville! Bonnie Lou and Colleen Sharp were his partners in crime! Ruth Lyons still has a huge legacy in this part of the Midwest. Paul Dixon was a huge inspiration for David Letterman.

R107 - a whole lotta gay in that show.

Jessica & George...

I wonder if George Maharis named his wigs. At his height, he had different wigs for different times of the month, to make it look like his hair was growing (or had been recently cut).

Those Bette Rogge videos are gold.

Bette Rogge interviews include: Polly Bergen, Liberace, Andy Devine, Gig Young, Bill Bixby, Leslie Gore, MTM, Paul Lynde, it just goes on and on! Oh, and Ann Miller!

Lesley!

Barbara Britton is so lovely!

Any relation to Connie?

[quote] I wonder if George Maharis named his wigs. At his height, he had different wigs for different times of the month, to make it look like his hair was growing (or had been recently cut).

That story reminded me of the episode of the DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, 'Coast to Coast Blabbermouth', where Laura inadvertently reveals to the world that her husband's boss, television star Alan Brady (Carl Reiner) wears a toupee. In an article in Vanity Fair, Reiner says that came from his own experience, and didn't mention Maharis at all

I was in a Sears store in October 1977 with my parents and brother shopping for Winter coats. I was sitting in the tv section watching Carol Burnett and Friends and I hear a woman's voice say - See I told ya Harvey Korman's a FAG!

It was SO nasty. I think my heart was pounding after she said. I just thought- I hope she doesn't think I'm a fag.

R119 Oh, that makes me sad for the vulnerable little gayling you were and needed to be protected at all costs. Was it one of Korman’s over the top drag performances?

He was in a scene with Carol Burnett. In October 1977 I was maybe six months away from really knowing I was GAY.

Gee, I wish I lived in Warren, Ohio.

R119 It probably left a more lasting scar that your mother bought your clothes at Sears.

Summer Stock!

I feel like an asshole for even mentioning this, but, since we're talking about the supper clubs of the Midwest (I fantasized about visiting them when I was a kid), I'd be remiss not to mention this one. The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Northern Kentucky (right across the river from Cincinnati) burned down in 1977. John Davidson was the opening act. The club brought a large range of talent to put in appearances on our local talk shows. That was really what I remembered: how we never saw any celebrities after that horrible night.

I read about that, R125. Terrible. The third-deadliest nightclub fire in the US.

I remember the Falmouth Playhouse near Cape Cod in the '80s. Mr. Gary Sandy played Prof. Harold Hill in The Music Man. Miss. Nell Carter did Hello Dolly. Mr. Adrien Zamed and Miss Pia Zadora did Funny Girl (I kid you not.) Get this: Miss Erin Moran was supposed to play Nellie in South Pacific, but she dropped out and was replaced by Miss Eve Plumb. And then there was Born Yesterday with Mr. Claude Akins and Miss Loni Anderson.

There were tons of others, but that's what I recall.

[quote]R20 John Kenley was an interesting person. He was female by birth, dressed and acted like a man for business purposes during the season. During his winter breaks, he would retire to California for a few months and dress and act as a woman.

I desperately want this to be a mini series, set against one sad, star studded summer season.

John also got around on bicycle long before it was popular to do so.

[quote]Terrible. The third-deadliest nightclub fire in the US.

Wow, never heard this, thanks for the link.

I remember the Westbury Music Fair always seemed to be showing Man of La Mancha or The Music Man, when they weren’t showing Steve and Edie or Robert Goulet. My mother would go see Tom Jones or Englebert Humperdink. They wore their best 70s fashions, this was a night out. They probably went to The Milleridge Inn or The Rusty Scupper for a pre theater special!

Man of La Mancha with Ed Ames! Saw that at Starlight. Late in the 2nd Act, a storm rolled in while Quixote lay dying. The winds blew the set over. Good times!

R129, you knew Kenley?

Two of the summer stock Star package tours I saw was Born Yesterday with Sandy Dennis and Gary Merrill, also Shelly Winters in Gamma Rays.

Sandy Dennis in Born Yesterday?? Whoa. I can’t even imagine that.

Um, what was her interpretation like?

R134 Shelly Winters in Gamma Rays, darn I would have loved to see that.

R133, I did not know him. But I was raised in the midwest and over the years knew several people who worked in Kenley productions. They always mentioned John riding around on his bicycle. The stories about him living in Ohio as a man during the summer theater season and then moving to Palm Springs for the winter and living as a woman were pervasive.

Sorry, that was not the photo I intended.

Here he is on a bicycle. The story is is at least partly true.

This may be a list of their shows (don’t know how complete it is...)

She was wonderful in the role, r135. Our high school had just done Born Yesterday. My friends and I went backstage to get her to sign our programs and she spent about 10 minutes talking to us. Very nice woman.

