After leaving Pioneer Playhouse, I realized I had no idea what to do next. I didn’t have a job or a place to live other than with Mom and Dad. I didn’t know whether I wanted to move back to Toledo or try to find work elsewhere. I did have a lead in Cincinnati for a lucrative dance job but it wasn’t in ballet. I hadn’t seen Sue since her wedding, and Mike had almost six weeks to kill before school started in New York. So Mike and I decided to visit Sue while we checked out the job scene. We were determined to stay together as long as possible. At this point, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
Sue was doing fine. She and her hubby, Mike, were living in an apartment close to UC while Sue was getting her Masters. Mike had found a good job as a restaurant manager. They were looking at houses and hoping to buy one soon. They had a new little black poodle named, Fred, who was adorable. They were so settled; I was jealous.
My friend and former modern dance teacher, Elaine, was working as a Las Vegas-type show dancer at the newly opened Beverly Hills Supper Club. She had contacted me about auditioning and assured me the pay was very good even if the hours weren’t; she sometimes worked until 3:00 a.m. When we got to Cincinnati, I called Elaine and she arranged an audition for me and tickets for me and Mike to see the show. The audition went fine—I had the job if I wanted it. I wasn’t convinced I wanted to do that type of dancing; but by seeing the show, I knew I would get a better idea of what it would be like.
The Beverly Hills Supper Club opened in 1971 in Southgate, Kentucky, about 6 miles outside of Cincinnati. Its headliner talent was mostly from Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York and Nashville. On May 28, 1977, it became the scene of the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history when 165 people died and over 200 were injured. The fire started in the Zebra Room where a wedding reception had taken place earlier in the evening. By the time the fire was detected, there were as many as 3,000 patrons and 182 employees inside the club. Many people were trapped in the blazing inferno which investigators later blamed on faulty wiring, overcrowding, inadequate fire exits, lack of fire walls, poor construction practices and extreme safety code violations.
Lucky for me, after watching the scantily-clad showgirls performing their suggestive dance moves, I decided I couldn’t work there. I couldn’t believe Elaine could; I would have been mortified. It seemed my only choices were to audition for a ballet company (which I was too timid to do) or teach dance at the college level. I knew I definitely didn’t want to own my own ballet school or teach at anyone else’s for that matter.
So reluctantly Mike and I went our separate ways—me to Toledo and Mike to New Hartford. With all the confidence I could muster, I went to the University of Toledo to talk to the Head of the Dance Department. Although they weren’t hiring any teachers, they did seem impressed with my credentials and promised to call if anything came up. While I was waiting for my life to begin, I went back to work at Owens Illinois.
I was very lonely without Mike. We talked a few times, but long-distance calls were expensive and neither of us had much money. The song “Brandy” was popular at the time and I felt like Brandy pining away for my man at sea. The folks at OI were friendly and supportive. They even promised me a full-time, office job if I wanted it; I couldn’t imagine doing that the rest of my life.
At the time, Carla was going through a similar dilemma. After she graduated from Toledo University with a degree in Phychology (she started in Theatre but worried there was no money in it), she worked at a boring bank. Once she experienced the thrill of the Pioneer Playhouse, she couldn’t go back to her previous life. When the time was right, she and Jerry wanted to move to New York to try to make it on Broadway. So Carla talked to Connie Phelps who talked to Bill Webber who agreed to let Carla take reduced-price ballet lessons if she moved to Louisville. That would keep her close to Jerry but not too close.
After a short month in Toledo, I was ready to get out too. Carla and I decided to live in Louisville together. We would take lessons at Bill’s studio while I waited for the director of the Canadian ballet company to come and set Les Sylphides. Bill assured me that, once Fernand Nault saw me dance, I would be off to Canada with a contract in my hand. Two could live cheaper than one, and I knew I could always get work with Kelly Girls. The free lessons Bill offered were a huge plus as it was important I stay in shape and continue to improve until the audition.
Carla moved to Louisville first finding a cheap, furnished, efficiency apartment. I followed a few weeks later with all my belongings, which didn’t amount to much. Kelly Girls found me a position at a polyurethane foam company the day after I arrived. Carla had a little more trouble as she didn’t have the advantage of secretarial experience or schooling. Mike still had two weeks before he had to be in New York; so as soon as we got settled, he came for a visit.
