The Golden Age of Summer Stock

June 7, 2006

Walk through the Grand Traverse Heritage Center and you can almost hear the echo of voices from the stages of 40 or 50 years ago. They reverberate in a new exhibition, “Summer Stock Theater and the Cherry County Playhouse,” which details the heyday of a lost theater experience in Traverse City that had its run from 1955 to 1990.
Say, was that the voice of Zasu Pitts coming from a corner behind those folding chairs which were once placed in neat rows in a big top tent by the bay? Or was it film siren Veronica Lake, who found new luster here for her fading career? Was that Leonard Nimoy we saw out of the corner of our eye? Or could it have been his buddy William Shatner?
Those actors performed at the Cherry County Playhouse at venues including its tent and later, the Park Place Dome. Among the scores of famous actors who made the trip for shows in Northern Michigan were John Carradine, Joe E. Brown, Burt Reynolds, Imogene Coca, Maureen O’Sullivan, Orson Bean, Bob Crane, Dennis Weaver, Abe Vigoda, Pat Paulsen, Dorothy Lamour, Viviane Vance, Maury Amsterdam, Bob Denver, Don Knotts, Buddy Ebsen, John Forsythe, Jo Ann Worley, the Smothers Brothers, Forrest Tucker, Arte Johnson, Soupy Sales, Donald O’Connor, Karen Valentine, Ted Knight, Vicki Lawrence, Eva Gabor, Dick Van Patten, Phyllis Diller, Martin Milner, Jim Nabors, Robert Goulet, Rita Moreno, Ruth Buzzi, and of course, the late, great comedian Pat Paulsen, who was part owner in the Playhouse from 1975 on.
Most of those names are about as familiar to audiences today as ‘60s TV shows such as “Gilligan’s Island” (Bob Denver), “F Troop” (Forrest Tucker), or “Andy of Mayberry” (Don Knotts). But back in the day, these stars packed the dynamite of celebrity when they performed in a small town far from Hollywood or Broadway. Thousands came to Traverse City to see the shows, and the summer stock season played a big part in making the town a destination for tourism.
The exhibit tells the history of summer stock theatre in America with a focus on the Cherry County Playhouse which was established in 1955 by radio soap opera star Ruth Bailey.  During its nearly 40-year run the Playhouse was one of the most important summer stock theaters in the U.S.
At the exhibition, you’ll find interpretive panels, an interactive stage, a gallery of stars, artifacts from the Playhouse and related summer stages, and a computer station to research film clips, photos, oral histories and news coverage from the distant past. 
  The Grand Traverse Heritage Center is located at 322 Sixth Street off Union Street near downtown TC.  Admission is $3 for adults and $1.50 for students.  Children under 12 are free.

Related events:
 
June 15: – Lecture and performance on “American Music Theatre,” presented by Paul Truckey, Associate Professor of Theatre, Northern Michigan University. 7:30 p.m., admission is free.

July 22, 23, 29 & 30 - Riverside Shakespeare presents “The Winter’s Tale,” in an outdoor setting. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and a picnic. 6 p.m. at Hannah Park (next to Heritage Center).  

August 6 – TC Children’s Theatre performance of “Pied Piper of Hamelin” at 2 p.m. in
Hannah Park. 

August 10 – Lecture on “American Summer Stock Theatre” by Dr. Martha LoMonaco, Head of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, Fairfield University, Connecticut. 7:30 p.m.   Admission is free.

August 17 – Cherry County Playhouse Reunion and round-table discussion,
7:30 p.m. Admission is free.