Theatre History Commons^™

1961-1962 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

An Evening With Benet

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1960 performance of An Evening with Benet, arranged by Gladys Greathouse.

An Evening with Benet is a reader’s theater featuring the writings of Stephen Vincent Benet, including, Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller, A Child is Born, and The Devil and Daniel Webster.

The Matchmaker

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1960 performance of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder.

Before the world fell in love with Hello, Dolly!, Thornton Wilder’s uproarious play The Matchmaker introduced Ms. Dolly Gallagher Levi: a cunning, crafty, and thoroughly modern woman who knows a good catch when she sees one. When the wealthy Horace Vandergelder hires matchmaker Ms. Levi to find him a wife, Dolly doesn't need to look far to find his perfect mate. While Dolly is “arranging things” for Mr. Vandergelder, the young, hopeless romantics of Yonkers reap the rewards of Dolly’s generosity.

The York Nativity Plays

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1960 performance of The York Nativity Plays edited by J. S. Purvis.

The York Nativity Plays are selections taken from the larger, English mystery play cycle the York Mystery Plays. The original was comprised of 48 simple pageants telling the story of the Old and New Testaments from Creation to the Last Judgement. Each was performed by a different craft guild.

This performance featured eight of the 48 pageants, covering the events of the Nativity from the angel bringing the news to Mary to Herod’s slaughter of the children.

The Trojan Women

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1960 performance of The Trojan Women by Euripides.

The Trojan Women tells the story of the fates of four women after the fall of the city of Troy.

1960-1961 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

You Can't Take It With You

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1959 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.

Ah, Wilderness!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

Ah, Wilderness! is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theater on October 2, 1933. It varies from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a happy family in turn of the century America. It is O'Neill's only well-known comedy. Ah, Wilderness!. (2017, April 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:10, May 23, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ah,_Wilderness!&oldid=777914403

1959-1960 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

One Acts, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

"The purpose of the Annual Freshman One-Acts is fourfold: first, these plays offer advanced members of Cap and Dagger an opportunity to gain valuable directing experience; secondly, the plays offer valuable acting experience and training to those Freshmen who are interested in dramatics; thirdly tonight's plays are the Cap and Dagger Dramatic Club annual Christmas gift to the students and faculty of Otterbein College, and the the village of Westerville; and lastly, to provide a greater variety of dramatic entertainment for our audience".

A Christmas Carol

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1958 performance of A Christmas Carol, based on the story by Charles Dickens.

A Christmas Carol tells the story of elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Through the encounters Scrooge is transformed into a kinder man.

Anastasia

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1958 performance of Anastasia by Marcelle Maurette.

Anastasia is based on the legend of the sole-surviving daughter of Russia’s last Czar. In 1926 Berlin, young Anya, suicidal and suffering amnesia, is chosen to impersonate Anastasia in a scam to collect ten million pounds promised to the missing heiress.

Oklahoma!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The musical is set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box-office smash and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances. Oklahoma!. (2017, April 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:06, May 23, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oklahoma!&oldid=776919771

The Rainmaker, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

At the time of a paralyzing drought in the West we discover a girl whose father and two brothers are worried as much about her potential future as an old maid as they are about their dying cattle. For the truth is, she is indeed a plain girl. The brothers try every possible scheme to marry her off, without success. Nor is there any sign of relief from the dry heat, when suddenly, from out of nowhere, appears a picaresque, sweet-talking man with quite the sales pitch. Claiming to be a “rainmaker,” the man promises to bring rain, for $100. …

The Late Christopher Bean

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1958 performance of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard.

The Late Christopher Bean is the story of a not well-off family who discovered they have inherited the paintings from an artists whose work has become very valuable, and how their greed impacts their home.

Barretts Of Wimpole Street, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The scene is Elizabeth Barrett's room. Here she lives with her father, sisters and brothers. Never too healthy, she has been kept prisoner by her domineering father, who rules his family with unbelievable severity. Her brothers and sisters are reconciled to their father's tyranny, but Elizabeth has in her a spark of rebellion. This is set off by the romantic young Robert Browning, who has known her through her poetry. He bursts upon the Barrett household and in the first scene with Elizabeth proclaims his deep love for her. When Elizabeth realizes that she is attracted to the young poet, …

1958-1959 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

The Robe

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1957 performance of The Robe adapted by John McGreevey from Lloyd C. Douglas’s work of the same name.

