Spotlight on Lee Falk - The Theatre Years
Lee Falk had a passion for the theatre, and he wrote several plays including two musicals. During his lifetime he ran five theaters, produced about 300 plays and directed about 100 of them.
These summer theatres were resident equity company, supplemented by guest stars from theatre and film (and later television). The season started late in May and each play normally ran for one week. The actors received a "normal" payment to perform but the guest stars often had in their contracts a percentage of profit of the play. A common contract could be 10% of the gross with $750 per week guarantee. Since most of the plays made very little profit most of the guest stars worked for a fraction of what they would normally earn.
The Cambridge Summer Theatre (1940–1947)
at Brattle Hall (about 495 seats)
According to Phil Davis Louise Falk, acted in one of the summer stock companies at Connecticut in 1939. I assume that Lee Falk met John Huntington during the season. Anyhow, after reading Lee's play "Festival at Salzburg", John Huntington urged Lee Falk to join in producing summer stock at Brattle Hall (location: 40 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts) in the 1940 season.
The 1940 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | Tonight or Never | Lily Hatvany | ||
| ? | The Good Fairy | Ferenc Molnár | Walter Slezak | |
| ? | White Cargo (1) | Leon Gordon | Ann Corio | |
| ? | The Barker | Kenyon Nicholson | Ann Corio |
- 1. Addiss & Rorke.
Playbills
White Cargo
The 1941 season
Co-sponsored by John Huntington and Lee Falk. With Louise (acting name: Louise Kanaseriff /Kanasireff) as an actress in the resident company.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | The Lady Has a Heart | Ladislaus Bus-Fekete | Elissa Landi | |
| July 14 | A Slight Case of Murder | Damon Runyon & Howard Lindsay | Lionel Stander | |
| July 19 | The Philadelphia Story | Philip Barry | Diana Barrymore | |
| ? | The Male Animal | James Thurber & Elliott Nugent | Conrad Nagel | |
| The Command to Love | Rudolph Lothar and Fritz Gottwald | Ramon Navarro | ||
| Smart Women | Myron Fagin | Anna Sten | Philip Huston, Jaqueline Susan, John Lorenz, Georgine Clevland | |
| August 28 | Sorrow for Angles | George Batson | Ruth Chatterton | |
| ? | Rain | John Colton & Clemence Randolph | Leonore Ulric |
The 1942 season
The 1942 season was announced as co-sponsored by John Huntington and Lee Falk. But due to Lee Falk's WWII obligations this was changed to the co-sponsorship of Louise Falk and John Huntington.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | George Washington Slept Here | Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman | Cora Witherspoon | Mary Barthelmess, Jack Sheehan, Allan Tower, Louise Kanasireff, Jolyon Baker, Robert Perry |
| May 18 | Personal Island (1) | Pauline Williams | Fay Wray | William Mendrek, Chester Gillis, Charles Bell, Mary Barthelemess, Allan Tower, Robert E Perry, Fay Wray, Nancy Duncan |
| May 27 | Jason | Samuel Raphaelson | Conrad Nagel | William Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff, John Taylor, Dennis Gurney, Nancy Duncan |
| ? | It's a Wise Child | Laurence E. Johnson | Ann Corio | Charles Bell, Robert E Perry, Louise Kanasireff, Mary Barthelemess, William Mendrek, Allan Tower, Edmon Ryan |
| ? | Skylark | Samson Raphaelson | Madge Evans | Robert E. Perry, Louise Kanasireff, Allan Tower |
| ? | Ten Nights in a Barroom | William W. Pratt | ? | Mary Barthelmess, Robert Perry, |
| August ? | Out of the Frying Pan | Francis Swann | ||
| August 10 | Othello (2) | William Shakespeare | Paul Robeson | Uta Hagen, José Ferrer, Margaret Webster, .. |
- 1. Presented by John Huntington in association with Brock Pemberton.
- 2. By Theatre Guild.
