Summer Stock - 1939

As the lazy summer of 1939 lingered, we would have no way of knowing that the peace, and the familiar world of the present, would be shattered on September 1st when Hitler’s march into Poland started World War II. The beginning of that promising summer in June marked the last summer stock season free of any impending threat of being interrupted due to the war. The only threat to summer theater in New England in those days, as now, were financial.

But Newsweek magazine reported on June 26th that “summer show producers are looking forward to a prosperous season” and in those innocent days, along with the Broadway hits and the Broadway stars, “the usual hatch of untried plays that come to life under a rural moon before braving the harsher lights of Times Square.”

Most summer theaters, then and now, are in rural locations, and that perhaps in itself presents them as old fashioned, from another time, from another more innocent world. In 1939 summer stock had gone from crawling to walking, and was in fine form before the war disrupted many seasons for many summer theaters.

That season Libby Holman and Clifton Webb took “Burlesque” on one-week stands to the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine, then to the Cohasset Theater in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and then down to the Cape Playhouse in Dennis.

Glenda Farrell returned to the stage after five years in Hollywood to appear in “Anna Christie” at the Westport Playhouse in Connecticut. After Westport, Glenda Farrell was hopping down to the Theater-By-The-Sea in Mantunuck, Rhode Island to appear in “Dateline, Geneva,” a new play by Alan Rivkin and Leonard Spiegelglass.

Mitzi Green was to appear in several plays over at the Ivoryton, Connecticut Playhouse. Walter Hampden and Kitty Carlisle appeared at the Cape Playhouse in July with “A Successful Calamity”, a play in this previous post on Walter Hampden’s appearance in Ridgefield, Connecticut in August of 1938.

Over on the other end of the state, Thornton Wilder appeared as the Stage Manager in his play “Our Town” at the Berkshire Playhouse.

Skowhegan, Maine’s Lakewood Theater would present “Indian Summer” with Jessie Royce Landis. Diana Barrymore, the 18-year-old daughter of John Barrymore, would make her stage debut in Ogunquit. Rudy Vallee would appear over at Deertrees Theater in Harrison, Maine.

Newsweek noted that Vermont and New Hampshire summer stock was thriving on “the stages of almost a dozen active cowbarn playhouses.” It might sound dismissive, but it’s really kind of a triumph.

Review - Broadway by the Year - Berkshire Theatre Festival

There is something rustically elegant and exquisitely symbolic about the wooden screen doors that gently swing open to the Berkshire Playhouse. They are an effortless gesture to the heritage and style of New England summer theatre. It is as if the building itself, designed by Stanford White in 1888 and now on the National Register of Historic Places, is both conscious and yet demure about its prestigious history.


Inside, a more pointed display is on hand with a number of headshots from stars of the past several decades, and period posters to which the patrons are riveted when they are not out catching the summer breeze on the porch, or having a drink on lawn.

The Berkshire Theatre Festival began in 1928, and celebrates its 81st season. Currently “Broadway By the Year” is playing here, and like the old wooden playhouse, makes the past real and relevant.

Musical review series created for New York’s The Town Hall by Scott Siegel, focused this time on the year 1930 and 1964. Mr. Siegel wrote the narrative which accompanies the songs, and hosted. His remarks were insightful, humorous, and along with his depth and knowledge of Broadway history, showed a warm admiration for the hits and stars of the past that the audience clearly shared and appreciated.

The singers were Scott Coulter, who also directed; as well as Christiane Noll, and Kerry O’Malley. Piano accompaniment was provided by Ross Patterson, musical director.

The 1930 segment featured songs from “Girl Crazy,” “The New Yorkers”, “Three’s a Crowd”, “Simple Simon”, “Nina Rosa”, “The 9:15 Review”, and “Strike Up the Band.”

The 1964 portion featured songs from “Fiddler on the Roof”, “High Spirits”, “Anyone Can Whistle,”, “Funny Girl”, and “Hello Dolly!”

Mr. Coulter’s mellow tenor was accompanied to great effect by Ms. O’Malley’s powerful, rich voice with its great range, and Ms. Noll’s beautiful high soprano. At a few turns in the show, most notably during “Sunrise, Sunset” from “Fiddler”, and “I Got Rhythm” the trio exhibited terrific close harmony.

First act costumes were formal and evocative of the era of 1930, and the second act boldly announced 1964 in the mod and colorful style, right down to Mr. Siegel’s multicolored tied and cummerbund, as if we’d all just gotten color TV.

Highlights included Ms. O’Malley’s second act opening shot-out-of-a-cannon rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade”, Ms. Noll’s tear-filled eyes at the end of “But Not For Me”, Ms. O’Malley’s lusty and fun “Home Sweat Heaven” sung on top of the piano, the soulful “Ribbons Down My Back” by Ms. Noll, and Mr. Coulter’s wistful “Anyone Can Whistle.”

The show continues through June 27th. It is a real treat, and well worth seeing. If you’ve seen it, let us know what you think.

Summer Stock and Hollywood Stars

As noted in an earlier post on my Another Old Movie Blog (see here), film stars from Hollywood’s heyday found their start and made their mark in New England summer theater. We’ll be covering more on summer theater, past and present, as the season gets underway.


Henry Fonda and James Stewart found acting work early in their careers in summer stock on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both worked with the University Players in Falmouth. Fonda also worked with the Cape Playhouse down the road in Dennis, where a young Bette Davis was an usher, soon to get her own chance to perform onstage under Laura Hope Crews. Robert Montgomery, Constance Collier, Frances Farmer, and Lloyd Nolan all appeared here in their apprentice years. Other movie stars who performed here were Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, and Ginger Rogers.


Later on, Fonda, still scrounging for work on the New England summer theater circuit, would do odd jobs at the summer theater in Surrey, Maine, where he chauffeured and picked up guest actor Joseph Cotten’s trunk at the railroad depot.

Humphrey Bogart appeared a little further south in Maine at the Lakewood Theater in Skowhegan.

Jane Wyatt got her start with the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Mass., where Mary Wickes also played.


Summer stock and road shows were not only for the novice actors. Ethel Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Judith Anderson regularly trod the boards of rather humble New England playhouses, long after they had achieved their fame.

Sometimes called “the straw hat circuit”, summer stock reached its peak probably in the 1940s through the 1960s. Along with the above-mentioned playhouses, some others were the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass, the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Mass., the South Shore Music Circus in Cohassett, and the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis. If you’ve seen shows at any of these theaters, please drop by and share your memories.