Acting Commons^™

Summer And Smoke

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1983 performance of Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams.

Summer and Smoke is the story of a high strung young woman named Alma Winemiller, and the spiritual/sexual romance that nearly develops between her and John Buchanan Jr. who grew up next door.

The music used to accompany the performance was used in the original production.

The Diary Of Anne Frank

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1983 performance of The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett adapted from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

The Diary of Anne Frank is a dramatization of the diary entries of Anne Frank, a young Dutch-Jew who went into hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

Gay Side Story Original Poster, Audacity Theater

Gay Side Story

Poster for original production of GAY SIDE STORY as presented in conjunction with Symposium X at the University of Southern Maine, 1983.

Gay Side Story Original Script, Diane Elze

Gay Side Story

Original script for Gay Side Story

WRITTEN BY

Avis

Diane Elze

Rico Estabrook

John Frank

Dale McCormick

Tony Norton

Cheryl Ring

Chris Thurston

Gay Side Story Scrapbook, Gay Side Story Collection

Gay Side Story

Scrapbook containing photographs and ephemera from original 1983 production of Gay Side Story.

The full playbill can be seen here.

Gay Side Story Playbill, Gay Side Story Collection

Gay Side Story

1983 Playbill for Gay Side Story with forward by John Frank

WRITTEN BY

Avis

Diane Elze

Rico Estabrook

John Frank

Dale McCormick

Tony Norton

Cheryl Ring

Chris Thurston

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO

Leonard Bernstein

Arthur Lawrence

Stephen Sondheim

Phil Spector

You Can't Take It With You

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1982 performance of You Can’t Take It with You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

You Can’t Take It with You follows the story of the only normal daughter in an eccentric family, and the chaos and mishaps which happen when she brings her fiancé home to meet her family.

The Importance Of Being Earnest

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1982 performance of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is a farcical comedy about two men who each take on the personas with the name of Earnest in order to escape the burdens of social obligations.

Inherit The Wind

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1982 performance of Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawerence and Robert E. Lee.

Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial where a high school teacher named John T. Scopes was tried for teaching evolution against state law.

Then The Circus Comes To Town

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1981 Advanced Oral Interpretation Class’s performance of When the Circus Come to Town adapted by Oliver Hubbard.

Ten Little Indians

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1981 performance of Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie, adapted from her book of the same name (in the United States published as And Then There Were None.)

Ten Little Indians is the story of ten strangers invited to a house party on an isolated island. When they lose the ability to return to the mainland, they begin to die off one by one in accordance to an old nursery rhyme.

The Miracle Worker

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1981 performance of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.

The Miracle Worker is based on the autobiography of Helen Keller.

Fiddler On The Roof

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1981 performance of Fiddler on the Roof with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein. It is based on the stories of Jewish writer Sholem Alrichem.

Fiddler On the Roof follows the story of a poor Jewish dairyman named Tevye as he tries to maintain his religious and cultural traditions as outside influences begin to impact his family. It is set during the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905.

See How They Run

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1980 performance of See How They Run by Philip King.

See How They Run is set in a vicarage of a fictitious English Village in 1943. It focuses on the wife of the vicar, who is going out to see a play with a friend from the army who dresses in one of her husband’s suits. Nothing goes as planned as additional characters come in and wear the vicar’s suits and no one can tell who the real vicar is.

The Children's Hour

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1980 performance of The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman.

The Children’s Hour is the story of a manipulative young girl named Mary and how she uses lies and gossip to control and destroy the lives of the two women who run her boarding school.

Hamlet

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1980 performance of Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Hamlet is the story of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark who sets out to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle, and the tragedy that follows.

Free To Be You And Me

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1979 performance of Free to Be… You and Me by Marlo Thomas and Friends.

Free to Be…You and Me is a collection of stories, songs and poems, designed to teach children interdependence, mutual respect, and personal dignity.

Presented by the Advanced Oral Interpretation Class.

The Odd Couple

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1979 performance of The Odd Couple by Neil Simon.

The Odd Couple tells the story of friends Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison and the conflicts caused by their mismatched lifestyles when Felix moves in after being kicked out of his home by his wife.

The School For Scandal

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1979 performance of The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The School for Scandal tells the story of a conniving gossiper Lady Sneerwell, and her plot with other unscrupulous persons to separate couples and redirect love interests through slander and gossip.

Our Town

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1979 performance of Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

Our Town tells the story of a small, fictional American town called Grover’s Corners through the everyday lives of its citizens. The play is set as a play performing in Grover’s Corners and uses metatheatrical elements.

The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1978 performance of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge.

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is the story of Cora Flood, the wife of a traveling salesman. Learning that her husband might have an affair with another woman, she plans to leave the marriage. When her husband returns, having lost his job, Cora must decide how to respond.

Quest And Query

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1978 performance of Quest and Query adapted by Oliver Hubbard.

A Doll's House

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1978 performance of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen.

A Doll’s House is the story of a woman named Nora Helmer who tries to cover up an act of fraud she performed to save her husband’s life. The conflict shakes her home life and marriage, exposing their perceptions of each other and how each believes marriage is to be.

Galileo

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1978 performance of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht.

Galileo is a fictional retelling of the trial of Galileo when he was tried by the Roman Catholic Church for the promulgation of his scientific discoveries.

The American Experience

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1977 Advanced Oral Interpretation Class’s performance of The American Experience adapted by Oliver Hubbard.

Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1977 performance of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, with songs assembled and translated by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman.

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a musical revue of the life and music of Jacques Brel.

Doctor Faustus

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1977 performance of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

Doctor Faustus tells the story of Doctor Faustus, a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge, magic, and pleasures.

Performed by the Taylor Religious Drama Company.

Brigadoon

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1977 performance of Brigadoon with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.

Brigadoon is a musical about two American tourists who stumble upon a Scottish Town that only appears every one hundred years. One of the tourists falls in love and must decide whether to stay in the enchanted village or remain in the real world.

The Mousetrap

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1976 performance of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie.

Mysterious twists and thrilling turns abound when a group of strangers stranded in a guest house during a snowstorm discover that a murderer is in their midst. Whodunnit? Is it one of the suspicious newlyweds or the spinster with the curious background? Perhaps it’s the architect, the retired Army major or the strange man running from his past. Enjoy an evening of exhilarating intrigue as Agatha Christie’s greatest mystery unfolds to its surprising conclusion.

No Exit

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1976 performance of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartés. In French the term is the equivalent of the legal term “in camera”, which refers to a private discussion behind closed doors.

No Exit is the story of three strangers set in a nicely furnished room in Hell, where they are set to torment each other through their perceptions of their fellow prisoners.