Playbills and Advertisements
Othello
Cambridge newspaper "The Tech" May 12, 1942
The 1943 season
Presented by Louise Falk and John Huntington, with Louise Falk (acting name:Louise Kanasireff / Louise Valery) as an actress in the resident company.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 7 | The Damask Cheek | John Van Druten | Elissa Landi | Jeanne Cagney, Ann Dere, Allan Tower, William Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff |
| June 14 | Without Love | Phillip Barry | Constance Bennet | |
| June 21 | Strictly Dishonorable | Preston Sturgis | Una Merkel | Jeanne Cagney, Ann Dere, Allan Tower, William Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff |
| June 28 | Old Acquaintance | John Van Druten | Leatrice Joy and Leatrice Joy Gilbert | |
| July 5 | Personal Appearance | Lawrence Riley | Dorothy MacKaill | Jeanne Cagney, Bob Perry, Dorothy Lambert, Louise Valery, Richard Hart |
| July 12 | Front Page | Ben Hecht And Charles MacArthur | William Harrigan | |
| July 24 | Biography | S. N. Behrman | Ilka Chase | John Ireland, Louise Valery, ... |
| July 26 | Ladies in Retirement | Edward Percy and Reginald Denham | Erin O'Brien-Moore | |
| August 2 | The Willow Tree | J. Harry Benrimo & Harrison Rhodes | Anna May Wong | James Lee, Allan Tower, Ernest Woodward, Richard Hart, William Weyse, William Jeffrey, Ofelia Cornejo, John Gerstad, Elaine Goodell, Louise Valery |
| August 9 | Emperor Jones | Eugene O'Neill | Rex Ingram | |
| August 16 | The Only Girl (1) | Henry Blossom | Patti Pickens & Bob Simmons | |
| August 23 | Brief Moment | S. N. Behrman | Glenda Farrell | |
| August 30 | Little Darling | Erich Hatch | Jeanne Cagney |
- 1. Their 50th production in four years.
Playbills
Ladies in Retirement (signed by Erin O'Brien-Moore)
The Only Girl
The 1944 season
Presented by Louise Falk and John Huntington, with Louise Falk (acting name: Louise Valery) as an actress in the resident company.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 6 | Tonight or Never | Lili Hatvany | Ethel Barrymoore Colt | Richard Hart, Lee Nugent, Allan Tower, Kathryn Cameron, Robert Perry |
| June 12 | Another Love Story | Sidney Kingsley | Madge Evans | Louise Valery, Richard Hard, Robert Perry, Lee Nugent, .... |
| June 19 | A Goose for a Gander | Harold J Kennedy | Gloria Swanson & Ralph Forbes | Ralph Forbes, Lynn Carter, Louise Valery, Harold J Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, Lee Nugent, Allan Tower, Miranda Swanson, David Tyrell |
| ? | Anna Christie | Eugene O'Neill | Claire Luce | |
| ? | Guest in the House | Hagar Wilde and Dale Eunson | Julie Haydon | Robert Perry, Louise Valery, Richard Hart, Marjorie Peggs, Kathryn Cameron |
| ? | Dark Eyes | Elena Miramova and Eugenie Leontovich | Lenore Ulric | Louise Valery, Richard Hard, Robert Perry, .... |
| ? | Oh Boy | Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse | Patti Pickens | |
| ? | The Little Foxes | Lillian Hellman | Mabel Acker | |
| July 31 | Here's To Us | Shirland Quin | Jean Muir | Ada Roston, Muriel Pierce, Jean Muir, Richard Hart, Louise Valery, Roderich Winchell, Ruth Homond, Shirland Quin |
| August 7 | Too Many Husbands | W.Somerset Maugham | Nancy Carroll | Lee Nugent, Norma Cohan, Kathryn Cameron, Allan Tower, Robert E. Perry, Richard Hart, Lillian Staford, William Jeffrey, Marjorie Peggs |
| August 14 | Dark of the Moon | Howard Richardson & William Berney | Carol Stone | Richard Hart, Roderich Winchell, Frances Goforth, Carl Windel, Ruth Homond, Richard Van Arsdale, Ronald Graham, Boardman O'Conner, Kathryn Cameron, Lee Nugent, Philip Wheaton, Constance Cooper, Myrtle Shaw, Norman Keohane, William Weyse, Allan Tower, Dorothy Lambert, John Gerstad, William Jeffrey, Robert Pryor, Robert E. Perry, Louise Valery, Lynne Arlen |
| August 21 | Marriage is for Single People | Stanley Richards | Jeanne Cagney | Mathilda Calman, Jeanne Cagney, Kathryn Cameron, Roderich Winchell, Lynne Arlen, Louise Valery, Allan Tower, Dorothy Lambert, Richard Hart, Ronald Graham, James Lawlor, Myrtle Shaw |
