1976 Kenley Players season

Some serious performers did the Kenley circuit. Olivia de Havilland did it.

These days I assume no one would go. Or they’d show up and shoot at the stars as “Hollywood libs.” Rightwing propaganda has ruined this country in more ways than one.

I’m still aglow from having seen McLean Stevenson in Under the Yum Yum Tree in 1975.

lol r2!

I just can't see Sonny Bono as Pseudolus.

Many of the performers wound up on the Phil Donahue show when they were in Dayton where his show was based at the time.

I can’t see Sonny Bono as anything but Sonny Bobo to be completely honest.

^^^ Bono, but bobo works too

It’s a shame she couldn’t make it in the legitimate theater.

Anne Francine was a VERY poor Vera Charles.

I can't remember the year, but I have a very clear memory of Jane Withers in Extremities there.

R9 but a wondafil Flora Simpson Reilly.

No Jane Withers did Nuts.

I grew up not too far from the Kenley Theatre in Warren, Ohio. It was my introduction to Sondheim -- I saw A Little Night Music with Eva Gabor in 1976 (she was fine but briefly forget the words to Send in the Clowns.) Ethel Barrymore Colt played Madame Armfeldt (she was fantastic). When she, er, Sondheim rhymed "raisins" with "liaisons" my 19-year-old head nearly exploded with delight. I'm sure I saw other shows there, but ALNM is the one I remember. It's in my Top Five Shows, and I still listen to the original Broadway cast album (or the London cast album) regularly.

Warren also had an annual summer strawberry festival, which made a nice stop on the way to a Kenley show. Sounds like Norman Rockwell's America, I know, and perhaps it was.

OP posting from...

R4, it’s almost fifty years later and I still can’t unsee Sonny Bono as Pseudolus.

We used to be a proper country.

Were any of these filmed?

Warren theater critics all agreed, "Ricardo Montalbán gips around the stage confidently."

Ann Miller in town for a production of Hello Dolly graciously took time after the show to discuss the benefits of proper diet and exercise.

The entire list of shows and stars! Dozens of Datalounge Favorites here!

To my shock, they never did FOLLIES.

The “Grand Dame” of Dayton broadcasting Bette Rogge, interviewed a slew of stars when they were in town. Here she is with Lesley Gore who was starring with Bill Bixby in There’s a Girl in My Soup.

I remember there was a kerfuffle a few years ago that John Kenley was intersex.

I can't forget Jamie Farr and Ruth Buzzi in Same Time Next Year.

Alan Hale and Irene Ryan in Oh, Calcutta were a revelation.

I still think about Barrie Youngfellow's Nora in A Doll's House: The Musical

Christine Jorgenson's performance as Queeg in The Caine Mutiny Court Martial was riveting.

I sure am glad that the Mitzi Gaynor Special stars Mitzi Gaynor! I mean, what if it starred Vicki Lawrence?!

Paul Lynde interview

See, this thread is peak DL. The forum isn’t dead quite yet. Some of the old spirit lingers.

Garry Moore gave a courageous daring performance in Lenny.

'I didn't know Garry Moore had such a filthy mouth.' Dayton Gazette

Joe Namath came to town in 1971 to star in Pal Joey.

From the review, “The former first string football player is strictly second string as an actor. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good either”.

Loretta Swit and Ray Charles in Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad.

Was trying to find another season summary like the one I posted at OP - saw this. Guess the Plain Dealer's reviewer really didn't care for Cloris nor Lucie Arnaz!

1978 had quite a season, too.

The "to be announced" Mame? None other than Ann Miller.

I take it that "Count Dracula" is not "Dracula," which was still playing on Broadway at the time.

r34 I never miss an Allen Ludden musical.

What I said at R34? Scratch that. I read it in an article but apparently it wasn't Ann but rather Kitty Carlisle (!) who played Mame that season.

