I grew up in a very small “one horse town” in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Zero culture aside from the Christmas pageant at the church. Didn’t even have a movie theater. But once every summer my parents took me to Stockton — the nearest big city — and Delta College which at the time produced a summer musical. It was mostly local talent, but they’d get one or two C level Broadway stars for the leads.
The first show I saw was MAN OF LA MANCHA. I can still feel the red plush seats in the Atherton Theater, but what I most remember was the curtain rising on the prison. These enormous stone steps and background all in matching grayish color. It was nothing short of magical to me, to be sitting in a modern theater yet looking at a prison in Spain several centuries old. It not only ignited my passion for live theater, but set design in particular.
I also easily recall during “I’m Only Thinking of Him,” as the actors debated, the stage was lit as a chess board, with the actors variously moving to different squares. Yes, a simple effect, but to member it over four decades later it made quite an impression on my young mind.
I don’t remember the rape scene, and honestly would have been too naive to grasp it anyway, but given these were intended to be family friendly productions I’m sure it was staged modestly.