| August 28 | Come Be My Love | Edward Caulfield & Pauline Jamerson | Walter Hampden | |
| September 4 | ? | |||
| September 11 | Winterkill | Jerry Emerson | Margaret Hayes | Dorothy Lambert, Richard Hart, Margaret Hayes, John Gerstad, William Jeffrey, Louise Valery, Allan Tower, Roderich Winchell |
Playbills
Too Many Husbands (signed by Margaret Hayes)
Winterkill (signed by Nancy Carroll)
The 1945 season
Presented by (Lee Falk and) John Huntington.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 11 | Blithe Spirit | Noel Coward | Elissa Landi | |
| June 18 | Her Cardboard Lover | Jacques Deval | Diana Barrymore | |
| June 25 | The Passionate Congressman | Lee Harrison Falk | Neil Hamilton | Kurt Richards, Gertrude Flynn, Nick Harris, Edmon Ryan, George MacQuarrie, Bruce Adams, Ruth Homond, John McKee, Louise Valery, Frank McNellis, William Becker, Philip Wheaton, Roderich Winchell, Eliot Duvey, William Otis, Donald Josephs, Carter Jefferson. |
| July 2 | My Sister Eileen | Joseph A Fields & Jerome Chodorov | Libby Holman | Bruce Adams, Libby Holman, Leila Ernst, Nick Harris, Norma Kellar, Ray Hinkley, Richard Kilbride, William Becker, Conner Jameson, Constance Moorehead, Eliot Duvey, Edythe Ward, Robert Foster, Kurt Richards, Robert Paine, Peggy Stuart, Winifred Wellington, Roderich Winchell, Philip Wheaton, Philip Bresnahan, Richard Van Arsdale, Paul Clark, Anton Hjelmar, Ruth Homond |
| July 10 to 21 | Alice In Wonderland | Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus (adapted from Lewis Carroll) | Margareth Speaks & Emile Renan | Edythe Ward, Jerry Ross, Marian Seldes, Joanne Palmer, Robert Foster, Elisabeth Bradlee, Peggy Stuart, Kai Strozzi, Dorothy Lambert, Ray Hinkley, Bruce Adams, Philip Wheaton, Gertrude Woodard, Eliot Duvey, Kurt Richards, Ruth Homond, Roderich Winchell, Constance Moorehead, Norma Kellar, Hibbard James |
| July 23 | The Spider | Fulton Oursler and Lowell Brentano | Victor Jory | Orson Bean, .. |
| Three's a Family | Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron |
Playbills
My Sister Eileen (signed by actors)
Alice In Wonderland
The 1946 season
Returning in 1946 Lee Falk and John Huntington found that they could manage to operate one more summer theatre, if they could produce a play a week at the new Boston Summer Theatre and then move it to Cambridge the next week. One more thing was that television was beginning to compete with theatre and movies. One way to attract audiences was to bring in complete travelling shows from New York. These shows could easily be booked to play two theatres in two weeks.
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 10 | The Hasty Heart | John Patrick | Lilian Harvey | |
| June 17 | Ten Little Indians | Agatha Christie | Michael Whalen | |
| June 24 | Springtime for Henry | Benn W. Levy | Edward Everett Horton | |
| July 1 | Night Must Fall | Emlyn Williams | Dame May Whitty | Constance Moorehead |
| July 8 | Sailor, Beware! | Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson | Ann Corio | |
| July 15 | Angle Street | Samuel Raphaelson | Francia Lederer and Bramwell Fletcher | |
| July 22 | Burlesque | George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins | Bert Lahr | |
| July 29 | Goodbye Again | Allan Scott and George Haight | Roger Pry? | |
| August 5 | They Knew What They Wanted | Sidney Howard | June Havoc | |
| August 12 | The Best of Friends | Andrew Rosenthal | Libby Holman | |
| August 19 | The Time of Your Life | William Saroyan | James Dunn and Julie Hayden | |
| August 26 | Meet the Wife | Lynn Starling | Mary Boland | |
| September 2 | The Late George Apler | John P. Marquand and George S. Kaufman | Grant Mitchell |
The 1947 season
The season of 1947 at the Cambridge Summer Theatre was the last on involving John Huntington and Lee Falk.