[quote]I sure am glad that the Mitzi Gaynor Special stars Mitzi Gaynor! I mean, what if it starred Vicki Lawrence?!

Give me time! I'm working on it!

R25, yes, her head-turning take toward the audience, clutching a bag of macaroons, will live forever in my mind.

I saw Kenley Players productions in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1970s.

It was another world.

r34 - That PIPPIN with Barry Williams, Tommy Tune and Maxine Andrews must have been a delight.

In 1940 that manly Pert Kelton appeared in two great show titles: Tit For Tat and No More Ladies! Theymmust have been autobiographical. Also that year, poor Buddy Ebsen licking his wounds from being too ill to continue as the Tin Man and Roman Navarro, Gilded Age Gay.

Allen Ludden and Jesse WHITE in CHICAGO??

[quote]Allen Ludden and Jesse WHITE in CHICAGO??

Yes, that was before Betty's transition.

1962: Betty Hutton in GYPSY with Baby Bernadette as Baby June.

Betty was big trouble ....

Betty was so high strung.

Drugs? Alcohol? Why did she go off the deep end? Amphetamines?

All three, r48.

What did Marian Mercer play? One of the strippers? Mr. Grantziger's secretary? Gypsy?

I bet Mercer was Louise/Gypsy, r50. Miss Cratchit/Tessie Tura doesn't rate a featured box.

1980: "Side by Side by Sondheim" - starring Leslie Uggams, Anna Maria Alberghetti and Dorothy Lamour

Who did Arlene Fontanna play in CHICAGO? Is this her minus an n?

I would buy a season ticket. My heart would explode.

It really is quite something to consider.

These were apparently not the finest sets, directors or costumes. But bringing some of these shows to the hinterlands must have been quite something in pre-Internet years.

The first, r55...

Elitch Theatre

Very cool R56! I had no idea.

Wow

Interesting that so many of those repeat performers did the same show more than once. Was that an incentive for ticketgoers? "Paul Lynde is back, and I finally get to see him in The Impossible Years!"

What is wrong with people like R1?

Too bad this whole avenue of entertainment is mostly gone. There were all those terrific performers who had theater/stage/cabaret backgrounds who could do these kinds of shows at the drop of a hat.

Nowadays, you'd have a hard time finding those kinds of performers.

Hey kids! I'm still around!

I guess Tim Conway was doing "Death of a Salesman" in Fresno and couldn't join them.

And...

Many of you posting here remember this fella?.Sure some of you opened for him.

Oooh, I bet Joey Heatherton NEVER forgave Karen Murrow! Stickin' pins in a voodoo doll... or "gonna cut da bitch!"

Karen Morrow is another Kenley headliner who started out in feature roles. She stole the 1968 version of Can-Can from headliner Joey Heatherton, was invited back that summer to appear in a role in The King and I, and returned in lead roles six additional times.

Barry Williams in Pippin makes sense... years ago I read that he was actually quite good in musicals. His career post-Bardy Bunch never seemed to click though... I think he finally landed in Branson, MO for a time.

R64, Joan Rivers in Luv or Totie Fields in Bye Bye Birdie! I'm getting dewy eyed thinking of what I missed.

R66 I saw Barry Williams as Tony in West Side Story at Starlight in Kansas City in the summer of...81? or 82.

He was...ok.

Didn't land the high note in "Maria"

[quote]Or they’d show up and shoot at the stars as “Hollywood libs.”

Or they’d show up and shoot up.

Betty White as Dolly!

Every homo in Dayton must have been lined up around the block to see "The Women" with Marge Champion, Dagmar, Elaine Stritch and Gloria Swanson in 1966.

I know I would have been.

Seriously.

Joe Namath & Donna Mills in Picnic, 1979. They knew their audience, including a beefcake photo of Joe in the program.

Boy, Dom DeLuise and John Davidson must have toured the HELL out of "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and "Oklahoma" (respectively) back in the day.

