When you think about our birth year—1929, you may picture a world without jobs and food, a stock market crash and a Great Depression looming on the horizon for the next decade. In short, it doesn’t strike one as a time to start anything, much less a theatre organization. However, it was also the year that the first Academy Awards were given, albeit under a different name.
Those who gathered to create Civic Amateur Theatre were Harold Gauss (the late Ann Arbor Fire Chief), Victor Lane, Dick Cutting, Professor Arthur Hackett, Herb Pfabe, Larry Hoffman and Lucille Harris. Mrs. Ben (Mary) Kessel also played a role in the group’s formation. She said in 1989, "At the time Ann Arbor Civic Theatre began, I was a bride of 17, newly-arrived in Ann Arbor from Cincinnati….Through the kind invitation of Mrs. Mary Henderson, the woman behind the successful drive to build the University of Michigan League, I became involved in the Ann Arbor theatre community. The Neil Gwenn Players and a couple of other groups in town were discontinuing….We formed a group that would bring this important art form to the citizens of Ann Arbor." Between 1929 and 1934, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre organized, gathering amateur performers and volunteers.
In the first five years, Civic didn’t have its own building, and the group met in the parlors of members’ homes for private readings of scripts. Members of the organization, who contributed funds rather than paying dues, constituted the audiences for those early performances. Members built sets in a very last-minute fashion and directed each other in the performances. It truly was in the spirit of the old Mickey Rooney films: "Hey, my uncle has a barn!"
According to Mary Kessel, "Also in the 1930’s, we were the first non-University group to use the new Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in the Michigan League whenever there was a scheduling conflict at the high school." For example, for the production of The Spider, there was a conflict at the High School, so U of M permitted the theatre troupe to use Mendelssohn. (The show would later be remounted in the 1950’s under the direction of Ted Heusel.) To be viewed as being in the ‘same League’ as professional theatre companies then performing in Mendelssohn was a great honor.
The first public performance, in 1935, was The Late Christopher Bean, a show that would later be reprised by Charlie Sutherland 50 years later. During the 1930’s, the group did two-three public shows a year and a large number of members-only one-acts. Ben Howard directed in 1938 and was chosen as Best Director. After that, he was selected by the group to direct all the plays—we don’t know when that ended.
On the organizational side, the Board met at the Michigan Union. In addition to the Board, in the 1930’s there was a production manager, business manager and director of group activities. One community highlight was a July 1939 production of The Red Lamp, first at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Howard Groomes in Whitmore Lake, then at the West Park Bandshell in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Civic Orchestra and Ann Arbor Recreation Board. Tickets at the time cost 75 cents for reserved and patron seats, 35 cents for the rest of the house, and 25 cents for high school students sitting in the rear of the balcony.
Starting in the 1940’s, Alger Crandall and David Sellards were the prime character actors. Mr Sellards also held many Civic events at his property on Huron River Drive, near Barton Hills. Larry Hoffman was the main set builder in the 40’s.
In 1940, the theatre presented a play requiring an organ. Wendell Hobbs helped an anonymous priest to "borrow" an organ one night from St. Thomas Catholic School. They lowered the organ from the third floor of the school, transported it to the theatre and returned it to the school without the sisters ever being any-the-wiser. Oh, and Hobbs also had to learn how to play it too!
In November 1940 the theatre took two one-act plays on the road to Platt, Michigan. According to reports, "The plays were seen by eight or ten adults and about forty disorderly children. Another show that was taken on the road was "You Can’t Take it With You", in May 1941. During rehearsals, the Majestic Theatre screened a special showing of the movie version to the cast to help them. Eventually, this show, which had a total budget of $38.57, was taken on the road to Ft. Custer.
Many Civic Amateur Theatre productions still used the old Ann Arbor High School, which had a convenient fire escape for entrances and smoking breaks. There were occasions when actors either missed cues or got stranded out there during shows. .
In 1941, just days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Civic mounted a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner. In this production, previous Civic Board President Professor Jack Briar played Sheridan Whiteside and local attorney Victor Lane was Grandpa.
In October, 1942, Civic Amateur Theatre became Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, a name that hasn’t changed since. From June 1943 till January 1947, World War II left too few men at home to act or work backstage, so Ann Arbor Civic Theatre took a back seat for a few years. AACT did produce an occasional show during the war years, usually on no more than two weeks of rehearsals. One original play presented during this time reportedly had seven acts, with several scenes in each act. When the audience walked out during the first intermission, they supposedly just kept walking, and the show was deemed "less than perfect."