I remember her performance as being not surprising and very Shelly Winters, r136. I wish I could have seen Sada in the role. It would have been interesting to see her play a slattern. Slattern just came naturally to Shelly.

This one must've been a classic:

GUYS AND DOLLS ~ 1973: David Birney & Meredith Baxter

Not to mention "Picnic," starring Mr. Joe Namath!

This had to be one for the ages:

FLOWER DRUM SONG

~ 1962: Ramon Navarro & Juanita Hall

Ramon could sing, r144. I bet his I Enjoy Being a Girl was one for the ages!

[quote]1959 - Betty White - THE KING & I

Yes, please.

R137, I lived in a few different neighborhoods in Cleveland. Which one was Kenley in?

[quote]Shelly Winters in Gamma Rays, darn I would have loved to see that.

Paper Mill Playhouse in the 60's and 70's was part of the stock tours. Shelly was doing Gamma Rays and on her dark Monday off, flew out to the Oscars where she was nominated for "The Poseidon Adventure".

The lovely Barbara Britton...

I grew up in western PA, not far from Warren, Ohio, and Kenley Players were not a joke. The shows were well-produced, often with Broadway sets and costumes (or decent replicas of them), and the performers -- usually TV and movie actors, but with the occasional Broadway star -- weren't just coasting and doing the shows for a silly, summer lark (granted, many of the shows were silly all by themselves). The Warren theatre was an unlovely kind of civic auditorium, but it wasn't a barn (nearly every seat was a pretty good one), and it was air-conditioned. Each show would play a week in Warren and then move on to week-long runs at the other Kenley theatres in Ohio.

I'm sure I must have seen more than two shows there, but the ones I remember were A Little Night Music with Eva Gabor (who, alas, fumbled the lyrics to Send In The Clowns) and Ethel Barrymore Colt as Madame Armfeldt and Applause with Alexis Smith (and Pia Zadora in the Bonnie Franklin role).

This has been a great thread. I guess this means it’s over?

The 1976 Summer Season? Yes, I think so.

I was waiting on the person that posts as Ann Miller. I haven’t had any cahrn in days.

I knew a man in the 1970s, since long passed, who said he blew some of the actors who appeared in these Kenley productions in Dayton. He said he winked at them from the audience, then he introduced himself to the actors after a show was over. He whispered into their ears, offering a little something, something (his words...) I don't remember names from 40 years ago, but if I was his age at the time of the productions, I'd hope I was bold enough to offer the same. Apparently, the actors clued each other into what he was offering. So, you're booked into a hotel in a smaller city with not much to do downtown after sundown...

[quote]I remember were A Little Night Music with Eva Gabor (who, alas, fumbled the lyrics to Send In The Clowns)

And you didn't beat her with your program at the stage door?

Kenley even put on shows that flopped on Broadway like How Now, Dow Jones.

R154, I gather Kenley regular Dean Dittman provided those services to his work colleagues. I guess he picked up the slack when your friend wasn’t available.

Although obviously not Swedish, Eva might have been wonderful as Desiree.

So was the 1970s more about sucking than fucking for those of you active back then?

Just for a moment, can we swing up to the Pacific Northwest for the Summer of 76 and Vancouver's Theatre Under the Stars production of Bye Bye Birdie (July) and Camelot (August). A lot of summer lovin' happened backstage. Robert Goulet's hand-written signature was spied on one of the old wooden beams. Oh what a time!

Wasn't Dean Dittman a friend of Paul Lynde's? I dimly recall him being one of the people who had something to do with finding the body, along with that porn guy.

Broadway touring subscription series didn't exist before 1980. Before then, there would be scattered tours of the biggest hits only -- ANNIE, A CHORUS LINE, THE WIZ. In the early 80s PACE developed series in southern markets, and that grew and grew during that decade. That's actually how The Weisslers got their start. Creating shows for that circuit.

Beg to differ, r161. I got my first Broadway subsription in 1973 and they'd been going on for some years before.

We missed the effervescent Anita Bryant in “Do I Hear a Waltz?

Apparently you missed R92.

I bet Jan's Charity had verve!

Shari Lewis had the voice to sing Fanny?

That's what I was wondering as well, r166. I'm sure they emphasized her dancing...

Oh, sounds like she could have handled it vocally for a summer stock venue.

R167 Puppet girl danced? That’s kind of mind blowing?

She was also a real doll...

Dear Anita...

[quote]Shari Lewis had the voice to sing Fanny?

Lamb Chop played the Anne Francis part.

A man was more likely to respond to an offer of a blow job than a fuck back in the 70s. Depending on how much he loosened up at a party and the assurance of privacy, I never had a problem convincing a man, particularly a college man (especially a fraternity man), he would enjoy his cock being attended to. As long as he didn't have to reciprocate, and many of them did once the happy hormones kicked in.

I reclaim the floor for the Colonie Coliseum and offer — voila! — a full collection of Playbills for the 1975 summer season.