They are listed as doing them in the 70s, and I remember both shows being in my home town in the 80s. (In fact, my high school was doing "Oklahoma" at the same time as the show was in town, so there was a big publicity thing where the actors in the high school production all went to see the matinee and meet all the actors.)

Then in the 90s, I'm pretty sure both productions came to the playhouse on my college campus.

As my grandmother would say, "Well, if it cuts the meat."

It’s interesting that the ad OP posted had to explain who Henry Winkler was. A year later that would be unnecessary.

Charles Nelson Reilly & Brett Somers in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Graham?" was a memorable night at the theater!

[quote]Barry Williams in Pippin makes sense

He did the National tour, r66.

r71 - that production was infamous. Elaine Stritch even talks about it in At Liberty. Marge Champion was made and turned the whole cast against her and was even brought up before the union for unprofessional behavior. It's a great story, crafted and embellished by her writer, John Lahr.

was mad - Muriel!

even Elaine was brought up...

FFS

finally Bette Rogge is getting the DL attention she deserves.

They're releasing the JFK, MLK, and RFK files next month?

I say release the Bette Rogge archives! We want it all

Her papers and recordings of her radio and television shows are the subject of a collection at the University of Dayton Archives,[13] where she and her husband, Wayne Morse, owner of a local advertising and public relations firm,[15] also contributed a collection about the Kenley Players theater group.[16]

I loved Florence Henderson & Shirley Jones in ‘night, Mother. (Each performance they switched wigs and roles.)

So much subtext!!

Stanley and Barry Livingston did a great twist on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

R51. Mercer played Tessie Tura and left the tour early because she couldn't take Batshit Betty Hutton any longer.

What I don't understand is Bobby Rydell and Larry Kert in West Side Story. What is the casting if both stars are known for their singing? Was Larry Kert still doing Tony?

This thread is the bee's knees!

This is where the third Victoria got her supposed stage training.

R86 😄

R74 it was unnecessary in 1976. His role and popularity on Happy Days didn’t suddenly skyrocket in 1977.

I have tried to find rosters of other seasons.....these are all fascinating to see!

I want to see Lindsey Lohan in A Doll's House

Mickey Rooney, Dom De Luise and Joan Rivers in Luv.

What fun!

^Perfect role for Joan.

Our Sally!

So how much were these stars paid each week? Were they given free rooms in nice hotels and per diems for food?

r64 Jessica WALTERS?

[quote]r95 = [R64] Jessica WALTERS?

They still talk about Liberace as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man. Who ever heard of a mirrored baby grand in a parade?

Sonny Bono did Equus there too.

Bob Denver's Hamlet was something for the ages.

Sally Field and Jerry Orbach doing Neil Simon?! Lord get me into the wayback machine! I would have loved to see that OR if they had done "Butterflies are Free."

Ack! My mistake... 6 Rms Rv Vu is not a Neil Simon play... in my excitedment at Sally and Jerry together I thought of the play,Barefoot in the Park.

Sorry, sorry, sorry...

I bet it was a fun night out. Then again I can enjoy a high school play or high school band and chorus night. So long as it seems they put a lot work in, are really trying, and happy to see me then I'm in.

Rip Taylor in OLIVER?

As Fagin? Or Nancy?

I’ll bet he threw confetti during Oom Pah Pah.

[quote]Who ever heard of a mirrored baby grand in a parade?

Not to mention 76 of 'em!

I was curious about Kenley's ticket prices. I found a 1968 stub on eBay with a ticket price of $2.95 for center (I'm guessing) orchestra, Row C for a Sunday matinee. Per an online inflation calculator, that's about $32 in today's money.

John Kenley intentionally kept ticket prices down as he “would rather have full houses every night than be stuck with a batch of empty seats”.

Barry Williams in Pippin in 1978.