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The Boston Summer Theatre (1946–1958)
at New England Mutual Hall (about 914 seats)
Lee Falk had divorced in 1945 and when he returned in 1946 he fell in love with an actress of the summer stock, Constance J M Lilienthal. They were married in August 1946.
When returning in 1946 Lee started seriously directing and during this and the next seasons he directed a play every week. However, after the 1947 season he found that he could not operate his new summer theatre all by himself and the cartoonist Al Capp became his new silent partner in 1948.
The Boston Summer Theatre was doing well for many years until 1957 when Lee Falk started to lose money. Al Capp had dropped out in 1956 and John Huntington came back for the 1958 season. But sadly, they still lost money and Lee Falk decided to throw in the towel.
The 1946 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 24 | Night Must Fall | Emlyn Williams | Dame May Whitty | Constance Moorehead |
| July 1 | Sailor, Beware! | Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson | Ann Corio | |
| July 8 | Angle Street | Samuel Raphaelson | Francia Lederer and Bramwell Fletcher | |
| July 15 | Burlesque | George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins | Bert Lahr | |
| July 22 | Goodbye Again | Allan Scott and George Haight | Roger Pry? | |
| July 29 | They Knew What They Wanted | Sidney Howard | June Havoc | |
| August 5 | The Best of Friends | Andrew Rosenthal | Libby Holman | |
| August 12 | The Time of Your Life | William Saroyan | James Dunn and Julie Hayden | |
| August 19 | Meet the Wife | Lynn Starling | Mary Boland | |
| August 26 | The Late George Apler | John P. Marquand and George S. Kaufman | Grant Mitchell |
The 1947 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | The Glass Menagerie | Tennessee Williams | Julie Haydon & Helen MacKellar | |
| July 7 | Heaven Help the Angels | Ted Luce | Paul & Grace Hartmann | Bill White, Ted Luce, Jane Bishir, Larry Lawrence, Maud Patten |
| July 14 | There's Always Juliet | John van Druten | Miriam Hopkins | |
| July 21 | Dracula | Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (from Bram Stoker's novel) | Bela Lugosi | Gertrude Flynn, Casey Walters, Allan Tower, William Mendrek, Robert Foster, William Becker, Connie Moorehead |
| ? | Joan of Lorraine | Maxwell Anderson | Magde Evans | |
| August 11 | Laughter from a Cloud | Lynn Riggs | Paul Clarke | Susan Douglas, Gen Byron, Polly Rowles, Ilka Chase, Ralph Longley, Cynthia Latham, Donald McDonald, Peter Harris, Barry Mitchell |
Advertisements
newspaper "Boston Herald" July 27 1947
The 1948 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 28 | John Loves Mary | Norman Krasna | Jackie Cooper | Constance Moorehead, Harry Mccabe, Bernard Kates, Clyde Waddell, Winifred Wellington, Robert Crawley, Jack Woods, Elizabeth Ayer, David White |
| July 26 | Design for Living | Noël Coward | Ilka Chase | Derrick Lynn-Thomas, Robert Carroll, Allen Nourse,
Jack Woods, Howard Price, Elizabeth Ayers, Winifred Wellington, Robert Loeb, Patricia Withington, Melvin Miller |
Playbills
John Loves Mary
Design for Living
The 1949 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 21 | Seven Keys to Baldpate | William Gaxton | ||
| July 4 to 9 | Pretty Penny | Harold Rome and Jerome Chodorov | Lenore Lonergan, David Burns, Carl Reiner, George Keane, Marilyn Day, Ken Spaulding, Peter Gennaro, Jay Lloyd, Onna White, Diane Sinclair, Wayne Lamb, Barbara McCutcheon, Evelyn Taylor, Robert Morrow, Bill Skipper, Barbara Martin,
Walter Scheff, George Spelvin, John Henson, Florence Henson and Barbara Weaver | |
| July 11 to 14 | Yes My Darling Daughter | Mark Reed | Ann Harding | |
| July 18 to 23 | Let Us Be Gay | Rachael Crothers | Kay Francis | |
| July 25 to 30 | The Philadelphia Story | Philip Barry | Sarah Churchill, Jeffrey Lyn | |
| August 1 to 6 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Rudolf Besier | Susan Peters | |
| August 22 | Present Laughter | Edward Everett Horton | ||
| August 29 | Accent on Youth | Samson Raphaelson | Paul Lukas with Constance Moorehead | Ruth Hermansen, Howard Wendell, Leslie Nielsen, Allan Tower, Elizabeth Ayers, John Perkins, Paul Clarke |
