In the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of the alumni magazine, we asked Baruch’s alumni community—over 100,000 strong—to share with us their favorite memories of the student club Theatron. To our delight, several of you stepped into the footlights. From the first letters, we created the digital article “Theatron Sets the Stage.”
Since that time, more of you have come forward. Your memories prove Hamlet’s famous saying, “The play’s the thing.”
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Elsie (Fischer) Wallens (’37): Theatron, the Early Years
A very young Theatron decided to put on a full-length play, Outward Bound, and charge admission for a Saturday night performance.
We sold tickets. Saturday night came. A full house waited for the curtain to rise. But the star never showed up. Not only did we have no star, but we had no understudy.
What to do? At that point, my very good friend Pearl Horowitz (’37) bravely walked on stage with a copy of the play in her hand and read the part. I can’t say it was a Broadway performance, but we members of Theatron and the audience were most appreciative.
With a beginning like that, I’m glad to see that Theatron is still in existence.
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Art Sondak (’50, MBA ’58): Flying by the Seat of One’s Pants & Other Memories from the ’40s
My involvement with Theatron began in my first undergraduate semester at Baruch when I landed a part in Time of Your Life. Over the years, I also appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace, John Loves Mary, Boy Meets Girl, and At War with the Army and in Class Night Shows, Faculty Student Shows, Rallies (stage shows held before each major production for publicity), and periodic minor projects, such as “radio productions” and one-act plays. At times I also worked on publicity, props, costumes, and stage production.
Theatron stories are tales of camaraderie with other students and with our respected and beloved faculty advisor, Prof. Louis Levy of the Department of Public Speaking. Through Theatron, I met my lifelong friend Lloyd Small.
I have two favorite Theatron memories:
Broadway star and actress Judy Holliday agreed to take part in one of our Rallies. (We tried to get a known theatrical personage to headline each Rally.) Backstage, before she went on, several of us chatted with her. She was delightful, with no affectations, friendly and sincere, and confessed to nervousness, not knowing what she would do. She came across wonderfully—no nervousness—to a warm and enthusiastic audience. Holliday won an Oscar for her role in Born Yesterday.
My other favorite Theatron memory is of one of those unforeseen, one-of-a-kind incidents famous in the annals of theater. To get the full impact, let me share with you a synopsis of the plot of the play in which it occurred, John Loves Mary. GI John returns from Europe after World War II and reunites with his fiancée, Mary, the daughter of a U.S. senator. Unknown to Mary, John married a British girl as a favor to a close buddy, who returned to the U.S. before he and his love could be married. John’s plan is to bring his friend’s girl to the U.S. and divorce her so she and his buddy can be married. Of course, John is looking for a proper moment to tell his fiancée, Mary, of the situation. He finds it when the two reunite in her father’s hotel suite. They are speaking across rooms: John is changing out of his uniform in the bedroom, and Mary is in the living room. He rushes out of the bedroom to tell her, sans trousers, as the senator and his wife return to their hotel suite. John hurriedly puts on his trousers—the audience reacts—and faces the senatorial father. After a brief exchange, the senator calls to John’s attention his unzipped fly. At this point, the script calls for John to close his zipper with a flourish. But the zipper was stuck. The student actor playing John, Sy Marks (’49), frantically made his way to the bedroom (actually to the wings, stage left). His face registered total panic, and in a whisper, he said, “It’s stuck.” Backstage we all struggled and got the zipper up. Sy walked back on stage—fly up—to such laughter and applause that I haven’t heard since.
In conclusion, for me, Theatron is about generations of talented and committed students. Ours was just one of them.
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Elaine (Cohen) Sydney (’50): John Garfield and the 3 A.M. Subway
We at Theatron loved Broadway—and used it as a resource whenever we could. I and Mike Merrick (’52), who directed Theatron plays and was involved in many other aspects of the club, loved seeing Broadway shows. He wanted to learn as much as he could from them and then bring those insights to directing Theatron productions.
Theatron officers were always trying to get famous actors to help promote our productions. One day during my Theatron presidency, Mike and I went to see John Garfield in his dressing room on Broadway (which play he was starring in I don’t remember). I was so impressed to be seeing a movie star in person that Mike had to do all the talking. I will never forget how Garfield sat and shook his head “no” to our request. I also remember being surprised to see how lined his face was; he was a young man then.
Theatron people onstage and off all helped each other out. Jerry Forman (’49), who was business manager, would often drive many of us home to Brooklyn in the wee hours after rehearsal. There were many times, though, when I found myself alone at 3 a.m. (!) riding the subway back to Brooklyn.
I also remember the incident of the stuck-zipper performance of John Loves Mary. (Art Sondak mentioned he was sharing that funny story.) I have this to add: I played the mother and senatorial wife. I ad-libbed to my “husband,” who was played by Manny Levine (’49), “Now don’t be too hard on the boy,” when we saw Sy Marks (’49) in the wings trying to close his zipper!
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Lloyd Small (’50) and a Flood of Theatron Memories
On his wife, whom he met through Theatron:
My wife, Florette (nee Lazarus) was a member of the Class of ’52 and active in Theatron, but she dropped out of college so we could get married on Sept. 17, 1950. Florette finished her college degree years later at Hofstra University, where, 20 years later, she transferred her CUNY credits.
On the Underground “Lovers’ Lane”:
Hal Ferioli (’49), who has passed away, built the makeup tables/area under the theater stage. They were a big plus—not only for the actors. They made for a discrete “lovers’ lane.” That was about 1947 or ’48.
On Ticket Rallies:
We had Theatron Rallies to promote ticket purchases. They were scheduled for a week or two before the first performance. Each performance took place in the Pauline Edwards Theater [now Mason Hall] and was one or two hours long.
On Broadway Volunteers:
We had guest actors from Broadway appear. Nightclub comedians, then well known, volunteered their time for our shows. It was amazing how eager these stars were to help us out by appearing gratis.
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Joel Samit (’59): A Lifetime Love for the Theater
Guys and Dolls was the first show I was involved with through Theatron, and it started me on the road to enjoying all the famous musicals from the past. I still enjoy seeing revivals and current musicals.