Spotlight on Lee Falk - The Theatre Years: Difference between revisions
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====The 1950 season==== | ====The 1950 season==== | ||
{| {{table}} | {| {{table}} | ||
! Week of!! Title!! by!! Starring!! Cast | ! Week of!! Title!! by!! Starring!! Cast!! Staged by | ||
|- | |- | ||
| July 3 || The Second Man || S. N. Behrman || Franchot Tone || | | July 3 || "The Second Man" || S. N. Behrman || Franchot Tone || || (and supervised) Jean Dalrymple | ||
|- | |- | ||
| July 10 || "Angel Street" || Patrick Hamilton || Lareine Day ||Ernest Cossart, Ferdi Hoffman, Betty Underwood, Elfrida Derwent, John Perkins, Paul Clarke | | July 10 || "Angel Street" || Patrick Hamilton || Lareine Day ||Ernest Cossart, Ferdi Hoffman, Betty Underwood, Elfrida Derwent, John Perkins, Paul Clarke || Directed by Irvin Sudrow | ||
|- | |- | ||
| July 17 || The Gay Divorce || Cole Porter || Jack Whiting, Carole Stone and Lenore Lonergan || | | July 17 || "The Gay Divorce" || Cole Porter || Jack Whiting, Carole Stone and Lenore Lonergan || || Directed by Lillian Udverdy | ||
|- | |- | ||
| July 24 || Apple of His Eye || Millard Crosby || Edward Arnold || | | July 24 || "Apple of His Eye" || Millard Crosby || Edward Arnold || || Directed by Jerome Mayer | ||
|- | |- | ||
| July 31 || On the Town || Betty Comden and Adolph Green || Nancy Walker || | | July 31 || On the Town || Betty Comden and Adolph Green || Nancy Walker || || | ||
|- | |- | ||
| August 7 || Over 21 || Ruth Gordon || Eve Arden & Brooks West || | | August 7 || "Over 21" || Ruth Gordon || Eve Arden & Brooks West || || Tyler Winn | ||
|- | |- | ||
| August 14 || Dear Brutus | | August 14 || "Dear Brutus" || James M. Barrie || Brian Aherne || Helen Craig, Harry Sothern, Harry Ellerbe, Allan Tower, ''Constance Moorehead'', ..|| Directed by '''Lee Falk''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| August 21 || "Blind Alley" || James Warwick || Zachary Scott || Robert Allen, Eileen Heckart, ..... | | August 21 || "Blind Alley" || James Warwick || Zachary Scott || Robert Allen, Eileen Heckart, .....|| John Hapgott | ||
|- | |- | ||
| August 28 || My French Wife || Charles Dean || Edward Everett Horton || | | August 28 || "'''(His/)''' My French Wife" || Charles Dean & Richard Doscher || Edward Everett Horton || || Howard Magwood | ||
|- | |- | ||
| September 4 || Finian's Rainbow || Fred Saidy, E Y Harburg and Burton Lane || || | | September 4 || "Finian's Rainbow" || Fred Saidy, E Y Harburg and Burton Lane || || || | ||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
=====Playbills===== | =====Playbills===== |
Revision as of 17:32, 1 September 2017
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
Miriam Battista, John Huntington and Lee Falk as managing trio, for an 8-week season at Brattle Hall. Among the stars reported engaged in June were Walter Slezak, Sheila Barrett and James Rennie, and the plays to be presented will include "The Good Fairy", "Biography", "Corespondent Unknown", "The Spider" and perhaps a new play by Mr. Falk.
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast | Staged by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 8 | "Tonight or Never" | Lily Hatvany | Helen Ford | Stephen Courtleigh, Emily Ross, Ralph Morehouse, Joseph F. Foley | |
July 15 | "The Good Fairy" | Ferenc Molnár | Walter Slezak and Miriam Battista | ||
July 22 | "The Spider" | Lowell Brentano and Fulton Oursler | James Rennie | Stephen Courtlelgh, Miriam Battista, Emily Ross, Ralph Morehouse, Joseph F. Foley, Louise Kanasireff | Neil McFee Skinner |
July 29 | "The Front Page" | Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur | James Rennie | Stephen Courtleigh, Louise Kanasireff, .. | |
August 5 | "Petticoat Fever" | Mark Reed | Guy Robertson | ||
August 12 | "Blind Alley" | James Warwick | ? | ||
August 19 | "The Barker" | Kenyon Nicholson | Ann Corio | Neil McFee Skinner | |
August 26 | "Your Loving Son" (1) | Abby Merchant | Ezra Stone & Jessie Royce Landis | Ezra Stone | |
September 2 | "White Cargo" (2) | Leon Gordon | Ann Corio |
- 1. Presented by Cambridge Summer Theatre and Bernard Cliff Hayman
- 2. Addiss & Rorke.
