Pictures of Stars from Summer Stock (and Broadway)

Hello again from Milwaukee!

Another summer is over, but you are still able to enjoy the memories of summer stock theatre by visiting my website and checking out a new gallery of rare photographs from Melody Top Theatre.

All of the images were taken from the scrapbooks kept by a local performer, the late Clyde Miller. Clyde worked on almost every stage in Milwaukee, and his wife Sally took amazing photographs of him with stars who visited the city to play on Melody Top's arena stage from 1967 to 1979. Below is a list of the legendary troupers, and many of them are pictured in their original stage costumes and make-up:

THE WOMEN: Ann Blyth, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Anne Jeffreys, Chita Rivera, Eileen Brennan, Gretchen Wyler, Jane Powell, Jaye P. Morgan, Karen Morrow, Kaye Stevens, Lois Hunt, Margaret Whiting, Marisa Pavan, Rita Moreno and Selma Diamond.

THE MEN: Arte Johnson, Bill Hayes, Dave Madden, Earl Wrightson, Edwin Steffe, Gabriel Dell, George Charikis, Hal March, Jack Bailey, Jean Pierre Aumont, John Raitt, Leonard Nimoy, Michael Callan, Peter Palmer, Robert Q. Lewis, Ross Martin, Stubby Kaye and Van Johnson.

Please enjoy the pictures, and I am looking forward to your positive feedback. The comments left on this site have helped me generate a lot of interest in, and brand-new content for, "Memories of Melody Top." I want to personally thank everyone who visited my website since its launch last November!
Memories of Melody Top Page, Seeing Stars

Thanks! I have many more photographs to post on the site, including color shots taken during performances of LI'L ABNER and 1776 at Melody Top.

Capn-
It's not as weird as Leonard Nimoy as Henry Higgins.

Or, in another circuit, having Vincent Price or Rip Taylor play Fagan. Or the Cowboy from The Village People in Meet Me in St. Louis opposite Cathy Rigby.

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Right! Nimoy's an actor, not a Vulcan. I thought he was excellent as Fagin and as Higgins. He's one of the many actors who did such terrific jobs creating iconic roles that people had difficulty accepting them as other characters, but Nimoy had the goods and delivered in these summer stock performances.

Although she has not yet responded to the story about her on my website, I do know that Betty White was told about it. I hope it made her smile! Her career in the entertainment world is proof that good work, combined with kindness to others, will be remembered for a long time. I was in a Borders book store on Friday, and I saw a 2011 calendar featuring pictures from her amazing career. Betty White will be the major pin-up girl for 2011!

^ Probably b/c the stars want more money than the theatres can pay them.

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Site looking better and better!

Hal March! I had to look at some of the photos again to find him, and noticed two oddities that hadn't stuck me before. Ann Blyth, who is not in costume for a show in one of the photos of her, is wearing some kind of heavy looking fur coat or jacket in the middle of summer, and Jaye P. Morgan looks like she just ate something that spoiled. Wonder what had her bent out of shape! Most of the stars are caught in their standard "pose for the fan" look, but I especially like the shots that seem more relaxed and candid, like Van Johnson and Selma Diamond.

I think one problem with finding leading actors for these shows might be that the kind of Broadway actors sondheimboy2 describes are not well known to potential summer stock or regional audiences. The actors might be willing to do the work, but might not get hired for that reason. The summer theatres were star driven back then. It's a pity, because I'm sure many current theatre people would be great in this type of venue. Many Melody Top stars who were most popular at the box office were people known from movies (Van Johnson, Jane Powell, Ann Blyth) and television (Jo Anne Worley, Mimi Hines). People like John Raitt were known to theatre fans, but also did quite a bit of television on music and variety shows. I'm not sure how many from those backgrounds have the skills and willingness to do regional or summer stock now.