Home Contact Information Photo Galleries   • 2000-2009   • 1990-1999   • 1980-1989   • 1970-1979   • 1960-1969   • 1959   • 1958   • 1957   • 1956   • 1955   • 1954   • 1953   • 1952   • 1951   • 1950   • 1949   • 1948   1955 The Eighth Year: April 14, 15, and 16, 1955 Producer: Ken Weiser Director: Joe Sauers Writer: Larry Clemmons and Ålden Waite Program and Poster Art: Al Taliaferro Choreographer: Beth Allen By Jill Benone: No script, but there is a prop sheet and photographs, a gift of Ken Weiser’s family. Set on a showboat, this was an old-fashioned Minstrel Show, complete with Mr. Bones and Mr. Interlocutor (Joe Sauers and Larry Clemmons in black face) in a semi-circle of Singers with tambourines. Politically incorrect today, minstrel shows are vanished Americana. One of the scenes was the second time out for a trolley car down Canada Boulevard, with the passengers commenting about the passing parade – "That’s not a muddy river. That’s Opechee Way!" Before the debris basin, Opechee flooded every year. So did the intersection of Chevy Chase and Verdugo, but the trolley car didn’t go down that far – "We don’t go to the slum district – you know, south of Mountain". Come to think of it, there were a lot of politically incorrect things said before anyone worried about being politically incorrect. The trolley car design became a bus in 1977. There were a total of thirty-two scenes in the show, of which Scene 20 was the Can-Can. They finished with "Pretty Girl". Over a hundred men are listed as "Those Responsible". The program ended with a plea to "please consider the actors’ feelings – walk, do not run, to the nearest exit." Reported by Mrs. Jane Smith, Historian Under the capable leadership of Ken Weiser, Joe Sauers, and Larry Clemmons, the Follies of the Fathers continue to be legend in the Woodlands. Our families look forward to these annual antics. (The) three-night run netted $1,046.31 for the PTA. Of this, $546.31 was deposited in trust to the Verdugo Woodlands Dads’ Club to be applied toward the Youth Recreational Building, THE UNIDENTIFIED SKIT One of the earliest shows staged "The Shooting of Dan McGrew", a dramatization of the Robert Service poem. There are 8 1/2" x 11" b/w photographs of this skit, and a 4" x 5" typed copy of a cast list. The actors are identified are Bob Stoever as the Miner from the Creek (the Shooter), Frank Bartholomew as Dan McGrew, R.R. Blackburn as a Dance Hall Girl, and Bob Speed as "The Lady Known as Lou". Ken Weiser, wearing a visor, is dealing cards. On a 4x5 card, Kenny Campbell, listed as "The Kid that Tickled the Piano", could possibly have been an orchestra member. Other names in the cast are Bill Rude, Pat Harrison, Harry Geyer, John Neville, Gus Lavison, Lovell Padgett, and George Sperry, playing Gamblers, Dance Hall Girls, and Drunks. The year is unidentified. The names do not appear in any other programs, except Bob Stoever who is listed in 1950 and 1951. It is entirely possible that the programs were not completely accurate as to participants. The skit is obviously on the Glendale College stage. As there was no program for 1956, the skit could have been part of that show. Or any other show, for that matter. It’s a good idea, and one which could be repeated.