Playbills
The 1941 season
Co-sponsored by John Huntington and Lee Falk, and with Louise (acting name: Louise Kanasireff) as an actress in the resident company. Ine June it was said tha the opening attraction will be Elissa Landi in "The Lady Has a Heart". Then will come dazzling Ann Corio in "Personal Appearance", Diana Barrymore in "The Philadelphia Story", Anna Sten in "Nancy’s Private Affair", Ramon Navarro in "Command to Love", with other plays to be announced.
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 21 | "The Philadelphia Story" | Philip Barry | Diana Barrymore | Robert E Perry, Ruth Hermansen, Helen Gilette, Watson White, Willian Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff, Wilson Lehr, Judson Langill, Wylie Adams |
July 28 | "Smart Women" | Myron C. Fagin | Anna Sten (matinees Wedensday and Saturday) |
Philip Huston, Jaqueline Susan, John Lorenz, Georgine Clevland |
August 4 | "The Command to Love" | Rudolph Lothar and Fritz Gottwald | Ramon Navarro (matinee Wedensday) |
Robert E. Perry, William Mendrek, Debbie Dare, Louise Kanasireff |
August 11 | "Rain" | John Colton & Clemence Randolph | Leonore Ulric (Matinee Wedensday) |
|
August 18 | "Pursuit of Happiness" | Alan Child and Isabelle Loudon | Francis Lederer | Robert E. Perry, William Mendrek, Ruth Hermansen, Helen Gillette |
August 25 | "Sorrow for Angles" | George Batson | Ruth Chatterton & Barry Thomson | Helen Gillette, Robert Wilcox, William Mendrek, Ruth Hermansen, Robert E. Perry, Nina Wentworth, WIlson Lehr, Marjorie Peggs |
September 1 | "Mr. and Mrs. North" | Owen Davis (from Frances and Richard Lockridge's stories) | Nancy Carroll | Robert E. Perry, William Mendred, Wilson Lehr, Robert Wilcox, Louise Kanasireff, Marjorie Peggs, Daniel Ocko, Helen Gillette |
September 8 | "The Man Who Came to Dinner" | Moss Hart and George S.Kaufman | Adrienne Ames & Edward Massey | Ruth Hermansen, Marjorie Peggs, Robert E. Perry, William Mendrek, Helen Gillette, Daniel Ocko, Frederic Lynwood, Winifred Wellington |
September 15 | "No time for Comedy" | S. N. Behrman | Francis Lederer | Crace Coppin, Jean Goodale, Robert E. Perry, Robert Wilcox |
September 22 | "The Male Animal" | James Thurber & Elliott Nugent | Conrad Nagel | Betty Kelley, Louise Kanasireff, Edmond Ryan, Paul Wayne, Robert Wilcox, Irving Locke, |
The 1942 season
The 1942 season was announced to last 18 weeks and as co-sponsored by John Huntington and Lee Falk. Due to Lee Falk's WWII obligations this was changed to the co-sponsorship of Louise Falk and John Huntington. The same policy as last year with well-known guest stars from Broadway, Hollywood and the radio, supported by a resident company of professional players. The attractions changed weekly, with Wedensday and Saturday as matinee days. Robert E. Perry both acted and directed this season. Early May the season was announced: Within the first weeks will appear such stars as Conrad Nagle, Fay Wray, Ann Corio, Glenda Farrell and Jinx Falkenburg. Later in the summer there will appear Madeleine Carroll, John Boles, Edna Mae Oliver, Mischa Auer, John Carradine, Ruth Chatterton, Billie Burke and Edward Everett Horton.
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 11 | "George Washington Slept Here" | Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman | Cora Witherspoon | Jack Sheehan, Mary Barthelmess, 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 25 | "Jason" | Samuel Raphaelson | Conrad Nagel | William Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff, John Taylor, Dennis Gurney, Nancy Duncan |
June 1 | "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 |
June 8 | "Private Lives" | Noel Coward | Ruth Chatterton & Ralph Forbes | |
June 15 | ||||
June 22 | "Theatre" | Somerset Maugham & Guy Bolton | Elissa Landi | Robert E. Perry, Louise Kanasireff, Mary Barthelmess, Allan Tower, Nancy Duncan, Charles Bell |
June 29 | "Skylark" | Samson Raphaelson | Madge Evans | Robert E. Perry, Wm. Mendrek, Allen Tower, Chas. Bell, Louise Kanasireff, Nancy Duncan, Mary Barthelmess |
July 6 | "Reflected Glory" | Georg Kelly | Gloria Swanson | Myrtle Tannchill, Mary Barthelmess, .. |
July 13 | "The Dark Tower" | Alexander Woolcott & George S. Kaufman | Gloria Stuart | Philip Huston, Robert E. Perry, Mary Barthelmess, William Mendrek, Winifred Wellington, Nancy Duncan, Allan Tower, Charles Bell |
July 20 | "Little Women" | Louisa May Alcott | Sylvia Sidney | Robert E. Perry, Mary Barthelmess, Louise Kanasireff, William Mendrek, Nancy Duncan, Allan Tower, Charles Bell, Edith Ward, William Jeffreys (from the American Theatre) |
July 27 | "Suspect" | Reginald Denham & Edward Percy | Flora Robson | Philip Huston, Robert E. Perry, Louise Kanasireff, Allan Tower, William Mendrek, Nancy Duncan, Mary Barthelmess, Charles Bell |