R13 here, the one who saw A Little Night Music with Miss Gabor in 1976. I was thinking that *surely* I must have seen other Kenley shows when I was in high school or home from college. Looking at the production history list, I know I saw Applause in 1973 with Alexis Smith (she was glam, and I'm pretty sure Pia Zadora popped out of the box in the Bonnie Franklin role). I *may* have seen Guys and Dolls with Meredith Baxter and David Birney. I know I saw No, No Nanette the next season with Gale Gordon and Vicki Lawrence, but all I remember was the dance number with the beach balls.

I was a gayling in training then and did not realize I was supposed to keep my playbills.

Ed Ames in FIDDLER!

My heart runneth over with luvvvvvvvvvvvvv.

Camelot

[quote]Barry Williams in Pippin in 1978.

It would've been better with Johnny Bravo.

I kind of love Joe Namath for doing dinner theater. What a contrast to a certain arrogant, pontificating Jets quarterback we all know and hate today. Joe didn't take himself so damn seriously.

I like quarterbacks who aren't Sandy Hook truthers!

[quote]I kind of love Joe Namath for doing dinner theater.

Kenley was NOT dinner theater!

[quote]Joe didn't take himself so damn seriously.

Indeed he didn't.

Pam Dawber was the best Hedda Gabler!

Ann Jillian IS Lady McBeth!

[quote]Ann Jillian IS Lady McBeth!

Oh *fucking* dear.

R110 is frighteningly close to possible.

Jimmy Walker as Othello!

Come to...

Phyllis Diller in a Streetcar Named Desire!

No offense, but the genuine productions are funnier/more interesting than the ones in the game of can you top this?

Wow, he lived to 103.

Did he ever hear the song about him?

[quote]Rip Taylor in OLIVER?

I know someone who was a dancer in this production - just starting out in the Cleveland Ballet at 17 and he said he didn't know who Rip Taylor was and he was very sedate backstage - no glitter flung. It almost sounded like some chorus performers were semi-pros and changed with each city.

Why can't Ryan Murphy do something substantial and give us year by year miniseries of the Kenley Players?

I know I'd watch....just to see how Anita Bryant and the I Hear a Waltz chorus boys interact in the 1967 season throwdown!

I would love to have seen Ray Milland in My Fair Lady.

Bye Bye...

Why can't Ryan Murphy put some of his millions into a new Kenley Players? He just has to bankroll it -- we all know he has the attention span of a toddler -- and convince some of his stable of stars to appear in its plays and musicals. No reason to worry about what shows to put on -- just pick a Kenley season and recreate it. It would only take up a couple of months of the casts' time -- a couple of weeks of rehearsal and then a playing a week in five cities. (If he did it in California, they could be SF, San Jose, Sacramento, LA and San Diego.) Bonus: he could film a backstage documentary of the season and sell it to Netflix.

r130 Chord Overstreet IS Tevye! Amber Riley IS Mame! Jenna Ushkowitz IS Nellie Forbush!

The straw hat/summer stock circuit which Kenley drew its shows from no longer exists and we DLers are the poorer for it. Who here wouldn't want to see The Impossible Years, There's a Girl in My Soup or The Little Hut?

R51, while not a Kenley production, this does prove you incorrect.

This idea is a great one, just not sure it could be done these days.

Liability insurance is 10x what it once was, orchestras cost a fortune....just don't know financially how it would work.

There are still big regional theaters including ones that specialize in musicals, all over the country. Stars do occassionally turn up in productions but not like they used to. DL favorite Lorna Luft was in White Christmas at the 5th Avenue in Seattle a few years ago.

These regional theater groups are huge in the South. Especially Alabama.

I for one would love to see Joanne Worley in Gypsy. probably better than the over-hyped actresses always trying to get the role.

LOL I wonder if she's still alive.

“The Mitzi Gaynor Special” …. is that a sex act, or a menu item?

Let's just say Mr. Ed is her costar.

[quote]R9 Anne Francine was a VERY poor Vera Charles.

