Title: Barefoot in the Park
Role: Principal – Paul
Director: Dottie Smith
Production Company: Vero Beach Theatre
My acting scene(s) in Barefoot in the Park
Unfortunately, I don’t have any video, pictures, Playbill or ANYTHING from Barefoot in the Park. This was in the days just before cellphones – and video cameras were still expensive. I was living in Miami Beach and they had to rent me a room at a hotel to stay in. They offered me my Equity card, but I turned it down.
I was cast in the Chorus of Hello, Dolly! at Naples Dinner Theatre in the Spring 1991. My best moment was as the Waiter trying to get Rudy’s (the Maitre’ d’s) attention when Dolly Levi has arrived (just before she descends the staircase). I played him as a young, awkward kid in school. I yelled 3 times to get Rudy’s attention. He couldn’t hear me over the cacophony of everyone getting the restaurant ready for her arrival. On the 3rd and final time of yelling his name (each time getting louder), all action stopped and everyone looked at me. It was dead silent. I cocked my legs in (like I was peeing myself) and squeaked out in a tiny, pubescent, cracking voice, “She’s here.” It brought the HOUSE down every single night!
All these images were taken in 1990 (before cellphones) so the quality is not the best. I cut them up and put into a 3 ring binder. They are so old, I couldn’t remove them from the binder because they would start to tear. Sorry for the poor quality. Click on below images for larger version.
“Before the Parade Passes By” – Act 1 Finale
Waiters – Act 2
Cast Offstage
Trailer
Here is the trailer for the popular 1969 movie adaptation starring Barbra Streisand.
Synopsis
Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder‘s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder.
Hello, Dolly! first debuted at the Fisher Theater in Detroit on November 18, 1963[1], directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, and moved to Broadway in 1964, winning 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. This set a record which the play held for 37 years. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.[2] The album reached number one on the Billboard album chart on June 6, 1964, and was replaced the next week by Louis Armstrong‘s album Hello, Dolly![3]Louis Armstrong also was featured in the film version of the show, performing a small part of the song “Hello, Dolly!”.
The show has become one of the most enduring musical theater hits, with four Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into the 1969 film Hello Dolly! by 20th Century Fox, which won three Academy Awards, including Best Score of a Musical Picture and was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture at the 42nd Academy Awards.
Thank Yous
Thank you to Jim Fargo and Julian Fisk for giving me a year contract at the Naples Dinner Theatre. Thank you to the Cast and Crew. I look forward to working with you all again SOON!
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251–183 BC), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus, and Mostellaria, the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: “A funny thing happened on the way to the theater”.
The musical’s original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Author (Musical). A Funny Thing has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film starring the original lead of the stage musical, Zero Mostel.
On Stage Pictures
All these images were taken in 1990 (before cellphones) so the quality is not the best. I cut them up and put into a 3 ring binder. They are so old, I couldn’t remove them from the binder because they would start to tear. Sorry for the poor quality. Click on below images for larger version.
Cast Offstage
Trailer
Below is the trailer for the 1966 movie adaptation starring the brilliant Zero Mostel.
Thank Yous
Thank you to Jim Fargo and Julian Fisk for giving me a year contract at the Naples Dinner Theatre. Thank you to the Cast and Crew. I look forward to working with you all again SOON!
I was cast as Chantal in LaCage aux Folles at Naples Dinner Theatre in the Fall 1990. Her talent was singing in falsetto. During intermission, I took off makeup and became a member of the Ensemble. For the finale, we had a QUICK change back into Drag. It was a nightly struggle! Thankfully, I had 2 girls to help me.
All these images were taken in 1990 (before cellphones) so the quality is not the best. I cut them up and put into a 3 ring binder. They are so old, I couldn’t remove them from the binder because they would start to tear. Sorry for the poor quality. Click on below images for larger version.
Cast Offstage
Trailers
Below is the trailer for the original 1978 movie in French. There are versions with English subtitles and/or dubbed.
The Birdcage was a popular movie version in 1998 starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. It was loosely based on the stage production.
Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it tells the story of a gay couple, Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that ensue when Georges’s son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée‘s ultra-conservative parents to meet them. La cage aux folles literally means “the cage of mad women”. However, folles is also a slang term for effeminate homosexuals (queens).
Opening on Broadway in 1983, La Cage broke barriers for gay representation by becoming one of the first hit Broadway musicals centered on a homosexual relationship. The show’s Act One finale, “I Am What I Am“, received praise as a “gay anthem,” and has been widely recorded.
The success of the musical spawned a West End production and several international runs. The 2004 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival, and the 2008 London revival garnered the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. The 2010 Broadway revival was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. La Cage aux Folles is the first musical which has won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical twice and it has won a Best Musical Tony Award (Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical) for each of its Broadway productions. The show has garnered five nominations for Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical from its three Broadway productions, twice for portrayers of Georges and three times for portrayers of Albin, winning the award twice (both for actors playing Albin).