August 3 | "Quiet Wedding" | Esther McCracken | Wendy Barrie | Philip Huston, Edith Ward, Ruth Hermansen, Robert E. Perry, Louise Kanasireff, Nancy Duncan, Mary Barthelmess, William Mendrek, Allan Tower, Charles Bell |
August 10 | "Othello" (2) | William Shakespeare | Paul Robeson | Uta Hagen, José Ferrer, Margaret Webster, .. |
August 17 | "Out of the Frying Pan" | Francis Swann | Sally O'Neil | Gaylord Mason, Charles Bell, Mary Barthelmess, Nancy Duncan, Robert Perry, .. |
August 24 | "Ten Nights in a Barroom" | William W. Pratt | ? | Mary Barthelmess, Robert Perry, .. |
August 31 | "A Movie for Uncle Sam" | ? | Fred Stone & Paula Stone | Mary Barthelmess, Nancy Duncan, Allan Tower, Charles Bell, William Mendrek, Louise Kanasireff, ...... |
September 7 | "Ways and Means"(3) & "Fumed Oak" & "Hands Across the Table" | Noel Coward | Louise Kanasireff, Robert E. Perry, ..... |
- 1. Presented by John Huntington in association with Brock Pemberton.
- 2. By Theatre Guild.
- 3. Leading role in Ways and Means.
Playbills and Advertisements
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. Robert E. Perry both acted and directed this season. The Cambridge Summer Theatre and Providence Playhouse (operated by Charles Howard & Wendell Corey) joined hands this season, and the various productions were put up one week at the Cambridge Summer Theatre and one week at the Providence Playhouse.
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 | Louise Valery, |
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 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 | Jeanne Cagney, William Mendrek, Richard Hart, Louise Valery, Allan Tower, Lester Lonergan, William Weyse. |
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 | William Mendrek, Lawanune Kennard, Larry Lauria |
August 16 | "The Only Girl" (1) | Herbert 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
The 1944 season
Presented by Louise Falk and John Huntington, with Louise Falk (acting name: Louise Valery) as an actress in the resident company. Robert E. Perry both acted and directed this season. Among the stars likely to appear this season are Madge Evans, Billie Burke, Gloria Swanson, Ralph Forbes, Clare Luce, Brian Donlevy, E. Everett Norton, Nancy Carroll, Ruth Chatterton, etc.
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 5 | "Tonight or Never" | Lili Hatvany | Ethel Barrymoore Colt | Richard Hart, Lee Nugent, Allan Tower, Kathryn Cameron, Robert E. Perry, William Jeffrey, Dorothy Lambert, Roderich Winchell |
June 12 | "Another Love Story" | Sidney Kingsley | Madge Evans | Louise Valery, Richard Hart, Robert E. Perry, Lee Nugent, Allen Tower, Wm. Jeffery, Shurland Quinn, Edmond Ryan |
June 19 | "A Goose for a Gander | Harold J Kennedy | Gloria Swanson & Ralph Forbes | Ralph Forbes, Lynn Carter, Louise Valery, Harold J Kennedy, Lee Nugent, Allan Tower, Miranda Swanson, David Tyrell |
June 26 | Anna Christie | Eugene O'Neill | Claire Luce | Richard Hart, .... |
July 3 | "Guest in the House" | Hagar Wilde & Dale Eunson | Julie Hayden | Robert E. Perry, Louise Valery, Richard Hart, Marjorie Peggs, Kathryn Cameron |
July 10 | "Dark Eyes" | Elena Miramova and Eugenie Leontovich | Lenore Ulric | Louise Valery, Richard Hard, Robert E. Perry, William Jeffrey, Allan Tower, Roy Allen and other members of the professional resident company at Brattle Hall |
July 17 | "Oh Boy" | Guy Bolton & P. G. Wodehouse | Patti Pickens | Robert E. Perry, Lee Nugent, .. |
July 24 | "The Little Foxes" | Lillian Hellman | Mabel Acker | Robert E. Perry, Ruth Homond, Allan Tower, William Jeffrey, Richard Hart, Muriel Pierce |
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 22 | "Marriage is for Single People" | Stanley Richards | Jeanne Cagney | Mathilda Calman, Kathryn Cameron, Roderich Winchell, Lynne Arlen, Louise Valery, Allan Tower, Dorothy Lambert, Richard Hart, Ronald Graham, James Lawlor, Myrtle Shaw |
August 29 | "Come Be My Love" | Edward Caulfield & Pauline Jamerson | Walter Hampden | Dorothy Sands, Kay MacDonald, Constance Root, Jean Adair, Ruth Homond, Charles Bowlby, Joe Latham, Ann Mason, Ada Roston, Edwinf Cushman (all New York cast, including Ruth Homond of the Brattle Hall Playhouse) |
September 4 | "Come Be My Love" | Edward Caulfield & Pauline Jamerson | Walter Hampden | Dorothy Sands, Kay MacDonald, Constance Root, Jean Adair, Ruth Homond, Charles Bowlby, Joe Latham, Ann Mason, Ada Roston, Edwinf Cushman (all New York cast, including Ruth Homond of the Brattle Hall Playhouse) |
September 11 | "Winterkill" | Jerry Emerson | Margaret Hayes | Dorothy Lambert, Richard Hart, John Gerstad, William Jeffrey, Louise Valery, Allan Tower, Roderich Winchell |
Playbills
The 1945 season
Presented by (Louise Falk and)/(Lee Falk and) John Huntington. Director for the summer stock theatre was Neil McFoe Skinner, who "managed" in 1940.
