Update 8-7-12

 

Hi,

 

A series of notes from a series of people, and some information which antedates even some of us.

 

First, a quick comment from Allen Moss:  Thanks for the corrections on my fading memories.  I'm glad some of us are still retaining brain cells.

 

[Rich-- the point here is not to embarrass Allen or anyone else.  It's to point out that our collective memories are stronger than our individual ones.]

 

On the subject of memory, a note from Steve Zuckerman:  With all the focus on South's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, does anyone remember who got the role of Puck in the big Hollywood studio production of the classic fantasy?  And who did tough guy James Cagney play?

    Also, the night that Barbra Streisand opened on Broadway in Funny Girl, she was invited for an interview on WNEW radio.  I was lucky to catch it while pounding away on my homework, and I'll never forget how nervous she was.  They twice had to ask her to speak up louder and get closer to the microphone.

 

[Rich -- I was able to answer Steve's question about the classic film version of Midsummer, but barely.  That's especially odd since I've never seen the movie.  But I knew Cagney played Bottom, and somehow I'd learned that Mickey Rooney played Puck.  When I wrote that, Steve wrote back.]

 

From Steve:  Very good.  You got it right.  Some other notables in the Warner Brothers stable of actors who were included in the production were Joe E. Brown and the short character actor who appeared with Errol  Flynn in Robin Hood.  Unfortunately, I can't remember his name.  He appeared in many Warner Brothers films throughout the thirties as a very good character actor, and I think he was British.  And, of course, Olivia de Havilland was in the movie.

    As a side note, Cagney briefly tried to make films with his own production company.  He had broken from Warner Brothers and put his own money up with his brother, I think.  He turned out one-or-two independent films, but they didn't do well in wide release, maybe because he was trying to do more dramatic work with depth.  He had his kid sister in one-or-two of them.  She was a so-so actress, and I think it was a William Saroyan play Cagney tried to bring to the screen for one of his films.  I only saw part of it on TCM.

    Cagney also went to Spain during the Spanish Civil War and volunteered to fight against Franco.  He ran into a lot of trouble with Hollywood and, of course, he was called before the House Unamerican Activies Committee, which he proudly refused to cooperate with.  Amazingly, he and Bogey were the only two major studio tough guy actors who went before that witch hunting panel.

 

[Rich -- the Max Reinhardt production of Midsummer has a long and interesting history, which I won't go into here.  But the version that was eventually made into a movie started at the Hollywood Bowl, and Olivia de Havilland reportedly auditioned for Puck.  I didn't know that.  I got it off an Internet search for the cast, which is as follows:

    The Athenian Court:

Ian Hunter as Theseus, Duke of Athens

Verree Teasdale as Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus

Hobart Cavanaugh as Philostrate, Master of Revels to Theseus

Dick Powell as Lysander, In love with Hermia

Ross Alexander as Demetrius, In love with Hermia

Olivia de Havilland as Hermia, In love with Lysander (as Olivia de Haviland)

Jean Muir as Helena, In love with Demetrius

Grant Mitchell as Egeus, Father to Hermia

    The Workers:

Frank McHugh as Quince, the Carpenter

Dewey Robinson as Snug, the Joiner

James Cagney as Bottom, the Weaver

Joe E. Brown as Flute, the Bellows-mender

Hugh Herbert as Snout, the Tinker

Otis Harlan as Starveling, the Tailor

Arthur Treacher as Epilogue

    The Fairies:

Victor Jory as Oberon, King of the Fairies

Anita Louise as Titania, Queen of the Fairies

Nini Theilade as Fairie, Attending Titania (as Nina Theilade)

Mickey Rooney as Puck or Robin Goodfellow, a Fairy

Katherine Frey as Pease-Blossom

Helen Westcott as Cobweb

Fred Sale as Moth

Billy Barty as Mustard-Seed]

 

Meanwhile, back at South's production, Paul Zegler writes:  I don't remember being in Midsummer in high school, but I was in a production in Chicago in 1975 that ran for about nine months at the famous-but-now-departed Ivanhoe Theatre . I played Flute.  That would be the Joe E. Brown role in the movie.  Flute gets to play the Pyramus-Thisbe scene in the play-within-the play, opposite Bottom.

 

And Barnet Kellman writes:  A few offerings:  Dave Pizzimenti definitely played Puck, and I thought Bob Fiveson played Bottom, but not if he says "no."  Neil Guberman played Thisbe.  I played Lysander.  Naomi Stein did play Hermia, with Judy Schulman as Helena.  And who played Demetrius?

    And My Three Angels was indeed fun.

 

[Rich -- I think Fred Cohen played Demetrius.  Remember, this was a junior-senior class production.  And maybe Paul Dickler played Theseus -- or someone who looked like him.  Again, I barely glanced at a photo in a yearbook.  And I think Terry Fox played one of the members of the court.  That's the only time I remember Terry on stage, but I think he turns up in the yearbook on the One-Act Play Contest committee.  And I've always thought he was the same Terry Fox who's had a long career writing for the Village Voice.]

 

On a somewhat different subject, a comment from Tiertza (Debbie) Schwartz on last week's note from Paula Ignatow-Cohen:  Wow, your post brought me back to summer at Camp Chenawah, the lake, archery, and dances with the boys from Camp Baco.  I didn't know the camp was still in session.  I do remember that your parents, Archie and Jean, and others would have a party the evening after they loaded us on the train to go upstate.

 

And from Robert Fiveson:  Since a camp counselor name was dropped last week, I'll see if I can start a trend and add to a story I've told here before. 

    The background:  my brother Mike and I used to go to a camp in Canada called Naivelt (New World).  It was run by a Jewish/Communist organization, and our Russian grandmother Feny was the cook there for several years. You can connect the dots on her connection.  The new part:  my counselor for one summer was Zal Yanovsky, later of The Lovin Spoonful.  Also of interest was that Pete Seeger and The Weavers used to come and do impromptu free concerts.

 

Finally, back to Allen Moss and something he sent to a couple of friends.  But it's a link too interesting to not pass on further.  This home movie was posted by a man named Richard Sullivan three  years ago.  His introduction:

    Sixty-seven years ago, my dad shot this film along Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, capturing spontaneous celebrations that broke out upon first hearing news of the Japanese surrender.  God bless Kodachrome, right?

    And a comment forwarded with the link:  Take a look at this great video.  Notice the cars and jeeps.  The guys in khaki or gray shirts and black ties are Navy officers or chiefs.  The rest are Army soldiers or Marines.  How young they all were to do what they did.  This guy really captured a moment in history.  And check out the color fidelity.

    The link:  vimeo . com / 5645171  (take out the spaces, of course)

 

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

 

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

 

 

Rich