In early 1957 Dr. Dave Jewett and I, decided to create a musical play to be performed the following year by the MDL Players. Dave [serving 2 years as the Navy Medical Officer] was really the driving force behind this effort that 'made it all happen'! He wrote the book and lyrics, recruited the talent of actors, set and costume designers, a choreographer, and directed the play. At first we spent one or two nights a week working on the project .... it soon became almost every night after we set a production date.
This video is compiled from still photographs of rehearsals and a few short silent film clips taken from the projection booth of the theater. [It should be remembered that in 1958 a 100 ft reel of Kodachrome film only allowed for 3 minutes of video]. The sound recording is also marginal, but all that we have. The stage was not miked, so the loudness of the recording varied as an actor moved on stage. For the orchestra, I recruited anyone available who had an instrument and I played the piano while kicking the bass drum with my left foot. The cast was ‘top notch’!
No comments:
Post a Comment