After the war, rehearsals took place in the Michigan Union "Rumpus Room"(unclear what that means) and set construction happened at the Burns Park Log Cabin (where the Senior Citizen Center is now located). The Log Cabin had a pot bellied stove, but there were gaps between the logs where there was supposed to be mortar. If you stepped away from the stove, it was unbearably cold in the winter. Howard and Margaret Fox say they had to "cook" the paint before it could be spread, because it was frozen. Set building was also performed at Jim Thompson’s vacant candy store on Prospect St. Rehearsals took place at 305 S. Main St (most recently the location of Fantasy Attic).
The first public performance back from WWII was My Sister Eileen, which featured Betty Fuller, who later went on to success on Broadway.
Howard and Margaret Fox became involved in Ann Arbor Civic Theatre in 1947, just after the war. Howard and Margaret had each graduated from U of M in 1941, but when the war broke out Howard enlisted. After the war, they came back to Ann Arbor, and Howard was working at the King-Seely plant on First Street. It was there that salesman (and Civic Board President) Roy Brown was trying to re-form the theatre group. He asked Howard if he thought he could run lights for a show being put together for the Angell School PTO.
Phyllis Wright was in The Barretts of Wimpole Street in November, 1947. Howard and Margaret Fox ran lights for the first time on this show at Slauson. Slauson had reostats which were up a ladder in a room from which the operator could not see the stage. Cues had to be called up from a hole below. The director of this production rented all the costumes, which was a very costly expenditure.
In December of 1947, Victor Lane and attorney Carl Fischer filed articles of incorporation for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre which were finalized in 1948. From here on out the organization was known as "Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, Inc.", a non-profit organization. The first bylaws prohibited ‘strong liquor’ at gatherings in order to honor the University’s wishes.
Howard and Margaret Fox remember The Male Animal as the first Civic show in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. At this time, Eddie Pesco was the Mendelssohn caretaker and was well-liked. Lighting at Mendelssohn was much better than at Slauson, because although the reostat operator still couldn’t see the stage action, they could hear it. The Male Animal was taken on the road to Adrian and Ypsilanti.
During the 50’s, Jerry Sandler was one of Civic’s directors, but from 1954-1960, Ted Huesel was the sole director of shows for AACT. In 1950, Todd Jones (then President of Civic) brought in Ted Heusel to direct a production of Silver Whistle. That began Ted’s 40 year involvement with the theatre.
In the early 50’s, Burns Park officials demolished our beloved log cabin (location of set building) to make a shelter and warming house. For a couple of years, Civic used the old schoolhouse on Ellsworth and Wagner to build and store sets. Then they moved set building operations to Main and Liberty, where they couldn’t get sets down the stairs—flats had to be lowered out the window. There was also rehearsal space at this space near the intersection of Main and Liberty.
In the 1952 production of The Spider a character is "murdered" in the audience. Ted arranged to have real Ann Arbor Police show up at the theatre at the proper moment and cordon off the audience. The audience was quite unnerved by this. The October 1953 production of Three Men on a Horse was another quality show, but tragedy struck during tech week. Todd Jones, former AACT Board President, was playing the lead, but on the night before opening he was killed when his car was struck by a train. When officers arrived on the scene, they found his script on the seat beside him. Is it possible that he was running lines? Ted Heusel himself went on with script in hand, which worked okay, because the character was a bookie. Later, a scholarship for promising actors was created in Todd Jones’ name.
During the 50’s, there was usually a picnic in August which served as the kick off for the next season. At this picnic, job assignments were handed out for the year. This decade was a heyday for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, which at the time was bigger than U of M’s Theatre program. Civic was the only place in town to do theatre. Other groups, including the Arts Theatre Club with Doris Roberts (recent Emmy winner for Everybody Loves Raymond), had folded.
Just prior to the 1954-55 season, Tony Sellers and a Mr. Passuanella of AACT came down to the Saline Mill Theatre, a professional summer theatre run by Ted Heusel. AACT had been doing three shows a season, but the Board was looking to expand to five. They brought Ted on to be the sole director for Civic, for what would end up being six years. In the agreement, Ted was paid $65/week plus a split of the profits at the end of the year.
In Ted’s first season as AACT’s sole director, he directed The Country Girl. The father of Hollywood director George Seaton was in this production. Of course, George Seaton had just directed the highly acclaimed film version of The Country Girl, which starred Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Not only did the film director attend several rehearsals, but on opening night he gave flowers to Civic’s leading lady, Sally Replinger.