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 11 | "Blithe Spirit" | Noel Coward | Elissa Landi | Kay Strozzi, Roderich Winchell, Marjorie Peggs |
June 18 | "Her Cardboard Lover" | Jacques Deval | Diana Barrymore | Harry Ellerbe, Philip Huston |
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, 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 9 | "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 16 | "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 | |||
Over 21 | Ruth Gordon | Lillian Harvey | Edmon Ryan, ... |
(note: Gloria Swanson is mentioded as one of the stars in 1945)
Playbills
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" (1) | John Patrick | Lilian Harvey | Paul Anderson, Eliot Duvey, William Mendrek, Robert Crawley, Roderich Winchell, William L. Brown, Allan Tower, William Jeffries |
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 (1) | Emlyn Williams | Dame May Whitty | Ruth Homond, William Mendrek, Marian Seldes, Marion Grant, Constance Moorehead, Allan Tower, Walter Starkey |
July 8 | Sailor, Beware! | Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson | Ann Corio | |
July 15 | "Angle Street" | Samuel Raphaelson | Francia Lederer and Bramwell Fletcher | Helen Shields, Ruth Homad, Marian Grant |
July 15 | "Burlesque" | George Manker Watters & Arthur Hopkins | Bert Lahr | |
July 22 | ||||
July 29 | "Goodbye Again" | Allan Scott and George Haight | Roger Pryor & Phyllis Brooks | |
August 5 | "They Knew What They Wanted" | Sidney Howard | June Havoc | Allan Tower, Robert Crawley, Robert Weil, Roderich Winchell, Estelle Ritchie, Margaret Magennis, James McGinness |
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 |
- (1) staged by Lee Falk.
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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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 30 | "The Glass Menagerie" | Tennessee Williams | Julie Haydon & Helen MacKellar | |
July 1 | ||||
July 7 | ||||
July 14 | ||||
July 21 | "Pursuit of Happiness" | Freddie Bartholomew | ||
July 28 | Dracula | Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (from Bram Stoker's novel) | Bela Lugosi | Gertrude Flynn, Casey Walters, Allan Tower, William Mendrek, Robert Foster, Bernard Kates, Connie Moorehead |
Playbills
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 | Ruth Homond, William Mendrek, Marian Seldes, Marion Grant, Constance Moorehead, Allan Tower, Walter Starkey |
July 1 | Sailor, Beware! | Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson | Ann Corio | |
July 8 | Angle Street | Samuel Raphaelson | Francia Lederer | Bramwell Fletcher, |
July 22 | "Burlesque" (1) | George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins | Bert Lahr | Eileen Heckart, Elliot Duvey, William Mendrek, Ruth Homond, Dorothy Lambert, Lois Harmon, Robert Weil, Allan Tower, Joe Battaglia, Peggy Corday, Marian Seldes, Mimi Key, Marilyn Parent, Peggy Corday, Irene Allarie, Fred Graves |
July 22 | Goodbye Again | Allan Scott and George Haight | Roger Pryor & Phyllis Brooks | |
July 29 | They Knew What They Wanted | Sidney Howard | June Havoc | Allan Tower, Robert Crawley, Robert Weil, Roderich Winchell, Estelle Ritchie, Margaret Magennis, James McGinness |
August 5 | "The Best of Friends" | Andrew Rosenthal | Libby Holman | Eric Victor, Constance Brigham, Bertha Belmore, Donald Burr, Patricia Shay, Madeleine Clive, Brian Otis, Madelyn, Killeen, Eliva Sutherland, Crystal Ames, Alberta Pryme |
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 |
- (1) staged by Lee Falk
The 1947 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
? | The Glass Menagerie | Tennessee Williams | Julie Haydon & Helen MacKellar | |
? | Joan of Lorraine | Maxwell Anderson | Magde Evans | |
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 |
July 28 | The Man in Posession | Richard Arlen | ||
August 11 | Laughter from a Cloud (1) | Lynn Riggs | Ilka Chase | Barry Mitchell, Susan Douglas, Cynthia Latham, Donald McDonald, Polly Rowles, Paul Clarke, Gen Byron, Ralph Longley, Peter Harris |
August 18 | A Slight Case of Murder | Damon Runyan & Howard Lindsy | James Dunn |
- (1) by special arrangement with Milton Baron and Jerome Mayer
Playbills
The 1948 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 21 | Seven Keys to Baldpate | George M. Cohan | William Gaxton | |
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 5 | The Last of Mrs Cheney | Frederick Lonsdale | Kay Francis | Constance Moorehead, .. |
