Corinth Theater Guild History
by Fran Williams
Joe Barron and Richard Baker took over from the Catholic Daughters in 1976 until 1987. Their shows included:
I was in all the productions from the very first year. Joe and Richard came here from New York after a vast musical career behind them. I learned a lot from them and to this day are still dear friends.
The very first show we ever did on our own after Joe and Richard left was as the Corinth Theater Guild was Home for the Holidays directed by Pauline Densmore. Pauline stepped in and put together this revue around Christmas time in 1987. It was the first time om our own. Soon after, she directed our first musical, Cole in 1989. The following year Les and Sue Wells directed a musical based on the book Working by Studs Terkel. It was a big step for us at the time, followed by From This Day On, on love and marriage. One of our collaborations was joining forces with the Corinth High School music and drama deptartment for a musical production. Both students and adult guild members came together for Bye, Bye, Birdie in 1989. The following year Mr. Stein directed A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The leads were Marlene Sauer, Mark Schutz, Mike Cannon, Dale McKim and Ray Koch. It was a hoot! I was one of the harem dancers.
The following year we did Bus Stop, directed by Don Countermine from Schylerville. It was our first drama starring Linda Barrass, John Dittmar, Jeanne Moeller, Fred Gleason, Danny Boyle, Katie Haynes and Don Countermine. Guys and Dolls, directed by Les Wells, brought the house down. In the show was Bob Densmore, Glenn Dorman, Fred Gleason, Marlene Sauer, Linda Barrass, Fred Koch, Thirza Morreale, Bonnie Vincent, Terry Towers, Matt Schuh, John Dittmar, Charles Hoffman, Sue Wells, Nick Sanna, Jeanne Moeller, Peggy Holmes and Dave Witte - great show. In 1993 a new Director/choreographer took over, Tim McGuire. He directed Meet Me in St Louis. The leads are John Dittmar, Virginia Pike, Josh Halliday, Amanda Ploof, Athena Roth, Laramie Miller, Molly Green, Warren Saunders, Linda Barrass, Patrick Doyle, A. J. Heller, Jessica Bowen and Fred Koch.
In 1994 Les Wells directed Damn Yankees with Linda Barrass, Jeanne Moeller, Nick Sanna, Bonnie Vincent, Peggy Holmes, Glen Dorman ,Josh Fosberry, Bob Densmore, Charles Hoffman, John Dittmar, Fred Gleason, Sue Buttles, Jane Brayton, Jane Fuelner, Joanne Sebeck and Mary Schuh. Somewhere in between the last two shows here, we did Crazy for You. It was a real blockbuster with Tim as director and choreographer. I do not have a cast list but the lead male roles were Rob Spring and Brian Deyo. The female lead was Kelly Ecker with Jeanne Moeller. It was also the first time we had a real orchestra, directed by Kelly's father, Wes Ecker. It was a sellout every show. A great production.
I believe our next big show in 1995 was Hello, Dolly! directed and choreographed by Tim McGuire. What a blockbuster this was. We sold out every night and it really was a great show. Not that I am biased, but I played Dolly. It just was a good show. John Dittmar was Horace Vanderguilder, Pam Granger played Mollie Malloy and Marlene Saurer was Minnie Fay. Brendon LaPier was Barnaby Tucker, and David Marino was Cornelius. Linda Barrass was Earnestina and Josh Halliday was Ambrose Kemper.
The next year Tim put a musical revue together called Curtain Call which was a little of everything. Mame was also directed by Tim in 1996. I played Mame and Dave Witte was Beuregard. Rose Farr played Mame's best friend Vera and we had a great time doing that show. By this time I was tired of memorizing lines and felt age creeping up. I had just gone to the Dinner Theatre in Lake George and watched a play call Don't Dress for Dinner. I loved it! I thought, "Why can't we do something like a dinner theatre? Something funny like this." This was the time the theatre guild took a turn in a different direction. I took Don't Dress for Dinner and made it funnier for our guild and it was received very well - very funny comedy. So well, we did it again three years later. From this point there are so many shows that I don't have all the dates. After that I directed another comedy, one of my favorites, Perfect Wedding; Linda Barrass was in both these shows. Don't Dress for Dinner had Bill Terrio, Robert Bialis, Dave Witte, Rose Farr, and Frieda Toth. The second time we did this, Steve Smead took Bill's place and Gina Prince replaced Frieda.