In 1955, Ann Arbor High School moved from what is now the Frieze Building to Pioneer. Ann Arbor Schools offered free rehearsal space at Pioneer, but it was considered too distant for the many University participants. Civic said "Thanks, but no thanks." This was also the year that Joe Medrano met with Charlie Chadwick and first became involved in Civic.
March 1956 marked Civic’s first musical. RX wasn’t just the first musical; it was original, written by a doctor at the University hospital and starring fellow doctors and nurses. John Kokales of Capital Market played the lead. Encouraged by this show’s success, Civic mounted Guys and Dolls two years later, which boasted a 10 minute standing ovation on closing night.
In October 1956, 88 men tried out for The Caine Mutiny Court Martial in an abandoned store. Jay Michael, a radio actor at WJR who had played roles in "The King of the Mounties" and "The Lone Ranger" radio shows, played the lead. Unfortunately, Jay liked to drink, and on the night of first dress, he was found drunk on the lawn of the Health Center across from Mendelssohn. He was arrested by Ann Arbor’s finest and had to be bailed out by Ted. But on opening, he had recovered enough to get a standing ovation for his final speech.
The 1956 production of Tea and Sympathy was Nancy Heusel’s first show with Ann Arbor Civic, following the birth of a baby. Any roles Nancy played in her husband’s plays she had to audition for. In 1989, Betty Ann Gould recounted how Civic in the 50’s "…was a real family affair. Many married couples worked in various phases of the operation, and it was not unusual to find a few young second generation AACT’ers sacked out in the green room." In fact, for October 1958’s Death of a Salesman, rehearsals were held in the Heusel’s leaky basement. During rehearsals, Nancy’s children would sit on the stairs and watch. During one particular rehearsal, the yelling actors led the Heusel’s neighbors to believe that the two of them were having a huge argument.
In 1957, Civic presented Bus Stop with Marian Mercer, the future Tony award winner for "Promises, Promises" and soon-to-be sketch comedienne with Dean Martin, Dom Deluise and Jonathan Winters. Some workshops and rehearsals this year were held at a schoolhouse at Carpenter and Michigan Ave.
The October 1957 production of The Teahouse of the August Moon was marked with problems. During tech week, Bob Seeman recalls that Gene Duke arranged to have a real Jeep brought up in the Mendelssohn elevator in a vertical position, because the elevator wasn’t big enough to accommodate it in the horizontal position. It rode up just fine, it was laid back down without incident, but then as Gene drove the Jeep stage left, he realized that a bracing chain was still attached! The chain snapped Michigan League’s fire extinguisher pipe, and the basement flooded. Richard Cutting (who worked for the University and fortunately also belonged to Civic) sent the repair people from his office and kept Civic in good standing with the University.
Probably in this show, one of the characters was dressed as a Sumo wrestler. While on stage, the actor got swept away by the spirit of things and his g-string came untied. Only his stance was keeping things together. Bob Logan, who was playing a native bystander danced behind the wrestler in an excited manner and tied the strings back together again.
The 1957 production of A Hatful of Rain dealt with substance abuse, and had a young ingenue named Beverly Owen, who eventually went on to play the original daughter in "The Munsters." Following on the heels of Guys and Dolls, Mia Mine was AACT’s second original musical and was written by Harriet Bennett, who was related to the Henry Ford family. Her play dealt with the history of the Ford family.
1959’s Julius Caesar production didn’t go very well. Following the difficulties with this and with the 1957 production of Merchant of Venice at Ann Arbor’s Masonic Temple, Shakespeare was avoided until 1972.
In 1960, after years of discussion about how difficult it was to jump around from location to location, a fund drive began to raise money for a building with a studio on South Main near Pioneer (the new Ann Arbor High School). While the deal never panned out, it gave the theatre company enough money to buy another space two years later.
An October 1960 production of Darkness at Noon began the decade very auspiciously. Joe Medrano’s wife was about to deliver during Final Dress Rehearsal. She eventually did deliver a boy with dark hair around noon—darkness at noon.
During 1960, Ted Heusel used black actor Bucky Buchanan in two shows in the first example of blind casting at Civic: Joan of Lorraine and Our Town—in which Bucky played the part of the Stage Manager.
During the 60’s Alice Crawford designed and built many of the sets. The first year after Civic had moved into Mulholland Drive scenic designers were forced to paint flats in the snow. This led to a disaster: when the flats for the production were moved into Mendelssohn, the paint began to peel off of them and drop to the floor! They had to be re-painted at the last minute This was also the season that AACT began the practice of producing one musical a year, given their prior success.