July 12 | Othello | William Shakespeare | Wesley Addy | Kurt Richards, Joseph Holland, William Cobb, Paul Lewis, Canada Lee, Ernest Graves, Roderick Winchell, Davis White, George Kyron, Claire Luce, Bernard Kates, Howard Price, Richard E. Davis, Lorraine Mac Martin, Constance Moorehead |
July 19 | The Marquise | Noel Coward | Lillian Gish | |
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 |
August 2 | The Little Foxes | Lillian Hellman | Ruth Chatterton | |
August 9 | The Beaux' Strategem | George Farquhar | Brian Aherne | Richard Temple, Maureen Stapleton, John Merivale, Carmen Mathews, Patricia Jenkins, Allen Nourse, Victor Beecroft, Jerome Collamore, Winifred Wellington, Mary Forbes, Paul Lewis, Howard Prioe, William Jeffery |
August 16 | Kind Lady | Edward Chodorov | Sylvia Sidney | Thomas Palmer, Allen Nourse, Winifred Wellington, Peggy Fenn, Constance Moorehead, Christopher Marvin, Ruth Hallstrand, Fred Graves, Cecil Clovelly, Diane deBrett, Jane Sutherland, Jerome Collamore |
August 23 | Springtime for Henry | Benn Levy | Edward Everett Horton |
Playbills
The 1949 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 4 | 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 | Yes, My Darling Daughter | Mark Reed | Ann Harding | Leslie Nielsen, ... |
July 18 | Let Us Be Gay | Rachael Crothers | Kay Francis | |
July 25 | The Philadelphia Story | Philip Barry | Sarah Churchill | Jeffrey Lyn, Leslie Nielsen, ... |
August 1 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Rudolf Besier | Susan Peters | Allan Tower, ... |
August 8 | Amphitryon 38 | Jean Giraudoux | Elisabeth Bergner | Leslie Nielsen, ... |
August 14 | Happy Birthday | Anita Loos | Joan Blondell | Leslie Nielsen, ... |
August 21 | Present Laughter | Noël Coward | Edward Everett Horton | Allan Tower, .... |
August 28 | Accent on Youth | Samson Raphaelson | Paul Lukas with Constance Moorehead | Ruth Hermansen, Howard Wendell, Leslie Nielsen, Allan Tower, Elizabeth Ayers, John Perkins, Paul Clarke |
September 5 | The Philadelphia Story | Philip Barry | Sarah Churchill | Jeffrey Lyn, Leslie Nielsen, ... |
Playbills
The 1950 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast | Staged by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 3 | "The Second Man" | S. N. Behrman | Franchot Tone | (and supervised) Jean Dalrymple | |
July 10 | "Angel Street" | Patrick Hamilton | Lareine Day | Ernest Cossart, Ferdi Hoffman, Betty Underwood, Elfrida Derwent, John Perkins, Paul Clarke | Directed by Irvin Sudrow |
July 17 | "The Gay Divorce" | Cole Porter | Jack Whiting, Carole Stone and Lenore Lonergan | Directed by Lillian Udverdy | |
July 24 | "Apple of His Eye" | Millard Crosby | Edward Arnold | Directed by Jerome Mayer | |
July 31 | On the Town | Betty Comden and Adolph Green | Nancy Walker | ||
August 7 | "Over 21" | Ruth Gordon | Eve Arden & Brooks West | Tyler Winn | |
August 14 | "Dear Brutus" | James M. Barrie | Brian Aherne | Helen Craig, Harry Sothern, Harry Ellerbe, Allan Tower, Constance Moorehead, .. | Directed by Lee Falk |
August 21 | "Blind Alley" | James Warwick | Zachary Scott | Robert Allen, Eileen Heckart, ..... | John Hapgott |
August 28 | "(His/) My French Wife" | Charles Dean & Richard Doscher | Edward Everett Horton | Howard Magwood | |
September 4 | "Finian's Rainbow" | Fred Saidy, E Y Harburg and Burton Lane |
Playbills
The 1951 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 2 | Alice in Wonderland | Frances Pole | John Sacco | |
July 9 | Here Today | George Oppenheimer | Eva Arden | |
July 16 | Brigadoon | Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe | ||
July 23 | Mirror, Mirror | George Oppenheimer | Kay Francis | |
July 30 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Tennessee Williams | Julie Haydon | Norma Connolly, Joe Graham, Jerry O'Loughlin |
August 6 | Pal Joey | John O'Hara | Carol Bruce | Bob Fosse, Jan Solomon, |
August 13 | Glad Tidings | Edward Mabley | Melvyn Douglas and Signe Hasso | |
August 20 | Clutterbuck | Benn Levy | Arthur Treacher | |
August 27 | Come Back, Little Sheba | William Inge | Joan Blondell | |
September 3 | Susan and God | Rachel Crothers | Joan Bennett | Mdinda Markey, |
September 10 | Here Today | George Oppenheimer | Eva Arden |
The 1952 season
This article, or section of an article, is very short. You can help MandrakeWiki by expanding it. |
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 23 | Carmen Jones | Oscar Hammerstein II and Georges Bizet (music) | Muriel Rahn | |
