Summer show presented on 8 and 9 Aug 1962

By William Inge

Directed by Maria Karasoff

Presented at the Lexington St. Jr. High.

Performances: May 4 and 5, 1962

By Arthur Miller

Directed by Norman Ferdinand

A drama in three acts, presented at Lexington Jr. High School.

Performances: February 23 and 24, 1962

By J. Lawrence and R.E. Lee

Directed by Dr. Alden Q. Abbott

AUNTIE MAME, a comedy in 2 acts, was presented at Lexington Jr. High School. Directed by Dr. Alden Q. Abbott, producer: Judi Gilkie, Set Design: Robert Flaherty with set construction chief: Jim Gray.

This was a major production that was a hit with us and our audiences. It was proof that we could cast and construct 2 major productions in one calendar year, the other was GUYS AND DOLLS in May of 1961.

At this time we were building sets at 740 Main St and taking them up to Lexington St for dress and tech. There were 10 different sets, 23 (twenty three) scene changes and 38 actors filling 45 roles.

The crew gets full credit for a memorable production, including lighting: Joseph Connolly, jr., stage manager Ralph Drinkwater and costumes Judith Gilkie and Maria Karasoff (once again Maria made most of the costumes used in this show as she did in many others).

I have the production’s program book with full cast and crew but here’s some of the ‘big noises’ of that day: Doris Fuchs as Norah; Joel Vernon as Ralph; Judith Gilkie as Radcliffe and later as Agnes Gooch (her wonderful scene as pregnant Agnes trying to sit in a Bean-Bag chair). Norman Ferdinand as Mr. Babcock; Ralph Tomao as Ito the Japanese house boy; Bernie Southwell as Beauregard (I still don’t know how we staged his death scene off an Alpine mountain top); Vivian Phipps as cousin Fan and as a Customer in the Loomis store;Marion Hand as Mother Burnside; Anne Leblanc as Lizzie and later as Doris Upson, she and her husband Robert first joined Hovey back in the mid-’40s; and the ‘tour-de-force’ performance of Maria Karasoff as Mame. What a year of great performances for her in Guys and Dolls and Snow Angel. She and her husband, Dr. Julian Karasoff were ‘angels’ for our group both on and off stage and they threw great parties!

Total attendance for the 2 nights was 1,059 which beat the ‘modern’ record set by Guys and Dolls in May of this year of 930. Things were looking up with audiences, membership, money and we had a feeling of now being able to put on shows that may not be commercial but would challenge us and our audiences. It was time for ‘true theater’ and it was also about this time that our Treasurer, Dr Abbott, stopped announcing how much money we had in our savings account. As every treasurer knows: after the applause comes the bills.

Performances: December 1 and 2, 1961

Courtesy of Ralph Tomao, Hovey Historian