It was an idyllic few weeks. Except for Carla living with us, it was like being married. I would go off to work in the morning and Mike would be waiting for me in the evening when I got home. Sometimes he would cook, but often we would go out for pizza or fast food. When the time came for him to leave, he couldn’t go. He called Circle in the Square Theatre and told them he wasn’t coming. He was like the guest who came to visit but never left—which was fine with me. Carla didn’t seem to mind as he helped with expenses and occasionally let her have one of his Schlitz beers.
Although Mike had never taken ballet before, it was obvious he had talent. The stretching regimen he had undergone when wrestling had kept his body supple and strong. At the Playhouse when he stepped in as lead male dancer after Maynard left, he performed as if he had been dancing his whole life. Also because of his wrestling background, he had the upper-body strength necessary to effortlessly and gracefully lift his partners. And a huge plus for a ballet dancer—his feet had a naturally high arch.
We decided to ask Bill if Mike could take free lessons too. If Mike wasn’t going to pursue his acting career because we wanted to stay together, switching to ballet was the obvious move. Bill was more-or-less agreeable—I think we paid a little for our lessons, but not much. Carla, Mike and I took lessons nearly every night and sometimes on Saturday morning. We were working full time—me and Carla for Kelly and Mike for Manpower. It was a grueling schedule but, since we didn’t know anyone in town and didn’t have much money to do anything anyway, we did what we needed to do and it paid off.
The teachers at the schools were good. There was one very old teacher who was way past her prime, but even she taught a decent class (although it was difficult to ignore her flagrant flatulence which was a source of constant amusement). We took lessons at two different studios. The oldest kids at the main studio were in high school. There was one exceptional student and many that weren’t bad. On Friday nights, we took at the other studio where many of the students were adults. Although Larry’s day- job was working at his hair salon, he also danced and took the Friday night class. Mike started in the beginner class with the itty-bitty kids but soon moved up to the intermediate and advanced.
Occasionally after Friday class, we would be invited to Bill and Larry’s for drinks and snacks. Their home was like many gay men’s homes—impeccably decorated. Its walls resembled a museum to religious, iconic art. They had obviously invested much time and money in their masterpiece. The conversations were always incredibly interesting and Bill and Larry treated me like a prima donna. Mike and I would invariably drink too much—after all it was free booze—and we were always relieved to make it home safely. One night when we all obviously had too much to drink, Bill and Larry invited us to spend the night so we wouldn’t have to drive. In the middle of the night, I found Bill and Mike wandering around the house. Bill had gotten up to persuade Mike to go to bed with him, and Mike was putting Bill back to bed—alone. I doubt Bill realized what he was doing and all was forgotten in the morning.
On the weekends, Carla usually drove the two hours to Danville to visit Jerry. Occasionally Jerry would come to Louisville and there would be four of us sharing the efficiency apartment. For entertainment, we started playing bridge. On Thanksgiving weekend, Mike drove with me to Toledo to meet the family. While on the road, we decided to get married. Mike casually asked, “What do you think about us getting married,” and I casually replied, “Sounds good to me.” It wasn’t very romantic but that’s how we “Virgos” are.
So instead of introducing Mom and Dad to my boyfriend, Mike; I introduced them to my future husband. They took it in stride. Mom, of course, asked the usual, “What’s your religion” questions and was appalled when Mike referred to Joseph as the “donkey leader”. Mom asked if he meant, “Saint Joseph?” Mike and I laughed about that for years. I think everybody instantly liked Mike because he was outgoing and funny.
In November or December, Carla and Jerry decided to get married; and Carla got pregnant (not necessarily in that order). Jerry’s Dad, a Baptist minister, performed the short ceremony right before Christmas. Mom and Dad came down and Mike and I were the witnesses. Mike dropped the ring and routed around on the floor for quite awhile before he found it. Dad mentioned to Jerry’s Dad that he hoped the marriage would work out and Jerry’s Dad said, “It had better!” Since Mom knew Mike was living with me but Dad didn’t, we moved all of Mike’s stuff into his car while they were in town. We pretended he lived in an apartment not far from ours. Luckily Dad didn’t ask to see it.
When I went back to Toledo for Christmas, Mom and I started planning the wedding. We decided on an April 7th date because it was after the Les Sylphides performance and the church was available. We talked to Father Warren who agreed to marry us. We were given pre-nuptial tapes, required listening because Mike was non-Catholic. It was back-in-the-day when Protestants had to promise to raise any children of the marriage Catholic and the pre-nuptial counseling guaranteed the non-Catholic party knew what they were getting into. In addition to listening to the tapes, we attended a one-on-one session with Father Warren prior to the ceremony.