July 7 | Season with Ginger | Roland Alexander | Melvyn Douglas | Leore Thatcher, Polly Rowles, Gena Rowlands, Rita Vaughan, Betty Lou Keim, James Broderick, Billy James, Allan Tower, Wayne Carson, Frank Milan |
? | One Touch of Venus | S. J. Perelman & Ogden Nash | Carol Bruce | Robert Carroll, Stanley Prager, Bob Shaver, Eleanore Bagley |
August 11 | Private Lives | Noel Coward | Victor Jory & Alexis Smith | |
August 25 | A Night at Madame Tussaud's | Edwin Justus Mayer (+ script by Peter Lorre) | Peter Lorre & Miriam Hopkins | |
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
The 1953 season
This article, or section of an article, is very short. You can help MandrakeWiki by expanding it. |
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 29 | "Bell, Book and Candle" | John van Druten | Alexis Smith & Viktor Jory | David Orrick, Maud Scheerer, Allan Tower |
July 6 | "Carousel" (1) | Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II | Patricia Northrup | Barbara Cook, Tom Rieder, Paul Brown, Lucille Benson, Lewis Ford, Hal Currier, Lois Van Pelt, Ann Barry, Scott Merrill, Kenneth Leroy, Sydney G Stevens, Edwin Thurston, William Jeffrey, Mona Tritsch, James Goodwin, Jim Smith, Alice Dakin, Constance Langmann and Kay Morrissey |
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" | Sheldon Noble | 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" | Irving Berlin, Herbert & Dorothy Fields | Sara Dillon & Jack Dabdoub | Donn Driver, Jerry Stiller, Nora Bristow, James Tarbutton, Lucille Benson, Hal Currier, Lisa Rapport, Jack Crawley, Rita Karlin, Doris Driver, Allen Waine, Leigh McCarthy, Gayle Chandler, Janice Rose, Elisabeth Ann Villard, Hal Currier, Freddie Knarr |
August 3 | "Life with Mother" | ? | Billie Burke | Harry Bannister, James Hickman, Lucille Benson, Hal Currier, Maude Patton, Muriel Pearce, Bobby Alford, William Hinnant, Nina Wentworth, James Goodwin, Sydney G. Stevens, Sheila Pinkham, Shirley Fowler |
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 |
- 1 Based on "Lilium" by Ferenc Molnar, adapted by Benjamin F Glazer
Playbills
The 1954 season
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Vegetable | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Wally Cox | ||
The Great Walz | Moss Hart | Patricia Bowman | ||
The Member of the Wedding | Carson McCullers | Ethel Waters | ||
The Rainmaker | N-Richard-Nash | Eva Marie Saint | ||
July 5 | Gigi | Anita Loos | Pat Benoit | |
July 12 | The Lady's not for Burning | Christopher Fry | Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof | |
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 | Song of Norway | Milton Lazarus & Robert Wright and George Forrest | Lucille Manners | |
August 2 | The Little Hut | Andre Roussin | Marie Wilson | |
August 9 | Autumn Crocus | Dodie Smith | Margareth Truman | |
August 16 | You Can't Take it With You | George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart | Charles Coburn |
Playbills and illustration
The 1955 season
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 4 | "The Woman with Red Hair" | Katharine Brush | Barbara Britton | |
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 Carroll, Frances Tannhill, Alexander Clark, John Moorehead, Conrad Bain, Butterfly McQueen |
July 22 | "Wedding Breakfast" | Theodore Reeves | Shelly Winters | Martin Balsam, Anthony Franciosa, Virginia Vincent, ... |
August 8 | "The Rainmaker" (1) | N. Richard Nash | Eva Marie Saint | Will Geer, Arthur Storch, Sidney Armus, Jack Mullaney, Mark Richamn, Truman Smith |
The Great Waltz | Patricia Bowman | |||
Member of the Wedding | Ethel Waters | |||
You Can’t Take It With You | Charles Coburn |
|
- (1) directed by Jeffrey Hayden
Playbills
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 6 | The Fifth Season | Sylvia Regan | Chico Marx | |
Lentil | Rose Caylor | Fay Bainter, Glenda Farrell & Joan Tetsel | Tom Poston, Frances Fuller, Jenny Hecht | |
August 20 | Paris | Marin Brown | Jane Morgan & Russel Nype | John Scanlan, Muriel Pearce, Allan Tower, Burt Austin, Frances Brandt, Jackie Balwin, Jack Emrek |
August 27 | Oh, Men! Oh, Women | Edward Chodorov | Neil Hamilton | Juleen Compton, Robert Gallagher, Ray MacDonnell, Jenny Egan, John Scanlan, Dodie Bauer, Burt Austin |
September 10 | Beasop's Fables | Beatrice Lillie | Fred Keating |
- (1) Lee Falk presents in association with Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith.