The Robe tells the story of Marcellus, a young Roman officer who wins the robe of Jesus when he is crucified, and how Marcellus’s life is changed after that encounter.

Angel Street, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

A Broadway hit first produced on the West End under the title Gaslight and filmed twice,Angel Streettells the story of the Manninghams, who live on Angel Street in 19th century London. As the curtain rises, all appears to be the essence of Victorian tranquility. It is soon apparent, however, that Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife, Bella, to the brink of insanity with an insinuating kindness that masks more sinister motives. While he is out, Mrs. Manningham has an unexpected caller: amiable, paternal Inspector Rough from Scotland Yard. Rough is convinced …

The School For Scandal

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1957 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.

Born Yesterday, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The vulgar, egotistic junkman Harry Brock has come to a swanky hotel in Washington to make crooked deals with government big-wigs. He has brought with him the charming but dumb ex-chorus girl Billie, whose lack of social graces embarrasses even Harry. Billie must be taught some of the amenities, and a few basic bits of information. The young, idealistic magazine reporter Paul Verrall, who has been investigating political skullduggery and is interested in Brock's activities, agrees for a salary, to educate Billie. He finds Billie has a natural honesty and a frank streak in her, and she begins to learn …

Brigadoon, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

When New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas get lost on a vacation in the Scottish Highlands, they stumble into Brigadoon. Brigadoon is a mythical village that, they learn, appears for a single day once every hundred years. At first, Tommy and Jeff are mystified by the villagers’ 18th century garb as they go to market, but they are soon charmed by romantic liaisons: Tommy, who is engaged back in New York, falls terribly in love with headstrong Fiona, while Jeff enjoys a harmless flirtation with Meg Brockie. It is only when Harry Beaton, the rejected suitor of Fiona’s sister, …

As You Like It, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

We celebrate the best of Shakespeare with laughter...music...dances...romance...comedy at all levels. The story of how the banished Duke, Rosalind, Orlando and others find happiness through love is one of the most delightful of all Shakespearean tales. The wit of the clown, Touchstone, the philosophy of "All the world's a stage...", the music of "It was a lover and his lass...", the earthy needs of the country people, the romantic honesty of young lovers in tune with nature...all can be found in As You Like It.

The Importance Of Being Earnest, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The Importance of Being Earnest, written in 1895, was originally a three-act drama. It has recently been condensed into the one-act version. Mr. Wilde, using subtle humor to near perfection, wrote the play as a satire on the English aristocracy. Today it is recognized as an outstanding melodrama of the modern theatre.

Time Out For Ginger, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

According to the Herald-Tribune: "[The story] starts us out with a fairly staid banker who needs some sort of creative release and finds it in lecturing to local high-school classes on the need for self-fulfillment…It quickly develops however, that one of [the banker's] daughters—the youngest of three—has been very much impressed by her father's exhortations. She has further decided that her own true fulfillment can best be realized by going out for the football team." Any number of complications result: The father's job is jeopardized because the bank president doesn't approve; the girl's elder sisters insist that their social life …

Androcles And The Lion

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s 1956 performance of Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw.

Androcles and the Lion is the story of a Christian in early Rome named Androcles, who helps a Lion that later comes to his aid when Androcles is captured and brought to the Colosseum for torture and death.

The Crucible, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie—and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. The farmer, instead of saving his wife, finds himself also accused of witchcraft and ultimately condemned with a host of others.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/61514/the-crucible-intl

1955-1956 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

The Lady's Not For Burning, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Thomas Mendip, a discharged soldier, weary of the world and eager to leave it, comes to a small town, announces he has committed murder and demands to be hanged. A philosophical humorist, Thomas is annoyed when the officials oppose his request, even believing he is not guilty of the crime he suggests. Shortly afterward, a young woman, Jennet, is brought before the Mayor for witchcraft, but for some strange reason she has no wish to be put to death! Thomas tries, in his own way, to prove to the official how absurd it would be to refuse to hang a …

The Biggest Thief In Town, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

In a small town, the undertaker and the doctor plan to steal the body of the town's wealthiest citizen. That gentleman, a crook, has just passed out of the picture and the undertaker, who has led a quiet and honest life to date, sees no reason why he should not get a well paying job. So the undertaker and doctor enter the home of the deceased and proceed to take his body back to the shop. The undertaker and his friend picture a rosy future until the corpse comes to life and regains consciousness. The old gentleman is left on …