In 1962, a building committee moved Civic Theatre to its first wholly-owned home: Mulholland Drive (803 W. Washington), in what had been the City Water Works. There were a lot of negotiations with the city and a lot of competitive bidding to go through. The move was made possible by Mayor Creal, who loved the theatre. It was 5,000 square feet of floor space with 14 foot high ceilings in what is currently a condominium building. They were able to adapt the original 1960 plan to this space without too much difficulty. Architect Joseph Wehrer of UofM’s School of Architecture & Design School drafted the plans. There was an office, scene shop, kitchen, lounge, storage and costume work areas at this building. In time, Wilfred Cook laid a beautiful floor of terrazzo tile in one room and it was promptly named for him. In the Wilfred Cook Room, Civic would do workshops and small productions for maximum audiences of 50 people. Also, Charles Chadwick arranged to build a raised floor in one rehearsal studio so it would have enough bounce for dancers. The flat Mulholland Drive roof always leaked. Don Stewart and a small team later built a gabled roof. By 1969, AACT crews were still putting the finishing touches on the building.
In December of ’62, The Grass Harp was presented, and it marked the beginning of two lengthy involvements with Civic Theatre. This was Runelda Medrano’s first job as Stage Manager at Ann Arbor Civic. As Runelda tells it, Ted told her she was going to be his SM: he didn’t ask her, he told her. This would be the beginning of a 20 year collaboration between the two of them. This was also the first show for which Sophie Farah did makeup. This would be the beginning of a 150 show history with AACT for her.
Romanoff and Juliet’s fabulous set was the first set designed for AACT by Don Stewart. Sophie Farah made-up Lila Green as "Death", and once when Lila was driving around in make-up between the matinee and the night show, she pulled up at a stoplight in make-up and scared a male student into driving off quickly.
In December, 1964, Ted Heusel directed Judy Dow Rumelhart
in her first performance of Gypsy. Ted relates that a very tame strip
tease in the show caused such a stir that police were called in to shut down
the production. They never did. Two shows later, Candida was a near miss.
A candle on stage caught a curtain on fire during a show. Before many urgent
whispers from off stage were spoken, the leading man went over during his scene,
patted out the fire and continued his scene without losing a beat.
A 1966 production of Kiss Me Kate is remembered as a great production, starring "Fat"
Bob Taylor (who wasn’t very fat!) as Petruchio. "Brush up Your Shakespeare"
featuring Dr. Robert Green, brought down the house.
In April of 1967, Guys and Dolls was presented for the second time with Civic Theatre. When the lighting designer/board operator walked off the job, Howard and Margaret Fox were brought in at the last minute, because they had done the previous production. They learned the system,. read the prompt book, and performed admirably.
South Pacific was presented in March, 1969 with Judy Dow Rumelhart as Bloody Mary. In a show that involves a woman who can’t deal with the fact that her boyfriend has Polynesian children, the great black singer Willis Patterson was cast as Emile. Sophie Farah came on the job to make up Willis as a white man. Pictures from the show bear out Sophie’s success. Meanwhile, a May 1969 production of She Stoops to Conquer featured then-UM student, Gilda Radner, before she made it big with Saturday Night Live.
A 1969 production of Mame is generally regarded as the best production in Civic Theatre history. This production featured Irene O’Connor in the lead, while Burnette Staebler played Vera Charles. Judy Dow Rumelhart graciously offered Irene her own wardrobe for costumes.
Ann Arbor Civic had huge slates of shows during the 1970’s. Awards nights were being held at hotel banquet halls like the Holiday Inn and the Crowne Plaza. Ted Farah made most of those awards, which were called Golden Screws. This was also the time when Ted Farah was doing most of the sets for the troupe. Ted specialized in the impossible. He built a grand piano, an upright piano, and a grandfather clock—all three of which remained in Civic circulation for decades. Every year, there was a corn roast in August at the Dukes or Judy Dow Rumelhart’s family home. This would serve as the kickoff for membership and sometimes for deciding on the new season. During the 70’s, John Reid Klein, who was a regular AACT director, died of diabetes. In his memory, the theatre created the John Klein Scholarship Fund for UM students of theatre, music and dance.
The 1970 production of The Cactus Flower was Burnette Staebler’s directorial debut with Civic Theatre. In May 1971, AACT put on a very large show called Brass and Grass Forever. It was written by Jerry Billick (who went on to become president of Disney on Ice) and constituted the third original musical AACT presented. It was shown at Art Fair and featured tap numbers.