Playbills
1949 program
The 1950 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 10 | Angel Street | Lareine Day | ||
| August 7 | Over 21 | Ruth Gordon | Eve Arden & Brooks West | |
| August 11 | Dear Brutus | Brian Aherne (?) |
The 1951 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2 | Alice in Wonderland | Frances Pole | John Sacco | |
| July 9 | Here Today | Eva Arden | ||
| July 16 | Brigadoon | |||
| July 23 | Mirror, Mirror | Kay Francis | ||
| July 30 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Tennessee Williams | Julie Haydon | Norma Connolly, Joe Graham, Jerry O'Loughlin |
| August 6 | Pal Joey | Carol Bruce | ||
| August 13 | Glad Tidings | Melvyn Douglas and Signe Hasso | ||
| August 20 | Clutterbu | Arthur Treacher | ||
| August 27 | Come Back, Little Sheba | Joan Blondell | ||
| September 3 | Susan and God | Joan Bennett | Mdinda Markey, | |
| September 10 | Here Today | Eva Arden |
The 1952 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 9 | The Happy Time | Samuel Taylor | Denise Darcel | Gregg Juarez, Robert de Cost Mary MacLeod, Al Thaler, Richard Trask, Allan Tower, Martha Barron, Gayle Chandler, Edward Finnegan, Gerry Hiken, Joe Graham |
The 1953 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 29 | Bell, Book and Candle | Alexis Smith & Viktor Jory | ||
| July 13 | John Loves Mary | Norman Krasna | Farley Granger | Hollis Irving, Philip Abbott, David Van Celet, Allan Tower, Ethel Britton, Wayne Carson, Lawrence Goulding, Lillian Udvardy, Hal Currier |
| July 20 | One Thing After Another | Jane Connell | Elizabeth Berryhill, Gordon Connell, Carol Brumm, John Tomaschke, Louis Bennet, Robert Cowell, Betty Cole, William Rush, Mary Madigan | |
| July 27 | Annie Get Your Gun | Sara Dillon & Jack Dabdoub | ||
| August 10 | Peg O' My Heart | J. Hartley Manners | Margaret O'Brien | John Conwell, Ethel Britton, Ken McEwen, Constance Moorehead, Allan Tower, Lenn Phipps, Alberta Johnson, Wayne Carson |
Playbills
John Loves Mary - On Stage Program cover
John Loves Mary - On Stage Program
John Loves Mary
Peg O' My Heart
The 1954 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Vegetable | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Wally Cox | ||
| July 4 | The Woman with Red Hair | Barbara Britton | ||
| July 19 | The Hasty Heart | John Patrick | Farley Granger | Frances Heflin, Wesley Lau, Dick Hamilton, Clarke Gordon, Wyatt Cooper, Earl Jones, Champ Reynolds, Allan Tower |
| July 26 | The Little Hut | Marie Wilson | ||
| The Great Walz | Patricia Bowman | |||
| August 1 | The Member of the Wedding | Ethel Waters | ||
| August 8 | The Rain Maker | Eva Marie Saint | ||
| August 15 | You Can't Take it with You | Charles Coburn | ||
| August 22 | The Lady's not for Burning | Uta Hagen, Herbert Bergnor |
Playbills
The Hasty Heart
The 1955 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 11 | Cyprienne | Dorothy Monet (based on Victorien Sardou) | Uta Hagen And Herbert Berghof | Rex O'Malley, Robert Culp, Leonard Phipps, Anne "Anna" Meara, Allan Tower, Margaret O'Neill |
| July 18 | No Time for Comedy | S. N. Behrman | Sarah Churchill | Robert Carrol, Frances Tannhill, Alexander Clark, John Moorehead, Conrad Bain, Butterfly McQueen |
| July 22 | Wedding Breakfast | Theodore Reeves | Shelly Winters | Martin Balsam, Anthony Franciosa, Virginia Vincent, ... |
Playbills
Cyprienne
The 1956 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 16 | Beasop's Fables | Beatrice Lillie | Fred Keating, John Philip, Shannon Dean, | |
| July 23 | The Chalk Garden | Enid Bagnold | Lillian Gish & Dorothy Gish | O.Z. Whitehead, Neil Fitzgerald, Frances Ingalls, Charron Follett, Adele Thane, Muriel Pearce |
| July 30 | Stars of the Ballet Theatre (1) | Nora Kaya & John Kriza | Lupe Serrano, Ruth Ann Koesun, Scott Douglas, Catherine Horn, Christine Mayer, Enrique Martinez | |
| August | Paris | Marin Brown | Jane Morgan & Russel Nype | |
| The Fifth Season | Chico Marx | |||
| August 27 | Oh, Men! Oh, Women | Edward Chodorov | Neil Hamilton | Juleen Compton, Robert Gallagher, Ray MacDonnell, Jenny Egan, John Scanlan, Dodie Bauer, Burt Austin |
- (1) Lee Falk presents in association with Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith.