After I left, Mom made the remainder of the arrangements. She decided on the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, found the hall for the reception, chose the menu, decided on the guest list, and addressed and mailed the invitations. To save money, I asked Sue if I could wear her wedding dress and, of course, she said “yes”. Luckily we were the same size. I bought a different veil as I thought the one Sue wore was too formal for my wedding. For my maid of honor, I chose Carla, with Terry, Ann and Sue rounding out the bridesmaids. Mike has four brothers, so naming his groomsmen was easy. Mom had the idea of choosing bridesmaids dresses the girls could wear again; we tried for that, although I doubt anyone wore theirs more than once or twice. The dresses were full length, with cap sleeves and a floral pattern—each dress accentuating a different color flower.
On New Year’s Eve, Mike came back to Louisville with a diamond ring for me. The diamond was small but tasteful and I loved it. I was happy to be getting married, something most of my other friends had already done or were in the process of doing. I felt safe with Mike—he could be my front man. I was shy and fearful so he could do the talking. I felt like I had a much better chance of making it in the ballet world being married to Mike and I turned out to be exactly right. I didn’t feel like we were madly in love, but our lives seemed to fit together perfectly.
When Mike returned to Louisville after Christmas, he was hired by the Seed & Wire Warehouse and so was making more money than at Manpower. That definitely helped some; although now that Carla had moved to Danville, there were only two of us splitting the rent. I was soon rehearsing for Les Sylphides so my tight schedule became even tighter. Fernand came in one weekend to cast the ballet then left until a week before the performance when he came back to add the finishing touches. I was disappointed he hadn’t cast me in the Pas de Deux role; I was the Waltz Girl. The one exceptional student would be dancing the Pas de Deux with Larry as the male lead. At that point, my chances of becoming a ballerina in Canada were not looking good.
We rehearsed non-stop the week before the performance. Finally the day arrived and I was a nervous wreck. I felt like my entire future rested on this one performance. I needn’t have worried. I think Fernand had made up his mind long before that. During the actual ballet, I made one humongous mistake. I entered on what I thought was my music; and when I realized it wasn’t, exited just as quickly. Other than that, I think I danced pretty well. But after the show, I never saw Fernand again. No mention of a contract; no “good job”; no words of encouragement. Now what?
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Summer of '72
My beliefs had changed quite a bit since my Catholic grade school and high school years. After all, these were the 70’s with their free-love philosophy due mainly to the introduction of the birth-control pill. For the first time, women were as free as men to explore their sexuality without the risk of getting pregnant. I started taking the pill when I was a senior in college counting myself fortunate that the pull-out method had worked for me up to that point.
John and I stopped going to Mass once we became intimate. It seemed counter-productive to attend a church that believed, because of your pre-marital activities, you were going to burn in hell for all eternity unless you repented. It was best just to not think about it—although I lived in a constant state of worry. I figured once we confessed and got married, all would be forgiven and we would be back in God’s good graces. I just had to make it until then and my chances were pretty good that I would. I was not involved in any high-risk activities, my parents were still alive so I didn’t have any genetic predispositions, and I was young and relatively healthy.
At that point, I didn’t believe what I was doing was right but I wasn’t willing to live the life of a prude either. I enjoyed sex and figured as long as I stuck with one, two or three partners, I was doing better than most girls my age. And, of course, we didn’t have AIDS to worry about. With John, I rationalized that, since we were going to get married, it was not as bad as having sex just for fun. We loved each other and were committed—until we weren’t. With Bill, I was just so head-over-heels that nothing could have stopped me. My heart definitely ruled in that relationship.
So with my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in hand, I headed into the working world of the Pioneer Playhouse—my first professional dancing/acting job. At that point, the Playhouse had been in operation since 1950 but had almost exclusively hosted dramatic plays or comedies—not musicals. The owners, Col. Eben Henson and his wife, Charlotte, had hired Connie Phelps, a flamboyant former dancer from Louisville, Kentucky, to spice up the summer by offering two musicals, “Can Can” and “New Moon” and two comedies, “Teahouse of the August Moon” and “Star-Spangled Girl”. Everyone was convinced Eben was having an affair with Connie although no one had any proof.