The old bat sounds okay…? Even if I expected Anne Francis.

I know the CLO in Pittsburgh has done something somewhat similar but it was never productions that big or that many in a row for a whole summer. It was always more like booking a few actors/performers that might have done the Kenley Players circuit, and mixing them in over a season.

I love this thread.

I’m thrilled to see that that inimitable (and inexplicable) Broadway star Connie Stevens got further stage work via the Kenley Players: The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Any Wednesday… perhaps others?

Seriously, the funniest thing I’ve ever heard is that Miss Stevens eagerly and persistently petitioned Jack Warner to let her do My Fair Lady AND Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf while she was under contract. GOD, CAN YOU IMAGINE??? Jesus.

Most of the larger regionals around here (SoCal) do four musicals every year, but not limited to the summer. And several of them have gone under since COVID.

[quote] Rip Taylor in OLIVER?

His Bill Sikes was unforgettable.

Joanne Worley is alive and kicking at 87 -- a perfect age for Madame Rose ...!

Dub!

Rip Taylor in Oliver! is kind of mind blowing. Like Charles Nelson Reilly as Billy in Carousel.

Bonnie Franklin in "For Colored Girls" was a revelation...

Ryan Murphy and his Rolodex could put together a great cast of The Women. Just hire a competent director and get out of their way.

Fagin is hardly Billy Bigelow, r149.

[quote] JoAnn Worley is alive and kicking at 87 -- a perfect age for Madame Rose ...!

And Mame!

Rula Lenska was riveting as Anne Frank. The audience loved the actors playing the SS so much, they helpfully shouted to them exactly where Anne was.

R154. Rula is a Miep, not an Anne.

Nancy Walker IS Tevye!!

Charo in West Side Story!

As what, the East Side?

Officer Krupke, Rose

Chrissy Metz in "Funny Girl"!

R160. She's SO wrong for that

Chrissy Metz in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Did anyone see Bonnie Franklin and Susan Richardson in The Children's Hour?

wow R163, you are an elder denizen of DL. putting those two legends together! Bravo.

Chrissy Netz in “Sugar Babies”!

R165. The last thing that bitch needs is sugar.

Chrissy Metz and Roxane Gay in Ionesco's

"The Chairs"

This could go on forever and I hope it does. When I think of all those mouth watering shows I missed. I would go to jeer and stay to cheer.

Steven Seagal and Pia Zadora in "The King and I."

Sigh. I miss the discussion about the actual topic.

"Let's think up not particularly funny cast combos for imaginary productions" isn't that fun.

Agreed, r170.

So you don't want to hear about Jm J. Bullock as Stanley Kowalski?

More of the actual shows, please.

R173, has this been posted previously? Helpful if you really want to know more about the actual shows...

Thanks R174!

[quote] PRIVATE LIVES - 1975: Dyan Cannon & Keir Dullea

Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow

As Gore Vidal said, "Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow."

Well - discussing the actual shows didn’t go that well, did it : (

These little theaters were a place for stars to stretch their wings, to play roles Hollywood would never give them.

I’m imagining Joan Collins emoting a lot as Lizzie in “The Rainmaker”!

I thought it was Noel Coward who said that

I think Gore was the Milton Berle of the literati set

Would you rather a daily urethral swab or dinner with R170?

I’m going urethral swab. Sounds vehemently more fun.

I'm not R170, but I said it earlier in the thread, the real shows are funnier than the imaginary ones.

Billy Crystal as the Emcee in Cabaret piqued my interest.

It was, r178.

This sounds glorious. Or atrocious. One of the two.

SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM ~ 1980: Uggams, Alberghetti & Lamour

Bette Rogge interviews Joel Grey and Anita Gillette (then starring in 'Cabaret') in 1976. I wuld have been in my Junior year in high school. I'm so grateful that Anita and Joel are still active.

Who was the male in the cast, r184?

Anita truly is a Broadway baby.

