Foxlee Maryann - Fifty Years of Meadow Brook Theatre

IMAGES
of America

FIFTY YEARS OF
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE

Meadow Brook Theatre has been happy to perform the popular Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol for the past 33 years. It started in 1982 and has become an annual event for many local families. The Charles Nolte adaptation used today is preferred by audiences. The elaborate, two-story set has a center section that rotates from the outside street scene to the interior of Scrooges home and business. It is the only set reused year after year. (Courtesy of Meadow Brook Theatre.)

On the Front Cover: Clockwise from top left:
Meadow Brook Theatre sign, Wilson Hall; Ruth Crawford and Julia Glander in the 2011 drama Mary Stuart; Kara Dombrowski and Teddy Toye in Lysistrata Jones; Will Lee-Williams, Tyrick Wiltez Jones, and Alexander Elisa in From My Hometown (see ). (All courtesy of Meadow Brook Theatre.)

On the Back Cover: From left to right:
The 2011 renovation of the theatres interior (see ). (All courtesy of Meadow Brook Theatre.)

IMAGES
of America

FIFTY YEARS OF
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE

Thom F. and Maryann Foxlee

Copyright 2015 by Thom F. and Maryann Foxlee
ISBN 978-1-4671-1420-2
Ebook ISBN 9781439652312

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014959315

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To the thousands of staff, actors, and guild and audience members who have been, and are part of, the Meadow Brook Theatre family.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Maryann and I were students at Oakland University when Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) began. We never knew the story behind its formation. Research for this book has provided some insight, and we are happy to share that with you. We have to thank many people for their help, starting with the Oakland University Library Archives and, particularly, Shirley Paquette, for guiding us through the process of learning about the early history of the theatre. We could not have told the story without the great photographs from the archives. Former OU chancellor and board member Donald ODowd provided his perspective and history of the events behind, leading up to, and launching MBT. Dr. Richard and Edie Haskell shared with us the history and beginning of the Saturday Niters, a group that has been hosting a dinner party for the cast and crew of each show since the 1970s. Actor Marianne Muellerleile shared stories and cast photographs from her time on the MBT stage. Associate director Terry W. Carpenter and master electrician Reid G. Johnson are still telling us stories from their long and complex memories of MBT, some of which we were able to include. MBT board member Holly Powell helped comb through the archives and gather photographs. She also worked with Arcadia and MBTs marketing and communications coordinator Paige Vanzo to ensure all the photographs were organized and submitted on time. Vanzo and Amanda Rae Evans made sure all our photographs were properly scanned and met Arcadias requirements. Vanzo also found some hard-to-locate photographs that were required in order to tell our story. MBTs artistic director, Travis W. Walter, provided both photograph recommendations and insights regarding the recent history of MBT and . Without the continued input and support of managing director Cheryl Marshall, this book could not have been written.

Unless otherwise noted, all images appear courtesy of the Oakland University Library (OUL) and Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT).

INTRODUCTION

Meadow Brook Theatre, founded in June 1966 by the Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees, has a long history of producing quality theatre. It officially began on January 3, 1967, with the first performance of The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht. Things really got going when Chancellor Durward B. Varner decided that, for Oakland University (OU) to become recognized as a center for fine arts, it needed to have a professional theatre company on campus. Provost Donald ODowd was given the responsibility to convince John Fernald, an internationally acclaimed director and head of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, to establish a resident professional theatre company at Oakland University. A theatre was not in the original plans for Wilson Hall. Wilbur W. Bud Kent, an associate professor of music, drew up plans to modify a planned lecture hall to accommodate the needs of a theatre.

The Academy of Dramatic Arts (ADA), led by Fernald, was established in the fall of 1967. The ADA was not part of the university and did not offer academic credit. The intent was to have experienced actors teach aspiring actors how to become professionals. Instructors were the actors and technical staff from the Fernald Company, who were veterans of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. ADA was organized as the Studio Company with a separate season. Initially, it performed on the MBT stage in-between Fernald Company productions. In 1970, it moved to Varner Hall, and it lasted until 1977.

Fernald mostly selected plays that were well known and had seen success in Europe or New York. He spared no expense for his productions; by the spring of 1970, the theatre was in debt. A budget disagreement led to a management change. Fortunately, Terence Terry Kilburn, a teacher at the ADA, had already acted and directed at MBT. He was named acting artistic director in July 1970 and was later named artistic director. The theatre flourished under his leadership. One of his special talents was the ability to create a season of plays and musicals that appealed to MBT audiences. He was also proficient at keeping costs in line, partially by careful planning and not picking plays with extremely large casts, and also by doing things himself. For example, he designed the costumes for many shows. An important commitment was to continue to deliver the high-quality productions MBT audiences grew to expect during the Fernald years. His recruitment of Charles Nolte was a key part of the success during his tenure. Nolte, a professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, enjoyed teaching as well as acting, writing, and directing. For 30 years, he directed some of MBTs most distinguished productions, among them The Andersonville Trial, Inherit the Wind, and Death of a Salesman. He directed the premieres of his own plays A Summer Remembered and The Last Days of Mr. Lincoln at MBT.

For the first several decades of its existence, Meadow Brook Theatre produced high-quality, professional shows that featured classic playwrights such as Shakespeare and Molier, along with more popular musicals appealing to both educated playgoers looking for an intellectual experience and those simply looking for good entertainment. During this period, the subscriber rate was very high, to the point where it was difficult to get tickets if one was not a subscriber, and the best seats were held by people who had season tickets for many years. Managing directors over the years included David Robert Kanter, Frank Bollinger, and Gregg Bloomfield, who oversaw theatre operations from 1993 to 2003.