In 2010, the Pioneer Playhouse celebrated its 60th year of uninterrupted Summer Stock Theatre. Col. Henson passed away in 2004 but his children, Holly and Robby direct the performances today. The Theatre is currently a dinner theatre with performances from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Pioneer Playhouse boasts alumni John Travolta, Lee Majors and Bo Hopkins among others.
While working at the Playhouse, we lived in “rustic cabin-style” rooms with no air conditioning that framed the amphitheatre seating—with girls on stage left and boys on stage right. The accommodations were bi-level with the nicer rooms on top housing the stars and the lower level ones, the chorus. The bathrooms/showers were communal. There was a campground adjacent to the Playhouse with a pool that we were allowed to use occasionally. Meals were served cafeteria-style outside in the courtyard—cooked by Charlotte Henson. There was an air-conditioned lobby where we were able to play games and keep cool—Monopoly was a favorite. Rehearsals were conducted in a large warehouse adjacent to the courtyard. Backstage there were male and female dressing rooms, wardrobe and costume rooms, and a set-building area. All performances were held under-the-stars and rain would cause the evening’s festivities to be cancelled. Consequently, we were always praying for rain.
The four of us—Rusty, Carla, Marcy and I—were hired for the first three shows. During “Can Can” and “New Moon”, because they were full-blown musicals, we were on-stage singing and dancing a good portion of the show. In “Teahouse”, we only performed a traditional Geisha dance—so our part was much smaller. We were not hired for “Star-Spangled Girl”. We lived in the lower-level rooms although not many of us stuck with our initial room assignments.
When we first arrived at the Playhouse, to our dismay, we discovered Danville was dry. In order to buy alcohol, one had to drive about 45 minutes one-way. The guys would take turns making runs for everyone as there were nightly parties and lots of imbibing. During the rehearsals for “Can Can”, our nights were free so it was definitely party-time! There was nothing else to do anyway as we were stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Under the circumstances, we got to know our fellow actors very quickly.
Mike Hurd and I hooked up almost from the start. On the first night, a group of guys and girls got together in Mike’s room to drink beer. There were probably ten of us sitting on a bed. For some strange, hormonal reason, Mike and I suddenly found ourselves staring into each other’s eyes. Shortly thereafter he leaned over and kissed me. Nothing much was said; but after that, we were both smitten.
Mike was my age and from New Hartford, New York. He had just graduated with a degree in German from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He had auditioned and was scheduled to attend “The Circle in the Square” Theatre School in New York City in the fall. He had decided to pursue an acting career after becoming a nationally-ranked college wrestler and being forced to quit because of torn cartilage in his knee. The torn cartilage wasn’t all-bad as it had gotten him a medical deferment from the armed forces. It was a good thing as his birthday, September 14th, was chosen #1 in the lottery draft. His “claim to fame” was an article written in a national magazine citing that he had thrown a chair into a TV set at his fraternity house when he heard the news. As the media is wont to do, the account was grossly exaggerated. After quitting wrestling, he had taken up acting and “gotten the bug” performing in many college shows.
“Can Can” rehearsals started immediately and what fun we had! We learned blocking, dances and songs, and were fitted for our many costumes. Jerry Bradshaw, the Musical Director, had us sing scales to determine our range—I was definitely a soprano. Sometimes singing rehearsals were conducted separately with Jerry and sometimes with Connie including blocking or choreography. I had two big dancing solos—one at the end of Act I as Eve in the Garden of Eden Ballet and the other, the Apache, during Act II where I danced with all the guys. During rehearsals, I flirted with Michael every chance I got.
The Garden of Eden Ballet was a big production number involving the dancers dressed as animals of every kind. As Eve, I wore only a flesh-colored leotard accented with garlands sewn onto the fabric in strategic places. Maynard, the lead male dancer, played the part of the snake in green tights and an elegant headpiece. Michael and Marcy were kangaroos with suggestive, long, brown tails. Rusty and her partner were frogs, she showing a fair amount of cleavage and Carla and her partner were flamingos. There were also cats and inch worms. The costume designer, Paul Rose, who bore some resemblance to an elderly Elton John, worked his fingers to the bone preparing the hundreds of elaborate costumes. As Dance Captain, I was treated as special by everyone, a position I did not fully appreciate at the time.