Her friend and fellow Sally Bowles replacement...

I saw Penny Fuller go on for Jill Haworth in Cabaret / she was the understudy / 1967

R177 The Kenley Players circuit didn't play in little theaters. They were rather huge theaters/auditoriums.

Same with most of the summer theater circuit, at least the ones featuring major stars. These weren't wee little community theaters with 99 seats.

I think some people are under the impression that Kenley and the summer/regional theater circuit were embarrassing, low rent gigs for stars. Quite the contrary. They were highly sought out gigs that paid well and the stars were treated very well. They were a popular and legitimate form of entertainment. The vast majority of stars who were booked came from Broadway and theater backgrounds. And, the ones who maybe didn't have that background (Sonny Bono types) were usually cast in roles they could handle.

Or, are some of you thinking that some of those gag ads are real? The Cris Shapan ads aka the "Fuxley" ads are hilarious phonies.

R191 I was a kid for much of the heyday of these shows but I think I have a decent grasp of what it was. This wasn't A listers but solid A minus or B plus work - and yes, it's sad we don't have summer stock in any real measurable way any more. The local/regional theater scene hangs on by a thread.

Two sad changes in theater: the loss of summer stock, and the fact that all of the network daytime soap operas that shot in NYC were cancelled about 15 years ago. Huh? you may say re: soaps. But they provided "day jobs" to countless theater actors and really supported theater actors for decades, and their loss really diminished opportunities in the market.

R191: Kenley often omitted parts of plays. The people who sought out that kind of work often were has-beens like Barbara Eden or people who had a bad season on Broadway--the Anita Gillettes of teh world.

I ain't no has-been, baby...

Jo Anne had just married Roger Perry when they did "Gypsy" together. He eventually moved on to Joyce Bulifant. But who didn't?

Jo Anne was no match for that Bulifant allure. Joyce was the reason the word temptress was invented.

R193 Shut the fuck up. You don't know what you're talking about.

Barbara Eden did Kenley WHILE she was still starring in I Dream of Jeannie. Many stars eager to earn some extra money during summer hiatus and have some fun doing live theater, would hit the summer circuit.

Carol Burnett and Rock Hudson did summer theater in the 70s when both were on hit shows.

[quote]r195 He eventually moved on to Joyce Bulifant. But who didn't?

Am I bad for always confusing Joyce Bulifant and Elaine Joyce?

Aren’t they both marginally talented bleached blondes with nose jobs?

[quote]R197 Shut the fuck up… Many stars eager to earn some extra money during summer hiatus, and to have some fun doing live theater, would hit the summer circuit.

Buck never would have been IN the Kenley Players!

Buck was blowing Paul Lynde in the alley while Rip Taylor fucked his ass.

[quote]Am I bad for always confusing Joyce Bulifant and Elaine Joyce?

Elaine was the hard-edged gold digger. I was the dewy-eyed romantic ever ready to take a chance on love!

Fuck you, Joyce!

———————

1 STAR REVIEW - Amazon

[bold]A sleazy little book, not worth the effort to read.[/bold]

What a sleazy little book this is. Joyce Bulifant manages to trash almost everyone in her life - her husbands, her mother-in-law (the great actress Helen Hayes) and any one else who didn't appreciate poor little Joyce. Her tales of bad behavior on the part of her many husbands, her mother-in-law and others allow her to play the eternal victim. How convenient that everyone that she lashes out at is dead and unable to refute her horrible stories. And what of the children of those marriages - is this the kind and loving act of a mother to spread such awful stories about their fathers? In between trash-talk about her various marriages, she does however manage to paint her own career with a golden brush - pretty good, [italic]considering she mainly did bit parts and I doubt that many will even remember her. [/italic]But they remember her husbands, especially James MacArthur and Edward Mallory (Days of our Lives), and this is what will sell her book: their pictures on the cover. That is the only reason I bought this book - I adored Jimmy MacArthur and Ed Mallory. I feel the need to take a shower after reading this awful book.