In 1971, AACT began presenting summer workshops in the Wilfred Cook Room of Mulholland Drive. In the beginning, these productions were one-acts and more experimental, but eventually, they became a Summer Season. Civic began to do Art Fair performances on South University to advertise for this Summer Season.
Charlie Sutherland’s first show with Ann Arbor Civic Theatre was How She Lied to Her Husband, in 1973. In ’74-’75, the Summer Season expanded into the Spring and Fall..
Burnette Staebler directed The Women in 1974 because there were "too many shows with too many men." This cast boasted only women, and Burnette cast every woman who auditioned, including a number of AACT’s regular tech staff.
Ten Little Indians has been mounted three times in Civic history. In December 1974—the second production—Bev Pooley played the Judge. For the ending of the show, Ted Heusel utilized material from the novel, having Bev appear on stage at the end of the show in a wide chair. Unlike the actual play ending of a letter being read, this was seen as much more dramatic.
Susan Morris’s first directing gig for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre came in February 1975 with a production of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. She became a fixture with us in the 70’s, 80’s and into the 90’s.
Due to disagreements within the organization, the Summer Season ended in the 1976-77 Season. However, a May 1977 production of Anastasia was well received It featured Caitha Wright in the lead. The scene between Nancy Heusel and Caitha, when the grandmother finally believes she is Anastasia, is remembered as one of the great dramatic moments in Civic history.
Every once in a while a totally memorable year comes along. 1978 was one of those years. A highlight was Sleuth, with Bev Pooley and Bill Cross in the leads. In that year’s production of You Can't Take it With You, directed by Ted Heusel, it was very hot in the Mendelssohn during those days before air conditioning. The heat didn’t keep the audiences away though—this show was sold out every night. Coca Cola generously donated bottles of pop to keep patrons happy.
Two shows later, January 1979’s The Good Woman of Szechwan was dominated by disaster! There were ‘giants’ with large fake "heads". One head bumped loose and covered one that particular giant’s eyes while coming down stairs. Finally the head fell off completely and bounced downstage toward an appalled audience. In unison, the entire cast turned upstage and began giggling.
Later in 1979, The Madwoman of Chaillot hit the stage. Clarabell Baird played the lead brilliantly, but this was Roger Wertenberger’s last show—he died just after this production. Follies, the same season, was the very first production in the newly-built Power Center, and it featured Burnette Staebler.
In 1979, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre moved to 338 S. Main (The Elks Club) because the theatre wanted more rehearsal space. This was the 50th anniversary season, and it had The Crucible, Devil's Disciple, Kiss Me Kate, Guys and Dolls and The Curious Savage (which Ted Heusel directed). All these shows had been performed before by Civic Theatre, and the play reading committee wanted to honor the history with repeated productions. A 1979 production of Kiss Me Kate starred Charlie Sutherland and Wendy Bloom and was directed by Jim Posante.
In April 1980 The Crucible was the first collaboration between Bob Seeman and Joe Medrano on sets. Now it’s time to reveal the secret trick they played on the audience. Joe painted a wall plug on the back wall of the 17th century cabin, behind the table, and no one caught on. It just goes to show you that designers are really right when they say "No one will notice."
During the 80’s, Civic Theatre had a split personality. There was a Mendelssohn season and there was a Second Stage season, and some friendly rivalry between them. This was also a decade featuring some of the great contemporary African-American productions of our time. During the 1979-80 season, Civic Theatre moved to the Elks Club at 338 S. Main. There were noise issues with Elks Bingo during Second Stage shows. The Elks complained that too much theatre noise distracted their Bingo players!
During the 1980-81 season, AACT presented The Water Engine in a double bill with The Apollo of Bellac. On the way to deliver the set to the theatre for this production, Bob Seeman embarrassingly relates that he caught the truck under the Washington/First Street bridge. Bob later redeemed himself for the truck by working with Joe Medrano to build a set with a dozen doors for Bedroom Farce later that season. Civic also triumphed that season with A Flea in Her Ear. This Ted Heusel production featured Nancy Heusel and Robin Barlow (appearing in his first role with Civic)
Apparently, it didn’t take long for fame to go to Robin Barlow’s head. In August 1981’s Look Homeward, Angel,he had the lead and remembers with fondness acting with Mary King and Carl. He also recalls that he missed his entrance after the first intermission because he was signing autographs in Mendelssohn’s Green Room.