Playbills
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 | |||
July 29 | Back to Methuselah (1) | George Bernard Shaw | Celeste Holm & James Daly | Valerie Bettis, Michael Tolan, Felix Deebank, Arnold Moss |
August 5 | The Madwoman of Chaillot | Jean Giraudoux | Florence Reed, Estelle Winwood, Melville Cooper | Ernest Austin, Lance Cunard, Jack K Hollander, Guy Sorel, Lorraine Kates, Ned Murphy, Gloria Liftman, Alvin Epstein, Andrea Wahl, John Reese, Robin Howard, Edmund Roney, Tony Koufman, Tom Bosley, Lance Cunard, Donald Curran, Edmund Roney, Lawrence Spector, Maureen Hurley (?) |
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 |
- (1) By special arrangement with the Theatre Guild and Arnold Moss
Playbills
The 1958 season
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 7 | "Visit to a Small Planet" | Gore Vidal | Bert Lahr | Kenny Delmar, Stanley Tackney, Josephine Nichols, Kathern Shaw, Jeff Davis, Stratton Walling, Grenadier Saadi, Ernest Austin, Al Petruccelli, John Lasell |
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 | "Sweet and Sour" ("Strange Partners" ??) |
Florence Lowe & Caroline Francke | Melvyn Douglas | Connie Sawyer, Ina Balin, Gerald Hiken, Lesley Woods, Martha Greenhouse, John Zee, Daniel Reed, Alfred Leberfeld, Alice Yourman, Theo Goetz |
August 25 | ? | |||
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 |
Playbills
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 23 | ? | |||
June 30 | ? | |||
July 7 | ? | |||
July 14 | ? | |||
July 21 | Come On Up...Ring Twice | Miles Mander, Fred Schiller and Thomas Dunphy | Mae West | George Gilbreath, Rosetta Crawford, Albert Bergh, Grant Gordon, Therese Quadri, Jerome Gardino, Saul Davis, Steve Parker, David Langdon, Howard Ledig, Rand Elliott, Alan Furlan, Willis Claire, Larry Lee, Wayne Carson, Jim Wyler, William Leonard, Joe Graham |
July 28 | ? | |||
August 4 | The Gramercy Ghost | John Cecil Holm | Veronica Lake (June Dayton) |
|
August 11 | The Glass Menagerie | Tennessee Williams | Dana Andrews | Walter Matthau, Mary Todd, June Walker |
August 18 | Jezebel's Husband | Robert Nathan | Claude Rains | Ossie Davis, Vinie Burrows, Ben Gazzara, Carmen Matthews, Robert Emhardt, Ruth McDevitt, Judith Parrish, Claudia Morgan, Bill Leonard, Robert Kieth Jr. |
August 25 | ? | |||
September 1 | ? | |||
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 |
- Produced by Lee Falk in association with Al Capp.
Playbills
The 1953 season
The County Playhouse was granted a licence to "conduct plays and musicals at Shoppers' World, Cinema, week days, June 15 - September 5 inclusive, from 8:00 to 11:30 o'clock P.M., and on Wedensdays and Fridays, 2:00 to 5:30 P.M., also." (Town of Framingham, selectmen's records, regular meeting of the board of selectmen June 16, 1953)
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
June ? | Bell, Book and Candle | John van Druten | Alexis Smith & Viktor Jory | David Orrick, Maud Scheerer, Allan Tower |
July 13 | Carousel | Oscar Hammerstein II | Barbara Cook | Patricia Northrup, Tom Rieder, Donald Blackey, Jane Morrissey, Scott Merrill, Lucille Benson, Mona Tritsch, Kenneth LeRoy, Ann Barry. |
July 27 | Arms and the Man (1) | George Bernard Shaw | Marlon Brando | William Redfield, Anne Kimbell, Sam Gilman, Philip Rhodes, Janice Mars, Carlo Fiore, Nydia Westman |
August 3 | Peg O' My Heart | J. Hartley Manners | Margaret O'Brien |
- (1) arrangement with Morton Gottlieb and Albert Selden.