Okay, who knew that Murray Slaughter's wife, aka Joyce Bulifant, needed her own thread dissecting her autobio? Here's an excerpt from another Amazon review: "the book is primarily a gratuitous, rather ugly “tell all” about men Bulifant was married to, and it was wise of her to wait until they were all deceased before publishing it because her descriptions of their behavior might easily have led to defamation lawsuits. Books like this scream “I needed the money”."

M_E_O_W! How dishy!

Bulifant's book is a lot of fun. Wanted so much to read about James MacArthur as I had a crush on him as a boy watching him in Disney movies. Even went to see him at a Lillian Gish showing of an obscure silent she made. She was his godmother. Even spoke to him afterwards and he was very nice. Disney liked him so much he had him stay overnight by himself at Disney's apartment over the fire station in Disney land. But for some reason I don't doubt what she writes about him. Talk about drunk and horny to the point he raped her as his wife and she was frozen and fearful. Also Bulifant is not the first to speak about Hayes as a holy terror. Her public image is quite different from what she was actually like as a very ambitious and very hard working actress. Just watched Airport for the first time in many years and I thought she would be painful to watch as the cute little old lady stowaway. She was really very good.

Jeannie would have been in production during Kenley's summer season.

Joyce Bulifant and Roger Perry share a star on the Palm Springs version of the Walk of Fame.

R202 MAAAAAAAAAARY!

Agree R203 - I think that needs its own thread!

Decades of strong attendance by audiences was the idea of seeing stars live.

In the internet era one completely loses that perspective

R205 Well, Barbara Eden did "Finian's Rainbow" for Kenley in 1967. On Wikipedia, it's the 4th show listed for that year so if they're listed in the order in which they were produced, it would have been late June to early July for that production. Most sitcoms don't go back into production into end of July so she'd have had time.

Since she had experience playing mythical creatures, she should've played Ogg. (And she would, in 2025.)

I still the Kenley format is do-able if the producers picked small shows. She Loves Me, Ain't Misbehavin', I Do I Do, I Love My Wife, a Neil Simon or two, and some of those Sixties comedies might actually hold up.

[quote]I still the Kenley format is do-able if the producers picked small shows.

Which stars will you be getting to bring in the audiences, r211?

You could probably get Anna Camp & Skylar Astin for a summer of two-handers: The Fourposter, followed by I Do! I Do!, 6 Rms Riv Vu, and Talley's Folly.

I don't think you'd be able to keep modern audiences off their phones long enough to enjoy the show.

R214 uh, audiences all over the country go to theater every day of the week.

Looking at the cast list for Schmigadoon alone, you could maybe get Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Aaron Tveit, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Jaime Camil, Ann Harada, Ariana DuBose, and Patrick Page (and his wife Paige). I'd throw in Anna Kendrick, too (I saw her in High Society when she was a child actor).

You'd need plays that require small casts. Even decades ago, The Odd Couple and Same Time, Next Year were popular for that reason.

Everybody loves Opal.

[quote]R211 I still the Kenley format is do-able if the producers picked small shows. She Loves Me, Ain't Misbehavin', I Do I Do…

She Loves Me is an adorable confection.

I Do, I Do is second rate with a bland, unmemorable score. For some reason I hate that show. It’s the perfect thing for an aging Carol Lawrence and Robert Goulet to tour with, out of a van.

Carol Lawrence and Robert Goulet, performing in a van down by the river.

If Chris Farley was alive, I wonder how he'd do as Pseudolus.

Anna Kendrick IS Sabrina Fair!

I Do! I Do! only works with major star power, r219. Imagine if Bernadette and Mandy had done it. I'd love it if those two had done a studio recording.

Well I saw it with David Garrison and Karen Ziemba which was very pleasant.

Bernadette and Martin Short were rumored for an I Do! I Do! Revival ages ago but it never happened.

