Expand search form

My Life in Art

My Life Stories

My Life in Theater

The Late Christopher Bean

1946-47 Stonewall Jackson High School Junior Class Play

Actor, minor role. This was my very first play.

The lead was played by Sara Jane Kahn (Moore), the woman who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1976.

Death Takes a Holiday

1948 Stonewall Jackson High School Senior Class Play

Actor, supporting role – Mother

Death Takes a Holiday

1948-52 Marshall College

Assistant Director

We did 3 shows a year and I worked on every show because that was my major. I believe the Drama teacher and Director, Prof. Caplan found out how good I was at directing and he picked this play because he knew I had done it before. I was Assistant Director and I coached the actors in their parts.

All My Sons

1948-52 Marshall College

I had a backstage role, probably Assistant Director. We did 3 shows a year and I worked on every show because that was my major.

We did 3 shows a year and I worked on every show because that was my major. The play was so successful that we had to do an extra show on Sunday. The actors who played the father and son had gotten drunk the night before so the Mother had to work extra hard during that performance to hold the play together because of the boys hangovers.

You Can’t Take it With You

1948-52 Marshall College

I had a backstage role, probably Assistant Director. We did 3 shows a year and I worked on every show because that was my major.

The Miser (Molliere)

1951-52 Marshall College

I had a backstage role, probably Assistant Director. We did 3 shows a year and I worked on every show because that was my major.

They had a thing in the 50s called “Sol Hurok Presents”. He brought various broadway tours to college towns. In 1951 he brought George Bernard Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell” to Marshall College. The cast (Charles Boyer, Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Laughton, and Agnes Moorehead) came over to Marshall theater while we were in rehearsals for Moliere’s “The Miser” and taught a master’s class for our theater group. When Charles Laughton spoke to us, he said that no college theater should ever attempt to perform farce. That we weren’t trained enough and we’d just butcher it. I proved him wrong in 1964 by producing “The Miser” with high school students at Courter Tech. They loved it and did a great job.

Clementine

1962 Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Producer/Director/Drama Teacher – I “did” the plays and also a variety show with the band director.

Clementine is a very simple play with simple high school char so that I could get a feel for the quality of the students and their acting ability. I found out my kids were pretty good, so I moved on to more challenging scripts. About 20 years later Bill was in charge of plays at Lynchburg High School, so I pulled out the script with all of the blocking and told him that this is a good one to start with and it’s already blocked. So Bill did Clementine too, using my notes and blocking.

The Curious Savage

1963 Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Producer/Director/Drama Teacher – I “did” the plays and also a variety show with the band director.

Opening night was Friday, November 22, the day John F. Kennedy was assisinated. At 2 o’clock the PA announced that Kennedy was shot and school was immediately dismissed. This was the Friday before Thanksgiving Week. As if of one mind, every member of the cast and crew of Curious Savage automatically gravitated to the stage. So the question was, do we cancel the show or go ahead and do it? The cast voted to do the show and show respect for Kennedy and what had happened. At the beginning of the show, I went on and gave a little speech letting the audience know that there would be no curtain call and asked that there be no applause at the end of the show. The whole point of the show is that Mrs. Savage has been put into an asylum with a bunch crazy characters by her 3 children who are trying to get her money. She carries a teddy bear with her everywhere and it turns out that the money is in the teddy bear. I “re-staged” the ending of the play so that the teddy bear was put in a chair, center stage. A large spotlight brightly lit the chair, got smaller and smaller until it lit only the teddy bear – a hold for 10 seconds then blackout.

The Diary of Anne Frank

Fall 1965 – Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Producer/Director/Drama Teacher – I “did” the plays

Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Courter Tech High School – 1 play per year

Summer and Smoke

Spring 1964 – The Drama Workshop

Acting – Alma

The Miser

1964 Courter Tech High School

Revised, Produced, Directed

I needed education hours to update my teaching certificate and was allowed to use this project for those hours. I took 3 translated versions and two original French versions of “The Miser” and scene by scene, act by act, re-wrote/translated the play for a simplified/shortened high school production version.

It was submitted to the University of Cincinnati Theater Director, Jack (?) for review and authorization for credit.