Playbills
The Marblehead Summer Theatre (1953?–1955)
In 1952 Lee Falk said[1] he had rented the North Shore Music Tent in Beverly, not far away from Marblehead. This might have been the start of the Marblehead Summer Theatre or some other project that wasn't realized. The North Shore Music Tent opened in 1954 as an open (open-air) summer-stock theater, but if Lee Falk was involved in the project is not known.
at Marblehead High School Auditorium
The 1954 season
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 19 | Mister Roberts | Thomas Heggen | Wayne Morris and Greg Suarez | |
July 26 | Songs of Norway | Lucille Manners | ||
August 2 | Autumn Crocus | Dodie Smith | George Voskovec and Margaret Truman | |
August 9 | The Vegetable | Vally Cox | ||
August 16 | ||||
August 23 | The Show-Off | George Kelly | Joe E. Brown | (Ann Dere, Frances Helm,?) |
The 1955 season
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 4 | Mother was a Bachelor | Irving W. Phillips | Billie Burke | Donald McClelland, Robert Baines, Edwin Cooper, Terry DuHaine, Virgina Gerry, Tommy Halloran |
July 11 | ||||
July 18 | Picnic | Gloria Vanderbilt | ||
July 25 | Member of the Wedding | Carson McCullers | Ethel Waters | |
August 1 | ||||
August 8 | The Winslow Boy (1) | Terence Rattigan | Basil Rathbone | Colin Keith-Johnston, Sarah Burton, Pamela Simpson, ... |
August 15 | Blithe Spirit | Noel Coward | Eva Gabor | Alan Manson, Paula Laurence, Anna Minot + "Stellar Brodway Cast" |
- 1 Presented by Lee Falk, staged by Basil Rathbone, production director George Mully
Playbills
The Bahama Playhouse / British Colonial Playhouse (1950–1955 ?)
at British Colonial Hotel (about 40 seats)
Lee and his wife Connie used to spend parts of the winters in Nassau, Bahamas. During February and March a small theatre known as "Bahama Playhouse" operated at the British Colonial Hotel. Lawrence Langner, Martin Manulis and Charles Bowden had been operated the theatre for two years without any financial success. In 1952 they asked Lee Falk if he would like to manage the theatre and he accepted. Late 1954 the producer Frank Falk was plotting a new season and Shirley Boot said she in March 1955 was to play in "The Vinegar Tree" by Paul Osborn. But if the theatre still was operated by Lee Falk after 1954 season is uncertain.
The 1953 season
As the Bahama Playhouse.
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Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 2 | "Private Lives" | Noël Coward | Judith Evelyn | |
February 16 | "The Constant Wife" | W. Somerset Maugham | Judith Eveland | Constance Moorehead, .. |
February 23 | "Bell, Book and Candle" | John Van Druten | Charles Heston & Lydia Clarke | |
The 1954 season
Before its eight-week season under the direction of Lee Falk, the British Colonial Playhouse had undergone extensive renovations. For this season Lee Falk mentioned one play on Elizabeth the First: "either Elizabeth and Essex or Young Elizabeth" and a few actors: " Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Maria Riva, Farley Granger and Wayne Morris".
This article, or section of an article, is very short. You can help MandrakeWiki by expanding it. |
Week of | Title | by | Starring | Cast |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 1 | "Pygmalion" | George Bernard Shaw | Leueen MacGrath & Murray Matheson | |
February 1 (?) | "The Lady's Not for Burning" | Christopher Fry | Uta Hagen | might be incorrect date ! |
"Gigi" | Estelle Winwood & Frances Helm | |||
The 1955 season
Lee Falk produced five musicals at the British Colonial Playhouse [2].
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
Spa Summer Theatre
Lee Falk was the production supervisor of the musical comedy "On the Town" by Betty Comden and Adolph Green at Spa Summer Theatre (Saratoga) week of August 7, 1950.
Credits:
Music by Lonard Bernstein, Staged by Carl Shain, Choreography by Beverlee Bozeman, Assistant director, Paul Lammers, Settings designed by Donald Shirley, Musical arrangements by Dean Fuller, Production supervised by Lee Falk, At the pianos Dean Fuller and Arthur Medoff.
Cast: Robert Gallagher, John Sylvester, Chris Alexander, James Jewell, Gerry Lockerty, Gwyneth Dun, Kenneth Rosen, Portia Nelson, Beverlee Bozeman, Nancy Walker, Robert Calder, Robert de Voye, Ruth Webb, Eleanor Fairchild, Nita Naidi, Clyde Waddell, Vera Ferguson, James Feltner, Klaus Kolmar, David Roykouff, Mina Barstow, Katherine Jones, Dana Kraus, Faith Lavine, Judy Jones.
Lee Falk was the director for the play "Roman Candle" by Sidney Sheldon at Spa Summer Theatre (Saratoga) week of June 27, 1960.
Credits:
Production designed and lighted by Charles J Hammer Jr.
Cast: Bill Story, Ben Etheridge, Scott Brady, Ann Folger, Jane Bruce, Robert Steward, Conrad Bain, Joseph Holland, Walter Mathews, Susanne Storrs, John Huntington, Henry Whittemore, Casey Walters, Robert Van Dorn, Joel Taylor
Sources
- Billboard magazines
- Newspapers