Maybe Marty will do it with M.

I guess Aretha Franklin liked the I DO, I DO! music, too.

But this song is so simplistic - it’s just A / A / A ( verse verse verse). There’s no development, no chorus…. nothing.

It's a simple show, r226. It relies on charm and star power.

Also, r226, it was a hit song outside of the show.

guys, the ship has sailed.

r229 That's a brilliant idea! Let's re-create the Kenley shows on The Love Boat (or any cruise.)

How about some of us buy a van and devote a summer to doing “Flash Mob Kenleys” across the old circuit. We dress AS the old stars, IN their Kenley Players hits. (Except for Anita Bryant in “Do I Hear a Waltz.”)

We don’t need sets or theaters, we just break into the shows in supermarkets, parks and malls (?)

Sign up for roles below, please:

^^ oh yes… I want to be Zsa Zsa Gabor in BLITHE SPIRIT, complete with jazzy 1961 fashions.

I want to be Carol Channing in "The Corn is Green."

Hahaha!

I'm sure I could be one of the dancers in Applause. It's not like it's Turkey Lurkey Time where every dancer ends up at the chiropractor.

You could be discovered and be the next Bonnie Franklin!

[quote]I'm sure I could be one of the dancers in Applause

[quote]R235 I'm sure I could be one of the dancers in Applause. It's not like it's Turkey Lurkey Time where every dancer ends up at the chiropractor.

GREAT! You can also drive the van.

How about Seesaw for our Kenley revival season? If Encores won't do it, we can.

TPOS would be perfect for our new Kenley season, because it's never coming back to Broadway,

When I try to sound out what TPOS is, I get “Toilet Paper on Shoe” (?)

“This Piece of Shit” maybe

"They're Playing Our Song," which is constantly abbreviated on DL as TPOS, which invariably makes me think "that piece of shit."

I believe the rule for use of acronyms, is that you use the full series of words first, then refer to the acronym. That way people easily understand what the fuck you're referring to.

Especially when it's an acronym for something as minor league as They're Playing Our Song.

[quote]r242 "They're Playing Our Song," which is constantly abbreviated on DL as TPOS, which invariably makes me think "that piece of shit."

Of course. Thanks. I’ve never seen that loser show so it never comes to mind.

Of course it should be added to our Ghost of Kenleys Past Tour.

They're Playing Our Song filled an entire thread. Even Audra Gypsy couldn't do that.

Two threads! It refused to die!!

So who would you cast now as Sonia and Vernon?

I saw Playing in its original run, and I kind of remember liking it

[quote]So who would you cast now as Sonia and Vernon?

Robert Klein and Lucie Arnaz. Both are still around, and the show sucks anyway.

As recently seen on the Interwebz.

Tony Perkins playing the role his erstwhile lover played in the movie version!

I never heard of Carla Alberghetti before.

I guess she was a nepo-ghetti.

I can't imagine TPOS meaning anything other than That piece of Shit. I saw it and it was shit. I left at the beginning of the second act when I saw it was not going to get any better. To be fair my parents saw it when Victor Garber took over(I'm pretty sure he was one of the replacements) and they enjoyed it.

One can see Sammy Williams, who went onto Broadway fame as the original Paul winning a Tony in A Chorus Line, in that clip from Applause.

One can't tell from clips but that original production of Applause was terrific even though the show was not. Ron Fields and Bacall pulled a rabbit out of an old hat. It was a total sell-out with Bacall.

R254 Bitch, please. I was solely responsible for its success!

Qui est Geneviève? (Silk Stockings I know.)

[quote]Qui est Geneviève?

Une chanteuse.

so who has seen what shows this summer?

Which winner from last night would be a 2036 Kenley player?!

Jonathan Groff hands down....... touring in " Memories of Wayne Newton"

R259. Darren Criss IN Cactus Flower!

r260 Jonathan wasn't a winner.