The June 1982 production of Witness for the Prosecution was a great show, but it had a lot of interesting facets. To begin with, two days after auditions, the director walked out. Bob Seeman, who was in the cast, recalls that Ted Heusel had to step in, and he began by re-casting the show with a new set of auditions. During the performances, the company would choose a jury from the audience, and they didn’t know how the juror would decide. The cast had rehearsed both endings: guilty and innocent. During the production, one of the actors began making up testimony that was not scripted, during production week! Several actors talked to their cohort, and the following night, he started mentioning the previous nights conversations on the stand! Ted (with the cast’s approval) had to remove the actor and merge his testimony into other character’s scenes
In 1983, The Robber Bridegroom, directed by Jim Posante, starred Rich Roselle and included Laurie Atwood in the cast. It was so successful in the Second Stage season that it was remounted for the Summer Festival at Power Center.
During the 1983-84 season, Civic had the horror of mounting Cabaret at the same time Performance Network was doing it. That was more than overcome by a spectacular production that season of Hello Dolly, starring Judy Dow Rumelhart.
Civic mounted a production of Fiddler on the Roof with Larry Henkel as Tevye, a role he would repeat with various area groups for many years to come. 50 years after it was first performed, Charlie Sutherland directed a production of Civic’s first public show, The Late Christopher Bean. Later that season, in a fantastic production of Importance of Being Earnest, Burnette Staebler played Lady Bracknell. She was supposed to be stopped from leaving by Fr. Alex, who was playing the Reverand Chausible. Fr. Alex didn’t show up on time, and Burnette was forced to vamp numerous lines. This season was the first season that Wendy Wright and David Andrews performed with Civic.
A December 1985 production of Anything Goes was directed by Andrew Lippa, who is now writing musicals in New York. He did a very successful version of The Wild Party that ran off-Broadway in the same season that there was a different version on Broadway starring Mandy Patinkin. Lippa’s musical is considered the superior version.. It starred Kerry Graves. The next year, a double bill of Laundry and Bourbon/Lone Star marked Wendy Wright’s directorial debut.
In November 1986, Judy Dow Rumelhart reprised Mama Rose in Gypsy for the second production of this musical with Civic. That was followed by a production of The Misanthrope, starring Thom Johnson, who caused a stir on the Saturday of the run, when he was eventually found sleeping on some curtains between shows. In 1987 on the Second Season stage, ‘Night Mother was a powerful production starring Pat Rector and Wendy Wright. Not long after that, a Mendelssohn production of Plaza Suite which featured Bev Pooley, Laurie Atwood and Nancy Heusel was fast becoming a show that would later be remembered as a highlight of the decade.
In May 1988, a very large production of Music Man hit the Power Center stage. It was directed by Jan Koengeter, had a cast of 90 people of all ages and featured Michael NewdowKerry Graves, Charlie Sutherland and Wendy Wright.
After shouldering intolerable debt at 338 S. Main, AACT moved to 1035/1039 S. Main Street (the old American Legion Hall), right next to the stadium in 1988. Civic sold 338 S. Main (at double the price it paid for it) to Anthony S. Brown Associates of Birmingham, Michigan. The move happened during the Second Stage production of Playboy of the Western World.
In a well-loved production of Arsenic and Old Lace, in 1989, Ted Heusel directed his wife Nancy. In this production, the curtain call featured murdered men coming up through the basement door and taking bows. On the first night, there were three, but by closing night, there were 12 men, including Ted Heusel himself! Joe Medrano won an award for set design.
Speaking of sets, in a production of Wonderful Town that immediately followed it, a set fell over just as a character named "Wreck" was making his entrance. The actor didn’t miss a beat, saying "I guess that’s why they call me the Wreck." That line got 5 minutes of uninterrupted audience laughter.
In the meantime, that season was marked by great acting on the Second Stage, where Phyllis Wright and Andy Lindstrom starred in a production of The Gin Game, directed by Clarabell Halstead. Also, Koczlakowski-Magee put in a brilliant portrayal of Laura in The Glass Menagerie.
In October of 1989, a fun production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood came out. It featured Sue Booth and Wendy Bloom as the love interest with Bev Pooley and Joseph Diedrich as the suspects. David Burkam and Wendy Wright’s antics during the opium den scene brought letters of complaint. In this novelty show, where the audience gets to choose the murderer, they kept choosing Charlie Sutherland, who would sing his song of guilt. Now everyone can know—on the final performance, the chorus rigged the voting so that someone else could perform their guilty song.
This show was followed by an incredible production of The Lion in Winter starring Nancy Heusel and Robin Barlow as the queen and king.
