It was 1970! My Theatre career was flourishing in various directions! A producer I had worked for as a choreographer on several shows, hired me as one of two directors to split a 10-show Summer Stock season. This was a brand-new, beautiful bowl-in-a-tent theater in a quiet town in Pennsylvania that seemed ready for a summer theater! The publicity was first-rate!<\/p>\n
Because I really wanted to work on \u201cFUNNY GIRL\u201d and \u201cSTOP THE WORLD,\u201d I chose the second half of the season. So I came out to start my half with five, working, stage director\u2019s scripts and choreography for all five shows.<\/p>\n
The other Director\/Choreographer was someone I knew and respected, so I was not surprised that the first four shows were reportedly excellent; I saw the fifth production \u201cOKLAHOMA\u201d which was energetic, fun and moving. I also learned the houses for the first five shows were appreciative but meager.<\/p>\n
We rehearsed \u201cFUNNY GIRL\u201d with the very talented cast I had helped pick, all of us enjoying the experience. After Dress Rehearsal, the Producer called us all together and with great grief said we couldn\u2019t open \u201cFUNNY GIRL\u201d the following night, and that the rest of the season was cancelled because the theater had gone bankrupt, due to the lack of attendance. For reasons of privacy of other talented people I mention no names.<\/p>\n
I include this entry especially for newcomers: it is important to know that Theatre is a tightrope act; sometimes we all do our creative best\u2014in stock or on Broadway\u2014and the production doesn\u2019t make it, often not even knowing exactly why. But Theatre\u2014and our careers\u2014go on. To paraphrase Mae West, \u201cShows are like streetcars\u2014there\u2019ll be another one along any minute!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was 1970! My Theatre career was flourishing in various directions! A producer I had worked for as a choreographer on several shows, hired me as one of two directors to split a 10-show Summer Stock season. This was a brand-new, beautiful bowl-in-a-tent theater in a quiet town in Pennsylvania that seemed ready for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlight"],"metadata":{"_edit_last":["227"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wp_old_date":["2020-12-13"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n