The Apache was equally as elaborate; and while dancing my role, I got to show my sexy, sultry side. Again, I danced with Maynard who was a great partner. All the girls loved Maynard because of his bad-boy image and tall, tan, athletic body—even though he was thoroughly gay. At one point during the first few weeks, Jerry, the Musical Director turned photographer, took “tastefully nude” photos of Maynard and sold them to the girls for $5 each. I have my centerfold picture of Maynard to this day.
“Can Can” was first performed on Broadway in the early 1950’s. Its setting is a dance hall in Montmartre in the 1890’s. It’s a fairly simple story about a judge who wants to close the dance hall because he considers the girls’ dancing immoral. He visits the dance hall incognito and falls for one of the girls; after that he changes his tune. Gwen Verdon was in the original Broadway production—some say in the role that made her a star. Cole Porter wrote the music and lyrics and Michael Kidd was the choreographer.
“Can Can” opened the season at the Pioneer Playhouse on June 19, 1972 to rave reviews. Paul Rose was mentioned prominently in the Danville Advocate-Messenger article the next day. “Stealing the entire show were the magnificently rich costumes designed by Paul Rose which kept the audience marveling in their seats as each new scene produced a new set of finery.” And I received the first review of my career, “Robert Davis Sheridan (Maynard) as the snake and Deanne Welch as Eve turned in superbly graceful renditions of Eve’s temptation in as professional a sequence as one would hope to find anywhere.” Not a bad way to start a career!
While “Can Can” played at night with Sunday and Monday dark, we rehearsed “Teahouse” during the day. Performances were fun and audiences appreciative with no nerves whatsoever. We were all on Cloud 9. Rusty hooked up and moved in with Dennis, one of the “stars” and the Technical Director. Carla started dating Jerry, the Musical Director. Jerry was the only one of us who didn’t live at the Playhouse as he had a place in town not far from the theatre. He drove a little yellow sports car although that was the only cool thing about him. Although he was super nice, he was super large and had never really had a girlfriend before. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and apparently Carla saw something in Jerry no one had seen before. Marcy had a main squeeze back home but she and Connie’s son, Stefan, spent a lot of time together. And, of course, Mike moved in with me.
It was soon time for bridesmaid duty at Sue’s wedding in Pittsburgh, PA. After Mike drove me to the airport in Cincinnati, I flew early Saturday morning on a one-way ticket to Pittsburgh. The day after the wedding, I had arranged to drive back with Glenn Bitzenhoffer and his parents to Cincinnati where Mike would pick me up and take me back to the Playhouse. Luckily with Sunday and Monday dark, I didn’t have to rush back.
It was an omen—Sue got married during the worst storm Pennsylvania had ever seen –Hurricane Agnes. It rained continually from well before I arrived until well after I left. Rain threatened hair-dos; puddles threatened bridesmaids’ peach-colored, full-length dresses and Sue’s wedding gown and train. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful wedding. Sue was radiant and even her Mike looked handsome. I met Sue’s brother and wife, sister and friends. Thankfully, the reception was held in the church hall so we didn’t go back out into the rain until everything was over. On the drive back, the devastation was apparent everywhere.
The following weekend was Nancy’s wedding. It was much simpler as I drove up to Toledo and back and stayed at my folks’ house. I didn’t even know Rudy, Nancy’s intended, but I had known all of Nancy’s family for years. The wedding was held at Christ the King Church and the reception at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Trish Gulch, our mutual high school friend, was one of the other bridesmaids. We wore green and white and the weather was perfect! It was over before I knew it and I was back to my life with Mike at the Pioneer Playhouse. I heard from many that Rusty performed admirably in my absence.
One Saturday night during the run of “Can Can”, Connie’s friend, Bill Webber, who owned a dance studio in Louisville came down to Danville with his long-time lover, Larry, to see the show. Bill was totally bowled over by my performance and made me a proposition. Fernand Nault, the Director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens of Montreal was scheduled to stage Les Sylphides on Bill’s dancers the following spring. Bill suggested that, after my summer stint at the Playhouse, I come to Louisville to take free lessons at his studio with the intention of dancing in his production while auditioning for Fernand’s company. He was sure Fernand would love me. Of course, at that point I had no idea what I wanted to do after the summer, but I thanked him and told him I would stay in touch.
When “Can Can” ended, we were sad but eager to move on. In “Teahouse of the August Moon”, Rusty, Carla, Marcy and I were onstage for a relatively short period of time—especially considering the time it took us to get into costume. We performed an authentic geisha dance in authentic geisha hair, make-up and costumes. While we were learning to apply our make-up, the newspaper took pictures for an article advertising the show. Paul insisted everything be genuine, down to our tiniest gestures.
