Drama

Continued from Page 4

We had steamed clams and oyster stew. Large Trenton crackers foated in the milky broth! Rice pudding for dessert.

Lunch over, we tipped the waiter a dollar and ffty cents. (I remember that we pooled our money again.) Big spenders from the country, but now back to the theatre, as the 2 PM deadline loomed.

Too little time to hike back, so when in Rome, we hailed a big yellow Checker Cab, just like in the movies! These high school, would-be thespians, piled into the monstrous back seat.

“Ah, were you kids from?” the cab driver asked, as he set the meter. We said Pennsylvania, came to town with our drama club to see a broadway play, just had lunch. Get us to the theatre by 2!!! Thankfully, he didn’t go by way of Hoboken, NJ, but dashed directly to the theatre. As the cabby hauled up curbside at the Lunt-Fontanne, we breathed a collective sigh… Our entourage was gathered along West 46th Street in front of the theatre.

In appreciation, pooling our cash, we tipped the driver “big time” with fve smackers, as our groups gathered along West 46th Street in front of the theatre.

Following the chaperones, the drama club entered and found our reserved seats. I had never seen the like before!

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre… a classic Broadway palace. Plush seats, grand staircases, balconies and live musicians delivering the play’s overture in the orchestra pit.

The house lights dimmed and the spectacle of a Broadway play unfolded as the curtains parted.

This play was “Skyscraper” with Peter Marshall, Julie Harris and Charles Nelson Reilly. So much was going on across the stage, two-story apartment building sets, spectacular costumes, brilliant voices.

If you were to research this play today, it wasn’t a smash hit. Wasn’t even a hit, but collectively it was quite an experience I’ll never forget.

Would you let your kids or grandkids basically go alone in NYC today? No need to answer. But we did then, with caring, respected teachers as our guides and I thank the Lord for the experience!

Defnitely times change.

Cultural opportunities come to us in handheld devices now. But let me say, the friendships forged and the memories imprinted during those experiences in the high school drama club, hold a fond place in my heart.

Whenever I have the pleasure to sit on the audience side of the curtain today, I know my stagecraft is in the misty past. But my mind drifts back to those carefree days and the anticipation of opening night surges as the house lights dim.

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