They had a thing in the 50s called “Sol Hurok Presents”. He brought various broadway tours to college towns. In 1951 he brought George Bernard Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell” to Marshall College. The cast (Charles Boyer, Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Laughton, and Agnes Moorehead) came over to Marshall theater while we were in rehearsals for Moliere’s “The Miser” and taught a master’s class for our theater group. When Charles Laughton spoke to us, he said that no college theater should ever attempt to perform farce. That we weren’t trained enough and we’d just butcher it. In 1964, I proved him wrong by producing “The Miser” with high school students at Courter Tech.

The star of our production, Mr. Kaplan, was perfect for the part. The kids loved doing farce in all of it’s exaggerated form, regardless of what Charles Laughton said. The kids were wonderful and the play was a success.

Unfortunately, the following year, that same University of Cincinnati Director put The Miser on his season. The play he presented was a direct plagiarism of my revision, except for adding Act 4, which I had deleted.

Another example of College Professors stealing students’ work.

Anything Goes

1965-66 Footlighters

Chorus

Chicken Every Sunday

Winter 1969 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Bit part

Dark of the Moon

Fall 1969-70 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Mrs. Allen, Barbara Allen’s Mother

Photographer*

What We Did Wrong

Winter 1970 The Drama Workshop

Producer

Rape of the Belt

Spring 1970 The Drama Workshop

The Thurber Carnival included the plays “Unicorn in the Garden”, “Little Girl & the Wolf”, “Take Her Up Tenderly”, “If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox”, and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

May 1970 Courter Tech High School

Producer/Director

Oklahoma

May 1970 Footlighters

Chorus

Patron’s Night – 3rd Act of Lovers and Other Strangers: Bea, Frank, Richie & Joan

September 1970 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Lead – Bea

The Dock Brief (and) Black Comedy

Fall 1970-71 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Wait Until Dark

Winter 1971 The Drama Workshop

Stage Manager – I won the TDW Order of the Sword Award for this one.

Fiddler on the Roof

October 1971 Cincinnati Music Theater

Chrous (The town whore)

Suds in Your Eye

Fall 1971-72 The Drama Workshop

I know I did something, but I can’t remember what.

A Hatful of Rain

Winter 1972 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

St. Joan & The Lark

March 1972 Sponsored by TDW

Actor, Lead Role – Joan of Arc

The Apple Tree

Fall 1973-74 The Drama Workshop

Stage Manager

Why I Live at the P.O.

Fall 74 The Drama Workshop

Director – Patron’s Night One Act Plays

The Night of January 16th

Winter 1974 The Drama Workshop

Stage Crew

Lovers and Other Strangers

Spring 1974 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Lead Role

Rain

Fall 1974-75 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Mrs. Davidson

Look Homeward Angel

Winter 1976 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Eliza Gant

He To Hecuba

Fall 1977-78 The Drama Workshop

Director

My Friend the Fox

Summer 1978 The Drama Workshop

Stage Manager

Rainmaker

Winter 1979 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

The ShadowBox

March 1979 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Postcards (and) The Doctor in Spite of Himself

Spring 1979 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Absurd Person Singular

Fall 1979-80 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

A Flea in Her Ear

Winter 1980 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

The Little Foxes

Spring 1980 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Tribute

Fall 1980-81 The Drama Workshop

Actor – The psychiatrist, Supporting Role

The Last of Mrs. Lincoln

Winter 1981 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

California Suite

Spring 1981 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Chapter Two

Fall 1981-82 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

A Man for All Seasons

Winter 1982 The Drama Workshop

Costume Design, Photographer

Solid Gold Cadillac

Spring 1982 The Drama Workshop

Asst Stage Mgr, Photographer

I Remember Mama

Fall 1982-83 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Aunt Trina

She Stoops to Conquer

Winter 1983 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

A Murder is Announced

Spring 1983 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Morning’s at Seven

Fall 1983-84 The Drama Workshop

The Heiress

Spring 1984 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Arsenic and Old Lace

Fall 1984-85 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

…When the Wind Blows… written by tom dirkin a tdw member

Fall 1986-87 The Drama Workshop

Worked on the show in some capacity

The Importance of Being Earnest

Winter 1987 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

The Sting

Fall 1987-88 The Drama Workshop

Actor, bit part

Mass Appeal

Winter 1988 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Anne of the 1000 Days

Fall 1988-89 The Drama Workshop

Photographer, Costume Design & Construction

I designed and constructed 1530 era costumes and won the ACT Costume Design Award.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo

Spring 1989 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Mother of Bette

Whodunnit

Winter 1990 The Drama Workshop

Director

‘Night Mother

Fall 1991 The Drama Workshop

Director

The Grapes of Wrath

November 1991 Falcon Productions

Lead Actor Ma Joad

Foxfire

Fall 1991-92 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

The Gingerbread Lady

Fall 1992-93 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Dancing at Lughnasa

Spring 1994 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

The Cemetery Club

Spring 1995 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Traveler in the Dark

Winter 1997 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Middle Ages

Spring 1997

The Drama Workshop

All My Sons

Fall 1997

The Drama Workshop

Joined at the Head

Winter 1998

The Drama Workshop

Beau Jest

Spring 1998

The Drama Workshop

Bus Stop

Fall 36039

The Drama Workshop

Lost in Yonkers

Winter 1999

The Drama Workshop

The Cover of Life

Spring 1999

The Drama Workshop

The Odd Couple (female, male alternated)

Fall 1999-2000

The Drama Workshop

4Dead Guilty

Winter 2000

The Drama Workshop

The Last Night of Ballyhoo

Spring 2000 The Drama Workshop

Stage Manager

Program Carolyn Ruth Hunt is happy to be back in active play production as Stage Manager and working with Cathy Gill. She directed Cathy in He to Hecuba, and acted with her in Rain and Look Homeward Anger, all TDW productions. She also directed Whodunnit and ‘Nite Mother for TDW. Her
favorite acting roles were Alma in Summer and Smoke, Mammy in Li’l Abner, and Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath. Carolyn has done Photography for TDW since 1969, doing most of the history photos and much of the display photography over the years. She has assumed the post of Historian, and is Secretary of TDW Board

Our Town

Fall 2000

The Drama Workshop

Crossing Delancey

Winter 2001 The Drama Workshop

Actor, Supporting Role – Bubba

Pride’s Crossing

Spring 2001 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

A Piece of My Heart

Winter 2002 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Over the River & Through the Woods

Fall 2002 The Drama Workshop

Photographer

Baby

Winter 2003

The Drama Workshop

The Boys Next Door

Spring 2003

The Drama Workshop

The Children’s Hour

Spring 2003

The Drama Workshop

Morning’s at Seven

Fall 2003

The Drama Workshop

Inspecting Carol

Winter 2004

The Drama Workshop

Belles

Spring 2004

The Drama Workshop

Deliver Us Not

Fall 2004

The Drama Workshop

Doin’ Time at the Alamo

Winter 2005

The Drama Workshop

Swing!

Spring 2005

The Drama Workshop

Broadway Bound

Fall 2005

The Drama Workshop

Proof

Winter 2006

The Drama Workshop

Kimberly Akimbo

Spring 2006

The Drama Workshop

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge

Fall 2006

The Drama Workshop

Communicating Doors

Winter 2007

The Drama Workshop

Defying Gravity

Spring 2007

The Drama Workshop

The House of Frankenstein

Fall 2007

The Drama Workshop

Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Winter 2008

The Drama Workshop

Inherit the Wind

Spring 2008

The Drama Workshop

You Can’t Take it With You

Fall 2008

The Drama Workshop

The Movie Game

Winter 2009

The Drama Workshop

Messiah on the Frigidaire

Spring 2009

The Drama Workshop

Lend Me a Tenor

Fall 2009

The Drama Workshop

Comic Potential

Winter 2010

The Drama Workshop

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Spring 2010

The Drama Workshop

On Golden Pond

Fall 2010

The Drama Workshop

The Importance of Being Earnest (#3)

Winter 2011

The Drama Workshop

Enchanted April

Spring 2011

The Drama Workshop

Moon Over Buffalo

Fall 2011

The Dra

ma Workshop

Talley and Son

Winter 2012

The Drama Workshop

The Crucible

Spring 2012

The Drama Workshop

Summer 2012 MOVE TO NEW THEATER: THE GLENMORE PLAYHOUSE: 6 Plays per season!

Summer 2012

The Drama Workshop

Snoopy the Musical

October 2012-13

The Drama Workshop

*My photography work with The Drama Workshop started with Dark of the Moon,  1969;  have ‘shot the show’ for TDW history — Black and white prints, color slides thru 1998, and color prints 1992 thru 2003 (Morning’s at Seven II) for about 90% of the shows in that 35 year span. Did a major part of the display photography for maybe 15 years.