While performing “Teahouse”, we learned “New Moon”. By this time, Maynard and some of the people hired for “Can Can” had gone and new folks had come in to replace them. Mike took over as my dance partner in “New Moon’ and we danced a flamboyant tango number as well as a few other dances in which we were featured. We had numerous costume changes and Paul Rose’s fingers continued flying.
By the time “New Moon” started, we were about worn out. Charlotte’s food was becoming nearly inedible and the weather was getting hotter and more humid. We were all tired of the uncomfortable beds and the bugs. We were ready to get back to civilization. Luckily, our days were free while “New Moon” was playing as there were only a few of us in “Star Spangled Girl”. With days free, parties could go longer into the night because we could sleep later.
The summer of my first professional job came to an end one hot day in early August. There were tears all around. Mike decided to come with me to Cincinnati for a few days to meet Sue and help me check out the dance scene. Marcy headed back to Cincinnati to finish college. Rusty stayed because she was an understudy for the next show. She and Dennis were trying to work-out a future together. Carla stayed because she didn’t want to leave Jerry. The rest of the cast, I never saw again—not a one of them. I have even forgotten most of their names. I have an album of pictures that I look at every now and then to bring back the happy memories. Looking back, I can honestly say that was one of the best times of my life!
John and I stopped going to Mass once we became intimate. It seemed counter-productive to attend a church that believed, because of your pre-marital activities, you were going to burn in hell for all eternity unless you repented. It was best just to not think about it—although I lived in a constant state of worry. I figured once we confessed and got married, all would be forgiven and we would be back in God’s good graces. I just had to make it until then and my chances were pretty good that I would. I was not involved in any high-risk activities, my parents were still alive so I didn’t have any genetic predispositions, and I was young and relatively healthy.
At that point, I didn’t believe what I was doing was right but I wasn’t willing to live the life of a prude either. I enjoyed sex and figured as long as I stuck with one, two or three partners, I was doing better than most girls my age. And, of course, we didn’t have AIDS to worry about. With John, I rationalized that, since we were going to get married, it was not as bad as having sex just for fun. We loved each other and were committed—until we weren’t. With Bill, I was just so head-over-heels that nothing could have stopped me. My heart definitely ruled in that relationship.
So with my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in hand, I headed into the working world of the Pioneer Playhouse—my first professional dancing/acting job. At that point, the Playhouse had been in operation since 1950 but had almost exclusively hosted dramatic plays or comedies—not musicals. The owners, Col. Eben Henson and his wife, Charlotte, had hired Connie Phelps, a flamboyant former dancer from Louisville, Kentucky, to spice up the summer by offering two musicals, “Can Can” and “New Moon” and two comedies, “Teahouse of the August Moon” and “Star-Spangled Girl”. Everyone was convinced Eben was having an affair with Connie although no one had any proof.
In 2010, the Pioneer Playhouse celebrated its 60th year of uninterrupted Summer Stock Theatre. Col. Henson passed away in 2004 but his children, Holly and Robby direct the performances today. The Theatre is currently a dinner theatre with performances from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Pioneer Playhouse boasts alumni John Travolta, Lee Majors and Bo Hopkins among others.
While working at the Playhouse, we lived in “rustic cabin-style” rooms with no air conditioning that framed the amphitheatre seating—with girls on stage left and boys on stage right. The accommodations were bi-level with the nicer rooms on top housing the stars and the lower level ones, the chorus. The bathrooms/showers were communal. There was a campground adjacent to the Playhouse with a pool that we were allowed to use occasionally. Meals were served cafeteria-style outside in the courtyard—cooked by Charlotte Henson. There was an air-conditioned lobby where we were able to play games and keep cool—Monopoly was a favorite. Rehearsals were conducted in a large warehouse adjacent to the courtyard. Backstage there were male and female dressing rooms, wardrobe and costume rooms, and a set-building area. All performances were held under-the-stars and rain would cause the evening’s festivities to be cancelled. Consequently, we were always praying for rain.
The four of us—Rusty, Carla, Marcy and I—were hired for the first three shows. During “Can Can” and “New Moon”, because they were full-blown musicals, we were on-stage singing and dancing a good portion of the show. In “Teahouse”, we only performed a traditional Geisha dance—so our part was much smaller. We were not hired for “Star-Spangled Girl”. We lived in the lower-level rooms although not many of us stuck with our initial room assignments.