Playbills
The Chalk Garden
The 1957 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 8 | Volpone | Ben Johson (adapted by Stefan Zweig) | Ian Keith & Alfred Ryder | Arthur Malet, Peggy Feury, Tom Bosley, David Bauer, Guy Sorel, Jane McArthur, Clifford David, Ray Bieri, Lance Cunard |
| July 15 | Thieves' Carnival | Jean Anouilh | Melville Cooper, Lawewnce Spector, John Reese, Guy Sorel, David Bauer, Tom Bosley, Marjorie Gateson, Jane McArthur, Susan Strasberg, Monica Lovett, Lance Cunard, Dalila Mockapetris | |
| Venus Observed | Christopher Fry | |||
| Back to Methuselah | George Bernard Shaw | |||
| The Madwoman of Chaillot | Jean Giraudoux | |||
| August 12 | The Potting Shed | Graham Greene | Frances Starr & Frank Conroy & Gene Lyons | Robin Morgan, Tom Bosley, Maureen Hurley, Edward Finnegan, Lawrence Spector, Edmund Roney, Adele Thane, Joan Croydon |
The 1958 season
| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | Visit to a Small Planet | Bert Lahr | ||
| July 14 | Mid-Summer | Vina Delmar | James Mason | Pamela Mason (?), Portland Mason, Betty Bartley, Jonathan Morris, Douglas Deane, Edward Finnegan, Adele Thane |
| July 21 | Separate Tables | Terence Rattigan | Basil Rathbone & Geraldine Page | Ann Shoemaker, Lucy Landau, Catherine Proctor, Barbara Lester, Edgar Kent, Audrey Ridgwell, Ralph Purdom and Ann Stanwel |
| July 28 | Tonight at 8:30 | Noel Coward | Faye Emerson & Murray Matheson | |
| August 4 | Hole in the Head | Arnold Schulman | Hal Melvyn | Hal March (?), Bill Tierney, Ronnie Gates, Teena Starr, Avril Gentile, Donna Person, Edward Finnegan |
| August 11 | Dulcy | George S. Kaufman & Marc Connelly | Dody Goodman | Gene Lyons, Perry Fiske, Lawrence Fletcher, Gloria Barret, Betty Rollin, Brooks Rogers, Leo Bloom, Justice Watson, Stanford McAuley, Howard Mann |
| August 18 | Strange Partners | Florence Lowe & Caroline Francke | Melvyn Douglas | |
| September 1 | Third Best Sport | Eleanor & Leo Bayer | Celeste Holm | Andrew Duggan, Milo Boulton, Sally Gracie, Ernest Austin, Jane Hoffman, James Karen, Russell Gaige, Tony Kraber, Irene Cowan, Joseph Boland |
The County Playhouse (1952–1953)
at Framingham Cinema (about 2500 seats)
Framingham Cinema [1] was part of "Shopper’s World", the world’s biggest shopping centre located in Framingham. Lee Falk and Al Capp rented the Cinema for the years 1952–1954 to put up "the second week" of the plays from the Boston Summer theatre. The Framingham Cinema cancelled the last year of their contract and the County Playhouse operated only for the seasons of 1952 and 1953. Marlon Brando, Billy Burke and Ezio Pinza were some of the guest stars playing at the playhouse.
