Summer 1960, June 28 – September 3
I met Tad Currie at Converse College when he was hired to work as part of the Speech & Theater Department in 1957. In 1960 he invited me to partner with him and two others in the Wingspread Summer Theatre in Colon, Michigan. I agreed and became the Business Manager and worked the box office. We all leased the Wingspread Summer Theater barn and produced and staged 10 shows in 10 weeks.
Cal Yeomans, our designer and technical director, became a critically-acclaimed playwright in the 70s and 80s. In the book “Queer Theatre and the Legacy of Cal Yeomans” by Robert Schanke, page 22, he writes
Rather than return for a second season the summer of 1960, Cal accepted a theatre position in Michigan. Earlier in the year, Tad Currie, who had been Cal’s boss at the Flat Rock Playhouse the year before, learned that the owner of the Wingspread Summer Theatre in Colon, Michigan, did not plan to reopen the barn theatre, so he, his lover Richard Bennett, and their gay friend, Richard Beirne, rented it.
“Queer Theatre and the Legacy of Cal Yeomans” by Robert A. Schanke
Well, the author left me out as one of the partners of the theatre production partnership for that summer. I guess it didn’t fit well into his story of “Queer Theatre” as I am not gay. It would have been fun to say that my name was in a published book.
From the opening newspaper article, my position reads:
Serving as business manager and director of students will be Miss Carolyn Hunt, a graduate of Marshall College, Huntington, West Virginia. Miss Hunt holds an MA in speech and drama from Northwestern University where she has begun work on her doctorate. She has taught at Converse College in Spartansburg, South Carolina; Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas and is presently on the staff of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Miss Hunt has been on the staff of the Northwestern Summer Theatre for three years.
Below is the list of the shows we produced. I was costume designer on all and my other roles in each show are listed below.
See How They Run, June 28-July 2, 1960
Costume Designer
The Deadly Game, July 5-9, 1960
Costume Designer
The Moon is Blue, July 12-16, 1960
Costume Designer
Summer & Smoke, July 19-23, 1960
Alma Winemiller – Lead Role
Wingspread’s business manager has come out of the box office this week onto the arena stage. Previous to her acting appearance here, she has played leads in “The Glass Menagerie” and “Janus”. She worked for four years at Nothwestern University’s Summer theatre and one summer at Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina. During the winter Carolyn, who obtained her Masters Degree in oral interpretation and theatre from Northwestern University, teaches at Skidmore College at Saratoga Springs, New York.
Quote from the playbill for Summer & Smoke
Reviews
(John Swearingen) has worked hard to give Wingspread a great performance in the lead part of “Summer and Smoke”. The same goes for the other star, Carolyn Hunt. At first I thought she played the part a little too coy, but after a couple of shows she changed her voice to fit the part and also her projection. She did a fine job in making a very difficult part come through with flying colors.
Carolyn Hunt rose to new heights as the week progressed, finding more truly the character of the sensitive Alma.
Costumes designed and executed by Cayolyn Hunt, assisted by Ruth Hunt (her mother).
The Golden Fleecing, July 26-30, 1960
Costume Designer
Salad Days, August 2-6, 1960
Aunt Prue & Lady Reyburne – Supporting Roles
Reviews
Carolyn Hunt carried two character roles with a light touch, appropriate to the total intent, and demonstrated a nice singing voice.