When we first arrived at the Playhouse, to our dismay, we discovered Danville was dry. In order to buy alcohol, one had to drive about 45 minutes one-way. The guys would take turns making runs for everyone as there were nightly parties and lots of imbibing. During the rehearsals for “Can Can”, our nights were free so it was definitely party-time! There was nothing else to do anyway as we were stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Under the circumstances, we got to know our fellow actors very quickly.
Mike Hurd and I hooked up almost from the start. On the first night, a group of guys and girls got together in Mike’s room to drink beer. There were probably ten of us sitting on a bed. For some strange, hormonal reason, Mike and I suddenly found ourselves staring into each other’s eyes. Shortly thereafter he leaned over and kissed me. Nothing much was said; but after that, we were both smitten.
Mike was my age and from New Hartford, New York. He had just graduated with a degree in German from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He had auditioned and was scheduled to attend “The Circle in the Square” Theatre School in New York City in the fall. He had decided to pursue an acting career after becoming a nationally-ranked college wrestler and being forced to quit because of torn cartilage in his knee. The torn cartilage wasn’t all-bad as it had gotten him a medical deferment from the armed forces. It was a good thing as his birthday, September 14th, was chosen #1 in the lottery draft. His “claim to fame” was an article written in a national magazine citing that he had thrown a chair into a TV set at his fraternity house when he heard the news. As the media is wont to do, the account was grossly exaggerated. After quitting wrestling, he had taken up acting and “gotten the bug” performing in many college shows.
“Can Can” rehearsals started immediately and what fun we had! We learned blocking, dances and songs, and were fitted for our many costumes. Jerry Bradshaw, the Musical Director, had us sing scales to determine our range—I was definitely a soprano. Sometimes singing rehearsals were conducted separately with Jerry and sometimes with Connie including blocking or choreography. I had two big dancing solos—one at the end of Act I as Eve in the Garden of Eden Ballet and the other, the Apache, during Act II where I danced with all the guys. During rehearsals, I flirted with Michael every chance I got.
The Garden of Eden Ballet was a big production number involving the dancers dressed as animals of every kind. As Eve, I wore only a flesh-colored leotard accented with garlands sewn onto the fabric in strategic places. Maynard, the lead male dancer, played the part of the snake in green tights and an elegant headpiece. Michael and Marcy were kangaroos with suggestive, long, brown tails. Rusty and her partner were frogs, she showing a fair amount of cleavage and Carla and her partner were flamingos. There were also cats and inch worms. The costume designer, Paul Rose, who bore some resemblance to an elderly Elton John, worked his fingers to the bone preparing the hundreds of elaborate costumes. As Dance Captain, I was treated as special by everyone, a position I did not fully appreciate at the time.
The Apache was equally as elaborate; and while dancing my role, I got to show my sexy, sultry side. Again, I danced with Maynard who was a great partner. All the girls loved Maynard because of his bad-boy image and tall, tan, athletic body—even though he was thoroughly gay. At one point during the first few weeks, Jerry, the Musical Director turned photographer, took “tastefully nude” photos of Maynard and sold them to the girls for $5 each. I have my centerfold picture of Maynard to this day.
“Can Can” was first performed on Broadway in the early 1950’s. Its setting is a dance hall in Montmartre in the 1890’s. It’s a fairly simple story about a judge who wants to close the dance hall because he considers the girls’ dancing immoral. He visits the dance hall incognito and falls for one of the girls; after that he changes his tune. Gwen Verdon was in the original Broadway production—some say in the role that made her a star. Cole Porter wrote the music and lyrics and Michael Kidd was the choreographer.
“Can Can” opened the season at the Pioneer Playhouse on June 19, 1972 to rave reviews. Paul Rose was mentioned prominently in the Danville Advocate-Messenger article the next day. “Stealing the entire show were the magnificently rich costumes designed by Paul Rose which kept the audience marveling in their seats as each new scene produced a new set of finery.” And I received the first review of my career, “Robert Davis Sheridan (Maynard) as the snake and Deanne Welch as Eve turned in superbly graceful renditions of Eve’s temptation in as professional a sequence as one would hope to find anywhere.” Not a bad way to start a career!