The 1990’s would be a decade of triumph before the great upheaval. There was a mainstage season at Mendelssohn and a Second Stage season at our home location, and the sheer numbers of shows produced this decade during a single season was overwhelming.
Two classics began the decade, as Lysistrata (Jimmy Dee Arnold’s first show with Civic) and Twelfth Night hit the Second Stage. With Twelfth Night, extra performances had to be added because it was so successful, and Shakespeare finally came into his own at AACT.
A 1990 production of Oliver featured Jimmy Dee Arnold as Fagin. This production was directed by Susan Morris and the set was designed by Bob Seeman. A little musical called She Loves Me came later that season and was quite successful.
In 1991 AACT again was searching for a new hom. A move to Community High School was championed at that time, but it fell through. The Civic Board of Directors approved purchase of 2275 Platt Road, the site of an old skating rink, and Civic moved into its largest space ever. It took a year to outfit, and contributing builders included Charlie Sutherland.
The 1991 production of The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch had cowboys scampering about on broomstick horses. They shot cap guns, complete with the red paper rolls streaming out of the top. Every night, a different local celebrity made a cameo appearance as the losing party in a showdown. Marshall Forstot was a genial, guitar- strumming narrator, and Larry Rusinsky sank his teeth into the role of Sneaky, the town coward erroneously believed to have died, who sees himself as invincible after he wakes up.
The 1992 production of Sweeney Todd, presented at Power Center, is remembered by many as a fantastic and large production. Charlie Sutherland was Judge Turpin, Jeffrey Willets was Anthony, and Julia Broxholm was Johanna. Judy Dow Rumelhart (who had had a producing part in the Broadway production) co-directed with Jim Posante, and the musical direction was provided by Jim Nissen and Ben Cohen. Soon after this show, Miss Firecracker Contest, directed by Cassie Mann, became the first show in the Platt Road space.
During the 1992-93 season, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presented 17 productions. They were comprised of Mendelssohn shows, Second Stage shows, and a new third season entitled First Impressions. First Impressions didn’t last, but as the 90’s continued, efforts were made to encourage original and cutting edge scripts by newcomer directors.
1994 featured a good but difficult production of West Side Story. Later that year, Ted Heusel, Sophie Farah and Runelda Medrano would collaborate for the last time togther, on Deathtrap.
During a 1995 production of Picnic at Platt Road, the set designer had built a beautiful set in the space. Then the cast and crew realized that the scaffold platform needed to hang lights was stuck behind the set! The cast and crew were forced to pick up the set and move it so they could get the scaffold out. The set move scarred the newly finished wood floors of the former roller rink.
The 1995 season began with a beautiful production of M Butterfly and a highly successful and controversial production of Jeffrey, which was Ron Baumanis’s directorial debut with AACT. Following AACT’s disastrous production of RUR that season, Blithe Spirit blossomed, featuring Nancy Heusel reprising the role of Madame Arcati and introducing Glenn Bugala and Kyle Marie, in their first production with AACT.
That season was followed by a fantastic production of Medea, directed by Tod Barker and featuring Wendy Hiller and Melissa Johnson. In November 1997, Civic reprised A Little Night Music, which featured returning performers Wendy Bloom, Charlie Sutherland, Sue Booth, and Tom Cooch. It also featured a 16 year old Brynn O’Malley as Anne. In May 1998 of that year, Ron Baumanis directed Jesus Christ Superstar, the first of many especially large spring musicals that would follow into the next decade.
During this time, a production of Noises Off, directed by Thom Johnson featured a revolving two story set by Barb Wells. People stayed for intermission to see the enormous set turned by the cast. In April 1999, The Sound of Music starred Brynn O’Malley, and filled its regular run at Platt Road Playhouse and even accommodated extra performances. That same season, Phyllis Wright (whose first show with Civic was in 1947) starred in On Golden Pond and A Trip to Bountiful. The 1999-2000 season was the only season presented solely at 2275 Platt Road, and it contained two original scripts: Brave New World Revisited: Revisited, and 813:American Fiction.
The new millennium definitely started with a bang for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre. During the first season of this decade, Civic Theatre decided to sell Platt Road, because it could not pay a half-a-large balloon payment on the building. A February 2000 meeting was held to discuss options for the theatre, and many felt that the end had come. Civic sold the building and was able to retrieve all of the capital investment made into Platt Road. The Board was determined to regain financial solvency.