Thank Yous
Thank you to Jim Fargo and Julian Fisk for giving me a year contract at the Naples Dinner Theatre. Thank you to the Cast and Crew. I look forward to working with you all again SOON!
The Lost Colony is the oldest outdoor drama in America. I was cast primarily as a Dancer (Native American Indian). During intermission, I took a shower and washed all the Mississippi Mud (dark red body makeup) off to change into a Settler.
Before Jamestown and Plymouth were founded, a group of about 120 men, women and children established one of the first English settlements in the New World on Roanoke Island in 1587. Shortly after arriving in this New World, colonist Eleanor Dare, daughter of Governor John White of the colony, gave birth to her daughter Virginia Dare. The governor’s granddaughter was believed to be the first English child born in North America.
Life on the island was difficult for the colonists. Low on supplies and facing retaliation from the Native Americans they had displaced, the colonists sent Governor White to England in the summer of 1587 for supplies. Because of the impending war with Spain, White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590. When he arrived, he found no evidence of the colony. People believe the word “CROATOAN” was carved on a post. While some theories hold that the colonists died at the site,[1] the fate of those first colonists remains a matter of scholarly debate.
Over 120 actors, technicians, designers and volunteers gather each spring to begin rehearsals to bring The Lost Colony to life for another summer season. The production is enormous. The stage itself is over three times larger than most Broadway stages in New York City. You will be seated in the center of the action with the show happening on three sides of you and even sometimes right next to you in the aisle.
Behind the Scenes Images
All these images were taken in 1989 (before cellphones) so the quality is not the best. I cut them up and put into a 3 ring binder. They are so old, I couldn’t remove them from the binder because they would start to tear. Sorry for the poor quality. Click on below images for larger version.
Stunt
During the show, my big stunt was to do a high fall (30′) off the roof when a settler shot me with a bow and arrow. I fell into a net backstage. I did the stunt so well, they added it it to the Backstage Tour. I also worked as a Backstage Tour Guide during the day time for extra money. I learned even more detailed knowledge about the settlers.
Waterside Theatre
View from the stage looking out to the audience. Seats 1776 people and often sells out.
Left Ankle
During the run of the show, I severely injured my left ankle. Us Indians were doing a fertility dance and the settlers interrupt us at the high point. We were dancing in sand. All my weight was on my left leg (supporting leg) and I was swinging my right leg (working leg) from back attitude to front attitude as fast as possible.
Back attitude. Front attitude is when the working leg is in front of the body in same position.
I rolled over on my left ankle. Thankfully a bunch of other dancers helped me offstage. They said even though I was covered in Mississippi Mud (red body makeup to look like Indian), they could tell I was white as a ghost! I laid on the back deck with ice on my ankle until the show was over and they could take me to the hospital.
I was X-rayed at the hospital and it was only a very bad sprain. I was afraid it would be the end of my dancing career! Luckily, this was the only major injury I’ve had in my career – other than usual pulled muscle, soreness, strain, etc.
I was on crutches and out of the show for a couple of weeks. I sat in the back row and learned just how BIG everything has to be to read all the way to the back.
Video for 2020 Season
Matlock
Andy Griffith is originally from North Carolina. His very first professional job was as Sir Walter Raleigh in The Lost Colony. Since the show was doing so well in the ratings, Andy insisted on doing the Season Opener at gorgeous locations as a Thank You to the hard working Crew.
We were all guaranteed to work 1 day on Matlock. I was able to finagle my way into 3 days. I don’t normally post about doing Background work, but this was my first time on tv.
William Ivey Long
William Ivey Long and his family are direct descendants of the original settlers. They have all worked on the show for many years. He comes back every summer to make sure the costumes are done right. He has won numerous Tony Awards for Best Costumes on Broadway.
Dana Ivey
Dana Ivey (no relation to William) is an excellent actress and has won many awards. She gave a workshop on acting and the realities of a life in the Arts. Very informative and blunt. One thing that has always stayed with me is her talking about the loneliness/isolation of pursuing an acting career.
Extracurricular
To break up the monotony of doing the show for an entire summer, we also had a Talent Night and a musical. For the Talent Night, I sang “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera. There is a bad photo of me (in red shirt) singing in the above gallery. I had just sang it for my last jury at the U of Louisville School of Music to get my Minor in Music, so I knew it well.
My favorite performances (of others) during the Talent Show was an acoustic version of “Patience”
and dance performance of “Batdance” from Batman.
I auditioned and got into The Robber Bridegroom. We performed it during our off nights. I was cast in the Ensemble and played several different parts.
Most of the Lost Colony cast was surprised that I was cast as a Dancer, but could sing so well. Unfortunately, no video from any of these.
Thank Yous
Thank you to Director Fred Chappell for casting me at Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) and giving me a chance. Thank you to all the rest of Cast and Crew. I look forward to working with you all again SOON!