It was after this that I heard about an interactive play getting quite a buzz from the theater set. It was a little show called Tony and Tina's Wedding. A little show, it was not. It was mostly ad-lib. Steve Smead was Tony, Christine Duhieme was Tina, Tom Anderson was his gangster father, Rose Farr was the slutty girlfriend of Tony's father. Marlene Sauer was mother to Tina. It was just fun! It was like no other show anyone had seen around here and we were sold out two months before we were ready to go! You go to a place for a wedding, there you are greeted by groomsmen and bridesmaids. Tony is marrying Tina and her dysfunctional family are there. I had a great cast because every show was different. You went to the wacky wedding, the even wackier reception, the cake and all. Really a funny show - we did nine weeks of this and could have done more. To date this was the most lucrative show we ever did.
To change the pace a little we tried another funny show that was so off the charts! It was just the opposite of Tony and Tina - Grandma Sylvia's Funeral, about a Jewish funeral gone bad. We had the rabbi and the pink coffin; extremely bad taste, but people liked it. Again it was an ad-lib type dialogue so you never knew what was happening. We did this show ten years ago and again two years ago. Right after Tony and Tina we immediately took a dramatic turn with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I directed, and had the lead as Martha. We got rave reviews, but small audiences. In it was Mike Cannon, Steve Smead and Frieda Toth.
It was time for another musical, so we decided on Pajama Game. Great music - I directed and the leads were Tom Anderson and Linda Barrass. The next few years were whirlwinds of shows: I decided to pick an era and do revues of that decade. The first one was Stage Door Canteen, a musical romp through the '40s and World War II. Soon to follow was Back to the '50s, a huge hit, and Best of the Best, a musical review of Broadway's best for 80 years. I wrote the revues because they are inexpensive to do and we are the only group around that tries this kind of venue.
Time for a musical, so we really went outside the box and did a huge show called Seussical. It was really tough because we were incorporating adults and children on a show based on Dr. Seuss. It was a very difficult show for many reasons. We took it to the Wood Theater in Glens Falls and for all the tears and doubts, it was one of our best shows!
It is now Christmas and we want to do a Christmas show for the kids. We did Miracle on 34th Street. I thought it was a cute show, but few came. Steve Smead and Christine Duhieme were the leads. In the last six years one of the favorite comedies that I directed was Noises Off. To say this was a feat in itself is an understatement. Again, we went to the Wood Theater. We had to build a two-story inside of a cottage with six working doors and three sets of stairs. It was an extremely difficult show to execute but we did it. I loved it, but is was lukewarm to some. Oh, well! In that show was Steve Smead, Tim Drawbridge, Jeanne Moeller, Jerimiah Jenkins, Kevin Williams, Robin Miron, Sharon Reynolds and Bonnie Wiles.
One last goofy comedy was Drop Dead. It was very silly, but we loved the show. It starred Tom Anderson, Rose Farr, Steve Smead, Kory Williams, Kate Halliday. In 2006 I wrote a revue called Lollapalooza which was a thrill, and people loved the 1960s. We had a great cast and it was very well-received.
Our latest great achievement was last year. We did a huge musical Chicago. Tim McGuire directed and choreographed. I was Mama and have to say, that was my swan song as far as acting goes - but loved the role. Great show. Maddie Scotto directed the music. The leads were Tim Doak, Anna Diddio, Ceri Boersman, Sierra DeJoseph, Sue DeAngelico, Garret Williams, Jeff Norko, and Kory Williams to name a few.
Our last show, in the fall of 2008, was a 1930s revue called Stardust. I loved this show. I love Cole Porter and Gershwin and people do not hear these songs any more. We sold out every show - loved this last one.
Now we're getting ready for another '50s revue called The Malt Shop.