Neil Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 I ran across a master list of all productions done by the Kenley Players between 1958 and 1977. By all accounts, Kenley put on some great shows. How he was able to attract them to Warren, Ohio has always been a mystery to me. Here are some excerpts of familiar names and shows. THE KENLEY PLAYERS IN WARREN, OHIO 1958 Wonderful Town (Kaye Ballard) 1960 Auntie Mame (Gypsy Rose Lee)TALK ABOUT YOUR DEFINITIVE AUNTIE MAME! Annie Get Your Gun (Ginger Rogers)GINGER WHO CAMPAIGNED FOR THE MGM MOVIE FINALLY GOT TO PLAY IT....TEN YEARS LATER AT AGE 49 1961 Sex-Tette (Mae West)PRE-DATES THE MOVIE VERSION BY 17 YEARS! 1962 Fiorello! (Bob Carroll)WHO KNEW OUR OWN BOB CARROLL WAS A MUSICAL STAR? MAYBE HE AND MADELYN STARRED IN I DO, I DO. (obviously a different Bob Carroll) Flower Drum Song (Ramon Navarro & Juanita Hall) AND WHERE WAS FRANCIS X BUSHMAN?? Gypsy (Betty Hutton)WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE HER 'ROSE'S TURN'. 1963 Wildcat (Ed McMahon)WITH THE SHOW TAILORED TO HIM? REVISED SONGS: "HEEEEY-YO, LOOK ME OVER", "HEEEEEERRREE'S....JANIE!" 1964 Critic's Choice (Allen Ludden & Betty White) Bus Stop (Jayne Mansfield)SHOULDN'T THEY HAVE CHANGED THE NAME TO 'BUST STOP"? 1965 The Solid Gold Cadillac (Ann Sothern)SIMILAR PREMISE TO "MY MOTHER, THE CAR"? The Women (Marge Champion, Dagmar & Gloria Swanson)THIS IS THE PRODUCTION ELAINE STRITCH REFERS TO IN "AT LIBERTY" WHERE ALL THE PLAYERS SANS SWANSON SIGNED SOME EQUITY PETITION AGAINST ELAINE (SHE DOESN'T SAY WHY) 1967 Funny Girl (Shari Lewis)"PUPPETS....PUPPETS WHO NEED PUPPETS...." "YOU ARE WOMAN, I AM LAMB.." 1968 Call Me Madam (Ethel Merman) I DIDN'T KNOW MERMAN DID CALL ME MADAM THIS LATE. 1969 Gypsy (Jo Anne Worley) Mame (Ann Miller) 1970 My Daughter, Your Son (Vivian Vance & Dody Goodman) 1971 Hello, Dolly! (Ann Miller) Hello, Dolly! (Ann Miller)TWICE IN SAME SEASON! 1973 Once Upon a Mattress (Lucie Arnaz, Rudy Vallee & Kay Medford) 1974 No, No, Nanette (Gale Gordon, Vicki Lawrence, Virginia Mayo)WITH EDIE ADAMS REPRISING HER "MOONEY'S OTHER WIFE" ROLE AS NANNETTE?? Sunday in New York (Desi Arnaz Jr.) 1976 A Little Night Music (Eva Gabor) Panama Hattie (Ann Miller)ANN WAS AN OBVIOUS FAVORITE 1977 Anything Goes (Ann Miller & Bobby Van) Wonderful Town (Cloris Leachman) Li'l Abner (Lucie Arnaz & Dirk Benedict) See-Saw (Lucie Arnaz & Terence Monk)I SAW LUCIE DOING SEESAW A FEW YEARS EARLIER WITH HER CO-STARS JOHN GAVIN AND TOMMY TUNE. THE LAST PRODUCTIONS LISTED FOR THE COMPANY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 I ran across a master list of all productions done by the Kenley Players between 1958 and 1977. By all accounts, Kenley put on some great shows. How he was able to attract them to Warren, Ohio has always been a mystery to me. Here are some excerpts of familiar names and shows. THE KENLEY PLAYERS IN WARREN, OHIO 1958 Wonderful Town (Kaye Ballard) 1960 Auntie Mame (Gypsy Rose Lee)TALK ABOUT YOUR DEFINITIVE AUNTIE MAME! Annie Get Your Gun (Ginger Rogers)GINGER WHO CAMPAIGNED FOR THE MGM MOVIE FINALLY GOT TO PLAY IT....TEN YEARS LATER AT AGE 49 1961 Sex-Tette (Mae West)PRE-DATES THE MOVIE VERSION BY 17 YEARS! 1962 Fiorello! (Bob Carroll)WHO KNEW OUR OWN BOB CARROLL WAS A MUSICAL STAR? MAYBE HE AND MADELYN STARRED IN I DO, I DO. (obviously a different Bob Carroll) Flower Drum Song (Ramon Navarro & Juanita Hall) AND WHERE WAS FRANCIS X BUSHMAN?? Gypsy (Betty Hutton)WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE HER 'ROSE'S TURN'. 1963 Wildcat (Ed McMahon)WITH THE SHOW TAILORED TO HIM? REVISED SONGS: "HEEEEY-YO, LOOK ME OVER", "HEEEEEERRREE'S....JANIE!" 1964 Critic's Choice (Allen Ludden & Betty White) Bus Stop (Jayne Mansfield)SHOULDN'T THEY HAVE CHANGED THE NAME TO 'BUST STOP"? 1965 The Solid Gold Cadillac (Ann Sothern)SIMILAR PREMISE TO "MY MOTHER, THE CAR"? The Women (Marge Champion, Dagmar & Gloria Swanson)THIS IS THE PRODUCTION ELAINE STRITCH REFERS TO IN "AT LIBERTY" WHERE ALL THE PLAYERS SANS SWANSON SIGNED SOME EQUITY PETITION AGAINST ELAINE (SHE DOESN'T SAY WHY) 1967 Funny Girl (Shari Lewis)"PUPPETS....PUPPETS WHO NEED PUPPETS...." "YOU ARE WOMAN, I AM LAMB.." 1968 Call Me Madam (Ethel Merman) I DIDN'T KNOW MERMAN DID CALL ME MADAM THIS LATE. 1969 Gypsy (Jo Anne Worley) Mame (Ann Miller) 1970 My Daughter, Your Son (Vivian Vance & Dody Goodman) 1971 Hello, Dolly! (Ann Miller) Hello, Dolly! (Ann Miller)TWICE IN SAME SEASON! 