I will be giving on a talk on my
book, Comedy and Tragedy on the
Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts, at
the South Hadley Public Library, Wednesday, June 27th at 6:30 p.m. A slide presentation of several photos from
the book will accompany the talk.
The book covers the history of summer theatre
on Mt. Tom from1895 to 1965.
For some seventy years the playhouse created
magic on the mountain above the city; from vaudeville, operetta, WPA-sponsored
shows in the Great Depression, and its heyday from 1941 to 1962 with a resident
repertory company called The Valley Players.
In the early 1960s, two new incarnations: The Casino-in-the-Park, and
finally, the Mt. Tom Playhouse with touring packaged shows featuring well-known
stars from television and movies. Many
stars of stage and screen, and many newcomers who would one day become stars,
performed over several decades on Mt. Tom.
Through interviews, newspaper reviews, and nearly 250 photographs,
relive their performances, and go backstage for personal experiences that were
both comic and tragic, and enjoy again the excitement of opening night.
