Beware of children and animals

SEASON 16 1963-1964, was good despite a few furry incidents

By Dave Cotton: There is a saying among actors: "Beware of shows with children and animals." That rule might have applied to all three of our shows in this 16th season at Workshop, 1963-64. Actually the children involved were all well behaved. The animals...well, read on.

Francis "Fritz" McDonough, speech and English teacher at South Amherst High School, had made his Workshop acting debut in the previous season. In this 16th season he made his directorial debut with Ira Levin's "Critic's Choice."

It is interesting that for the first time a professional interior designer, Irene of Reidy-Scanlan Furniture Company, designed the set. That set included a custom made carpet for the stage. We recently used that carpet in our production of "The Odd Couple." I'd say that carpet has served us well over the years.

In a local newspaper review, 11-year-old Sam Chevalier, who was making his Workshop acting debut, was lauded, "Lorain Boy Balances Outstanding Cast." This youngster was up against the likes of Dick Beal, Evelyn Witham and Virginia Waratinsky who the same reviewer named, "...some of the best amateur performers in Lorain County." I did not get to see this show but I would have loved it with that cast.

John Patrick wrote many plays but only a handful grabbed the theater world's attention. Workshop had already produced three of them: "Teahouse of the August Moon," "Curious Savage," and "Hasty Heart." Our winter show was another Patrick classic, "Everybody Loves Opal," and it lived up to its title by delighting everyone. Dorothy Barrett, who made her Workshop debut in the title role, gave the first of many performances that delighted our audiences for years. Everybody loved Dorothy. According to Shirley Resek's master's thesis, "Dorothy Barrett was a former member of the Elyria Playmakers, past member of the Yale University Dramatic Association, and she had done radio work in both Connecticut and Lorain."

It is interesting that her final role at Workshop in 1978 was a reprise as Opal in our revival of the same show.

Opal's pet cat, Mr. Tanner, was played by Waratinsky's pet cat. One evening the cat got away and she had to be tracked down in the cemetery next door to get her back on-stage for her next entrance.

The spring show was a "spine-tingling" murder mystery that sold out every performance. Ev Witham directed and the cast featured such high powered actresses such as Jean Schaeffer, Dorothy Howe Shobe, Ann Johnson May and Betty Young. The play was William Roos's "Speaking of Murder." The show featured the talents of two more children: Louis Manyak of Avon Lake and Holly Young Schneider of Amherst. The children were praised for their performances as was Cheri, Valerie Gerstenberger's dog.

One night Cheri had been taken on-stage in the dark and her leash secured to the arm of a chair so she would be there at the start of the scene. When the lights came up something in the audience prompted Cheri to jump over the arm of the chair nearly strangling herself. Superintendent of schools Fred Powers was sitting right there and he rescued the dog by scooping her up and placing her back in the chair.

An unfortunate "first" occurred during this show. Betty Young was unable to play one performance so Ev Witham played the role carrying a script. It was the first time in 16 years that an understudy had to go on for someone.

So in spite of the adage about children and animals, we mounted three successful shows in our 16th season.