While “Can Can” played at night with Sunday and Monday dark, we rehearsed “Teahouse” during the day. Performances were fun and audiences appreciative with no nerves whatsoever. We were all on Cloud 9. Rusty hooked up and moved in with Dennis, one of the “stars” and the Technical Director. Carla started dating Jerry, the Musical Director. Jerry was the only one of us who didn’t live at the Playhouse as he had a place in town not far from the theatre. He drove a little yellow sports car although that was the only cool thing about him. Although he was super nice, he was super large and had never really had a girlfriend before. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and apparently Carla saw something in Jerry no one had seen before. Marcy had a main squeeze back home but she and Connie’s son, Stefan, spent a lot of time together. And, of course, Mike moved in with me.
It was soon time for bridesmaid duty at Sue’s wedding in Pittsburgh, PA. After Mike drove me to the airport in Cincinnati, I flew early Saturday morning on a one-way ticket to Pittsburgh. The day after the wedding, I had arranged to drive back with Glenn Bitzenhoffer and his parents to Cincinnati where Mike would pick me up and take me back to the Playhouse. Luckily with Sunday and Monday dark, I didn’t have to rush back.
It was an omen—Sue got married during the worst storm Pennsylvania had ever seen –Hurricane Agnes. It rained continually from well before I arrived until well after I left. Rain threatened hair-dos; puddles threatened bridesmaids’ peach-colored, full-length dresses and Sue’s wedding gown and train. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful wedding. Sue was radiant and even her Mike looked handsome. I met Sue’s brother and wife, sister and friends. Thankfully, the reception was held in the church hall so we didn’t go back out into the rain until everything was over. On the drive back, the devastation was apparent everywhere.
The following weekend was Nancy’s wedding. It was much simpler as I drove up to Toledo and back and stayed at my folks’ house. I didn’t even know Rudy, Nancy’s intended, but I had known all of Nancy’s family for years. The wedding was held at Christ the King Church and the reception at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Trish Gulch, our mutual high school friend, was one of the other bridesmaids. We wore green and white and the weather was perfect! It was over before I knew it and I was back to my life with Mike at the Pioneer Playhouse. I heard from many that Rusty performed admirably in my absence.
One Saturday night during the run of “Can Can”, Connie’s friend, Bill Webber, who owned a dance studio in Louisville came down to Danville with his long-time lover, Larry, to see the show. Bill was totally bowled over by my performance and made me a proposition. Fernand Nault, the Director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens of Montreal was scheduled to stage Les Sylphides on Bill’s dancers the following spring. Bill suggested that, after my summer stint at the Playhouse, I come to Louisville to take free lessons at his studio with the intention of dancing in his production while auditioning for Fernand’s company. He was sure Fernand would love me. Of course, at that point I had no idea what I wanted to do after the summer, but I thanked him and told him I would stay in touch.
When “Can Can” ended, we were sad but eager to move on. In “Teahouse of the August Moon”, Rusty, Carla, Marcy and I were onstage for a relatively short period of time—especially considering the time it took us to get into costume. We performed an authentic geisha dance in authentic geisha hair, make-up and costumes. While we were learning to apply our make-up, the newspaper took pictures for an article advertising the show. Paul insisted everything be genuine, down to our tiniest gestures.
While performing “Teahouse”, we learned “New Moon”. By this time, Maynard and some of the people hired for “Can Can” had gone and new folks had come in to replace them. Mike took over as my dance partner in “New Moon’ and we danced a flamboyant tango number as well as a few other dances in which we were featured. We had numerous costume changes and Paul Rose’s fingers continued flying.
By the time “New Moon” started, we were about worn out. Charlotte’s food was becoming nearly inedible and the weather was getting hotter and more humid. We were all tired of the uncomfortable beds and the bugs. We were ready to get back to civilization. Luckily, our days were free while “New Moon” was playing as there were only a few of us in “Star Spangled Girl”. With days free, parties could go longer into the night because we could sleep later.
The summer of my first professional job came to an end one hot day in early August. There were tears all around. Mike decided to come with me to Cincinnati for a few days to meet Sue and help me check out the dance scene. Marcy headed back to Cincinnati to finish college. Rusty stayed because she was an understudy for the next show. She and Dennis were trying to work-out a future together. Carla stayed because she didn’t want to leave Jerry. The rest of the cast, I never saw again—not a one of them. I have even forgotten most of their names. I have an album of pictures that I look at every now and then to bring back the happy memories. Looking back, I can honestly say that was one of the best times of my life!
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