Melody Top Theatre

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/22/08 at 1:38am

So, I got this really interesting book called "The Wizard of Oz Catalog" and it basically details all sorts of stage/film/tv adaptations of the Oz books.

Apparently in 1977, 10 years before the RSC did their adaptation, they did a production of Oz with the MGM script, and Stubby Kaye was the Lion. However, I can't find anything about this theatre company. Anyone know anything?

[Jon]

Posted: 6/22/08 at 10:58am

Melody Top was a star summer stock theatre in Milwaukee. Originally it was an actual tent, but later they built a wooden dome-like structure. They still had canvas side walls like a tent. This meant they didn't need to put in an air conditioning system!

The theatre exited from the 50's to the late 80's or early 90's. They did two-week runs of musicals with "stars" - usually former TV sitcom stars such as Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch or Don Grady from My Three Sons.

There was a second Melody Top in Hillside, Illinois (just outside Chicago) that closed in the early 1960's.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/22/08 at 11:45am

Thanks Jon. I'd love to see what else (and who else) appeared there.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/22/08 at 12:39pm

Well, Christine Ebersole, when she was just known to most of America as a gal who'd been on SNL for a season, played Evita.

In the late 1970's, Stubby Kaye reprised his Nicely-Nicely, with Mark Jacoby as Sky Masterson.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/22/08 at 1:43pm

Ebersole as Evita? What?

[melodytopper]

Posted: 6/27/08 at 6:08pm

Many, many "Stars" appeared at Melody Top.
Anne Blyth in South Pacific and The Sound of Music
Gretchen Wyler in Applause and Company
Leonard Nimoy in The King and I and Oliver
Rita Moreno in Guys and Dolls and Bells are Ringing
Stubby Kaye also in Good News with Dorothy Collins and Carl Betz.
Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake in No, No, Nanette

[markypoo]

Posted: 6/28/08 at 12:30pm

Some others I saw there:

Eddie Mekka and Kitty Carlisle in WHERE'S CHARLEY; Sue Ann Langdon and John Philip Law in CAN-CAN, Jack Gilford in STUDENT PRINCE, Andrea McArdle in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS & WIZARD OF OZ, Stephen Lehew in DESERT SONG, John Raitt in FANNY.

[melodytopper]

Posted: 7/1/08 at 2:51pm

The theatre started in '63 or '65. They did 7 musicals each summer, each running 2 weeks, 8 performances a week. Closed in '84 or '86.

Stars and featured performers were brought in for one week of rehearsal before opening. Chorus and resident company would perform at night and rehearse next show during the day.

Tommy Tune was a director for a season or two. Many Broadway, Film, and TV stars performed there. Like Chita Rivera, Dorothy Lamore, Joanne Worley, Orson Bean. Even Christopher Walken was in West Side Story in the 60's.

There was a "Wizard of Oz" I recall with Nancy Kulp(The Beverly Hillbillies) as the Wicked Witch.

[topoxendorf]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 11:55pm

My aunt worked at Melody Top for 2 summers in 1966-67; and my mom also worked 2 summers from 1968-69. They said it was great and they got to see stars like: John Raitt, Imogene Coca, and Anna Maria Alberghetti.

Whenever my mom sees one of the stars she recognizes from Melody Top on tv...she goes into the talk about "how she served lunch to John Raitt...yada yada yada" Not something I really understood till recently as a neat thing.

[anya2]

Posted: 1/13/09 at 10:51pm

Stubby Kaye was the lion at the Melody Top Theatre in Milwaukee.

[markypoo]

Posted: 1/14/09 at 3:59pm

That 1977 version of OZ was, along with FOLLIES the same season, one of the most opulent in the theatre's history.
One thing among several I'll never forget: at one point during the Munchkinland sequence, they wheeled a huge Easter egg on stage and a tiny "Munchkin baby" crawled out of it!

[melodytopper]

Posted: 1/14/09 at 5:45pm

I worked in the Box Office that summer.

[markypoo]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 4:46pm

melodytopper - I've also sent you a PM.
I had occasion several years ago to speak with someone else who worked there and was told that some of the smaller buildings are still standing (!) due to the property never having been redeveloped.
DO YOU KNOW what still exists?

[frappuccino68]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 9:36pm

Hi,

I lived in Milwaukee from late 1985 to mid 1986 and the Melody Top was definitely around then. I think it closed in 87 or 88.
I remember Christine Ebersole playing in Evita.
Updated On: 1/2/10 at 09:36 PM

[coryografer]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 11:11pm

Maybe this website that I found will help anyone who is curious about Melody Top.
http://www.dan-n-dave.ws/Dan/MelodyTop/1960s.html

[beaemma]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 7:09pm

Christine Ebersole also played Eliza Doolittle, with Leonard Nimoy as a very good Henry Higgens. John Raitt was there in many shows--everyting from 1776 to MAN OF LA MANCHA to SHENENDOAH. He recreated his roles in CAROUSEL and PAJAMA GAME (with Karen Morrow, I think). I had season seats for as long as the theatre existed, starting when I was in high school. It was a wonderful introduction to many classic shows and stellar performers.