View of the Framingham shopping mall and cinema
The 1952 season
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| Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | Come On Up...Ring Twice | Miles Mander, Fred Schiller and Thomas Dunphy | Mae West | |
| ? | The Glass Menagerie | Tennessee Williams | Dana Andrews | Walter Matthau, Mary Todd, June Walker |
| August 18 | Jezebel's Husband | Robert Nathan | Claude Rains | Ossis Davis, Vinie Burrows, Ben Gazzara, Carmen Matthews, Robert Emhardt, Ruth McDevitt, Judith Parrish, Claudia Morgan, Bill Leonard, Robert Kieth Jr. |
| September 8 | The Happy Time | Samuel Taylor | Denise Darcel | Gregg Juarez, Robert De Cost, Mary Macleod, Al Thaler, Richard Trask, Allan Tower, Martha Barron, Gayle Chandler, Edward Finnegan, Gerry Hiken, Joe Graham |
Playbills
Come On Up...Ring Twice
The Glass Menagerie
Jezebel's Husband (signed by actors)
The Happy Time
The 1953 season
- Week of July 27: Arms And The Man by George Bernard Shaw, starring Marlon Brando as Sergius. (note: week of 6 July at the Theatre by-the-sea, Matunuck)
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The Marblehead Theatre (1954?–1956?)
In 1952 Lee Falk said he had rented the North Shore Music Tent in Beverly, not far away from Marblehead. This might have been the Marblehead Theatre or some other project that wasn't realized.
Very little information can be found about the Marblehead Theatre except for the place it operated from. My guess is that when Lee Falk lost the County Playhouse for the 1954 season he rented a new place in Marblehead for his "second week" of the Boston Summer Theatre. It is a bit uncertain if the theatre was still operating in 1956.
The British Colonial Playhouse (1953–1958?)
at Bahama Playhouse (about 40 seats)
Lee and his wife Connie used to spend parts of the winters in Nassau Bahamas. During February and March there was a small theatre operating at Bahama Playhouse. The British Colonial Playhouse had been operated by Lawrence Langner, Martin Manulis and Charles Bowden for two years without any financial success.
They asked Lee Falk if he would like to operate the theatre, he accepted and in the season of 1953 Lee found himself as the managing director for a small winter theatre. Charles Heston acted in one play in 1957, but if the theatre still was operated by Lee Falk after this season is uncertain.
Other theatres
The Grist Mill Playhouse
Lee Falk was the producer on "On The Town" by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with music by Leonard Bernstein at The Grist Mill Playhouse (Andover N.J.) week of July 17, 1950.
Credits:
Staged by Carl Shain, Choreography by Beverlee Bozeman, Assistant Director: Paul Lamers, Set Designed by William Moore, Music Arranged and Executed by Dean Fuller and David Craig.
Cast: Nancy Walker, Ruth Webb, James Jewell, Nita Naldi, John Sylvester, Chris Alexander, Robert Gallagher, Beverlee Bozeman, Faith Forte, Marilyn Gelber, Walter Neal, Portia Nelson, Steven Lee, Robert Calder, Robert De Voye, Eleanor Fairchild, Gordon Peters, Alice Thorsell, Betsy Stickney, Jean Timmerman, Zelene McDavit, Barbara Bronson, Robert Holly, Malcolm Stickney, Robert Hebbard, Lanny Gans.
Renata Theater
Lee Falk was the producer and director for the play "Winkelberg" by Ben Hecht at Renata Theater (NY) in 1958. It opened January 14 1958 and run for 58 preformances.
Credits:
Set Designer: Lester Polakov, Costume Designer: Don Jensen, Lighting Designer: Lester Polakov, Press Representative: Lewis Harmond & Sol Jacobsen, Stage Manager: Ernest Austin, Edward Roney and Bob Sugarman.
Cast: Arthur Anderson, Ernie Austin, Aza Bard, Sorell Booke, Norman Budd, Frances Chaney, Tom Clancy, Jayne Heller, Harry Holsten, Robert Earl Jones, Mike Kellin, Louise Kirtland, Sondra Lee, Michael Lewis, James Mitchell, Shirley Smith, Bob Sugarman, Helen Waters
Sources
- Billboard magazines
- Newspapers