Leslie Uggams in Cabaret

Howard Keel in Man of La Mancha

Vivian Blaine (“a person, can develop a old”) and George Maharis in Company

Peggy Cass in Plaza Suite

Zero Mostel in Fiddler on the Roof

Robert Morse and Rudy Valle reprising their original roles in How to Suceed...

June Havoc in A Delicate Condition

This venue with 3,000 seats was billed as theater in the round with a rotating stage. Some artists liked that feature. Some, who may have been in their cups, felt it made them too dizzy.

A Delicate CONDITION???

This kind of theater has faded away because the business model changed a lot. It became more expensive to run these kinds of theaters.

But, it changed a lot for the stars, too. Today there are far more TV jobs available for actors because of cable and streaming services; "back in the day" you had actors vying for roles on only 3 networks.

And, the money is now better than it used to be...residual deals are very profitable for even guest stars and 4th bananas on some 3rd rate but long running show. Stars in the 50s got NO residuals (unless they owned their shows) and the deals in the 60s weren't great; I think it was something like they got paid for the first 6 reruns of the show but then nothing after that. The 70s improved a bit, then the 80s even better but starting in the 90s up to now, the unions did strike deals for much better compensation for residuals. So, supporting/fading actor types don't NEED to do summer theater to help pay for the mortgage or put their kids through college. There's more film/TV gigs available than before and the residual system is far more lucrative.

And, to be honest, I think today's actors would look down at doing theater in flyoverstan. As well as the fact, how many of them are theater trained?

Oh, and conventions and autograph shows can be very lucrative and all it requires is setting on your ass all day signing autographs for people willing to pay $$$ for them. Beats learning a leading role in 2 weeks time then sweating your ass off on a stage nightly for the summer.

I posted recently in another thread about a season of summer stock Elaine Stritch did in the 1960s. She alternated nightly as Mrs. Anna in The King and I and as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

(Stritch had been in the original Broadway production of Woolf, first as an understudy and later as a replacement Martha.)

^ BTW, Stritch was a fabulous Martha, extremely well reviewed on Broadway. Here she is in a BBC radio adaptation of Act I of the play. Act II linked at the page.

[quote]Oh, and conventions and autograph shows can be very lucrative and all it requires is setting on your ass all day signing autographs for people willing to pay $$$ for them. Beats learning a leading role in 2 weeks time then sweating your ass off on a stage nightly for the summer.

Don't forget the ego boost bonus. It doesn't suck to have people telling you all day how much they like your work. Like a 12 hour stagedoor but you get paid.

Shari Lewis did Roxie somewhere in CA....and was supposed to have been amazing. Not surprised - her singing voice has a bit of young Gwen in it,.

R163, I never understood MTM'S Anna Maria Galberghetti joke until now. Thank You!

A revised version of "Half a Sixpence" was staged in England in 2016. Nancy Dussault, sadly, was not asked to join the cast of the revival.

Such a lovely voice...

Didn't ANNIE MILLER do MAME for Kenley? And then go to broadway with it?

She played both Dolly and Mame for Kenley, correct?

She did...

Tapping Into the Force was one of my best quarantine reads. Thanks, Ann!

BUMP! Any and all memories, please. Anyone eat at Marion’s Piazza? Marion’s bought advertising space in the programs. I worked there a long time ago. On payday, you would receive a check, then cash it in the back room. Cash out of a box. Hustle?

Ed Ames, hung. Just sayin'.

Well, he *did* have BDF.

R190, did you see him perform? Columbus?

[quote] Shari Lewis had the voice to sing Fanny?

Yes, she cut an adult novelty album of nothing but fart noises in the early 1960s. It has never been released on CD, and unscratched copies can go for thousands of dollars on eBay.

R193, not Shari Lewis. Shari Bellefonte Harper!

Shari’s a stupid name.

[Quote] Yes, she cut an adult novelty album of nothing but fart noises in the early 1960s. It has never been released on CD, and unscratched copies can go for thousands of dollars on eBay.

She also cut a separate release for the UK market. The title was the first popular use of the term "Queef."

I cannot believe this got a bump! Hustle, you bitches!

Actually, Mitzi added The Hustle for the 1976 Summer Season.

[quote]my university brought Vincent Price & his wife Coral for a weekend of workshops. He was quite frail but flirtatious & lovely.

Forever known on DL as "my wife, the actress Coral Browne."

Betty Rogge fans/ a can't miss clip that says farewell to swimsuit weather! Check out Larry's chest hair, tatoo and endless blab !

Bette Rogge and Edie Adams!

Bette Rogge needs an installation at the Smithsonian / this bygone era is captured perfectly

Ramon Navarro reviewed / aug. '62

(Dyan Cannon & Keir Dullea) in a 1975 Private Lives / party of four on the aisle please...