Even in the midst of this, in March 2000, Melissa Johnson mounted a powerfully moving production of The Crucible, which featured Wendy Wright. That was followed the very next month by a critically and popularly successful production of A Chorus Line that sold two extra days of shows and survived a tornado warning. The last Civic show in the Platt Road Playhouse was Little Shop of Horrors (no pun intended).
All monies from the sale of the Platt Road building were preserved for future use, and Civic Theatre leased 408 W. Washington, ironically the former home of the Performance Network. 408 West Washington had originally been built during World War II as a factory that was only supposed to last until the end of that war. Over 50 years later, the building was still standing, albeit shakily. A2CT also leased a dance studio in the same building, but moved costumes, props and sets to Ypsilanti. Move ‘producers’ Tiff Crutchfield and Curt Waugh described it as the hardest thing they’ve ever done in their lives. The first show in the new space was The Front Page, a fast-talking newspapermen comedy from the 20’s. During this production, not only was the set built and the lights hung, but cast and crew set up the new scene shop and circuits. A large production of Evita later that year definitely put A2CT back on the map in Ann Arbor.
Not long after that, the Ann Arbor YMCA announced that it had purchased the land and building where the theatre was located and intended to build a new YMCA. For one or two seasons, the theatre went from quarter to quarter not knowing for sure when the fateful day would come. After two years of struggles with the Zoning Commission, the YMCA eventually slated demolition for June 2004.
Civic Theatre was determined to show the community that it was alive and well. Boasting one of the largest budgets of any Civic show that preceded it, Tommy hit the stage in June 2002 and nearly sold out the entire run at Mendelssohn. Followed by a successful Jekyll & Hyde months later, Civic had seemed to eliminate any doubt about its solvency.
In 2002, a plan to move into the old Schwaben space on Ashley was considered then scrapped. In 2003, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre moved again, to 322 W. Ann Street, where it could have storage, a scene shop, an office and rehearsal space. In June 2003 (just after Civic had moved out) a probable arsonist set fire to 408 West Washington while it was in demolition. The pall of smoke was seen from miles away, and milling coffee shop patrons came to watch the blaze. Meanwhile, the 2003-2004 Anniversary season had gotten off to a fantastic start.
Previous Board Presidents since incorporation in 1948:
1938 John Briar
1939 Lawrence Hoffman
1947 Roy E. Brown
1948 Roy E. Brown
1949 G. Davis Sellards
1950 Todd Jones
1951 John S. Crandell
1952 Ken H. MacDonald
1953 Gerard M. Scofield
1954 G. Davis Sellards
1955 Robert Logan
1956 Clan Crawford, Jr.
1957 Charles Chadwick
1958 John W. Rae
1959 Charles Chadwick
1960 Zeke Jabbour
1961 Phyllis Eshelman
1962 Gerald Hover
1963 Jerome Patterson
1964 Betty Ann Gould
1965-66 Robert Seeman
1967-68 Judith Dow Alexander
1969-1970 Dwight Stevenson
1970-71 Carol Deniston
1971-72 Carol Deniston
1972-73 Burnette Staebler
1973-74 Carol Deniston
1974-75 Robert Seeman
1975-76 Carol Deniston
1976-77 Ted Heusel
1977-78 Susan Morris
1978-79 Mark Bowles
1979-80 Carol Deniston
1980-81 Robert Seeman
1981-82 Christine Schwartz
1982-83 Alisande Cutler
1983-84 Alisande Cutler
1984-85 Alisande Cutler
1985-86 Thom Johnson
1986-87 Thom Johnson
1987-88 John McCollum
1988-89 Robin Barlow
1989-90 Andy Lindstrom
1990-91 Carol Deniston/Anne Bauman
1991-92 Conrad Mason
1992-93 Ann VanDemark
1993-95 Tim Morley
1995-97 Katherine Clark
1997-99 Ronald Baumanis
1999-00 Cheryl Berteel
2000-01 Tiff Crutchfield
2001-02 Don Devine
2002-04 Anne Bauman
2004-05 Brian Harcourt
2005-06 Tiff Crutchfield
Compiled by Glenn Bugala
Interview and source material from: Ted and Nancy Heusel, Joe and Runelda Medrano, Howard and Margaret Fox, Sophie Farah, Bob Seeman, Wendy Wright, Thom Johnson, Anne Bauman, Dr. Robert Green, Robin Barlow, Jim Posante, Charlie Sutherland, Gerry Hover, Phyllis Wright, Burnette Staebler, Ron Baumanis, Cassie Mann and others. Additionally, material was culled from information provided by John Rae in 1969, Chris Potter, and various members in 1989.