1973 Once Upon a Mattress (Lucie Arnaz, Rudy Vallee & Kay Medford) 1974 No, No, Nanette (Gale Gordon, Vicki Lawrence, Virginia Mayo)WITH EDIE ADAMS REPRISING HER "MOONEY'S OTHER WIFE" ROLE AS NANNETTE?? Sunday in New York (Desi Arnaz Jr.) 1976 A Little Night Music (Eva Gabor) Panama Hattie (Ann Miller)ANN WAS AN OBVIOUS FAVORITE 1977 Anything Goes (Ann Miller & Bobby Van) Wonderful Town (Cloris Leachman) Li'l Abner (Lucie Arnaz & Dirk Benedict) See-Saw (Lucie Arnaz & Terence Monk)I SAW LUCIE DOING SEESAW A FEW YEARS EARLIER WITH HER CO-STARS JOHN GAVIN AND TOMMY TUNE. THE LAST PRODUCTIONS LISTED FOR THE COMPANY Very cool Neil! And some interesting casting/pairings!! Would have loved to have seen a lot of these, including Viv and Dody Goodman together -- can you imagine?? Also, Lucie and Dirk Benedict (in his "Battlestar Galactica" heyday -- slurp!) in "Abner" and JoAnne Worley, etc. etc. etc. I never knew Miss Bets hubby "performed"?? That's another pairing that would have been great to see! And yes, it must have been some showbiz connection/notoriety, as I really doubt Warren Ohio was a hot hub of activity!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 I caught a Merv Griffin where Betty and Alan were talking about the summer stock performance of Call Me Madame they were doing soon and sang You're Just in Love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyEths Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 Great information Neil! Warren is my hometown and my mother has told me about all the stars who use to come and perform for the Kenley Players, didn't know it was that impressive. She remembers seeing Desi Jr. with Linda Day George in Sunday in New York (1974) and even gave me the program. You're right, how they got all those stars to come there, not sure but I did graduate on the same stage where all these performances occurred! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 Great information Neil! Warren is my hometown and my mother has told me about all the stars who use to come and perform for the Kenley Players, didn't know it was that impressive. She remembers seeing Desi Jr. with Linda Day George in Sunday in New York (1974) and even gave me the program. You're right, how they got all those stars to come there, not sure but I did graduate on the same stage where all these performances occurred! Same stage!? Cool LucyEths!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 John Kenley was a fascinating sounding person who lived to be 103. It seems like almost everyone who worked with Kenley loved him. I just read Ann Miller's autobiography and she was wild about him. I burst out laughing reading your lyrics to Shari Lewis in Funny Girl! Merman decided to do Call Me Madam in stock because it paid well and the role was more "ageless" than Annie Oakley. I think Russell Nype repeated his role and Donna McKechnie played the princess. Allen Ludden did a lot of stock - mostly with Betty. He also played Billy Flynn in Chicago opposite Sue Ane Langdon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted August 5, 2016 Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 John Kenley was a fascinating sounding person who lived to be 103. It seems like almost everyone who worked with Kenley loved him. I just read Ann Miller's autobiography and she was wild about him. I burst out laughing reading your lyrics to Shari Lewis in Funny Girl! Merman decided to do Call Me Madam in stock because it paid well and the role was more "ageless" than Annie Oakley. I think Russell Nype repeated his role and Donna McKechnie played the princess. Allen Ludden did a lot of stock - mostly with Betty. He also played Billy Flynn in Chicago opposite Sue Ane Langdon. Cool! Nice to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted August 10, 2016 Report Share Posted August 10, 2016 I was watching the Merv Griffin with the whole family on again this week and the Mattress production Gary mentions Lucie doing was this Kenley one and he mentions the theatre and Warren. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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