I have just returned from my 21st Woodrow musical (20 in a row in which I’ve been on one side of the footlights or the other), and I’m now basking in the glow of another tour de force, “Annie”.
Once again, if all the world’s a stage, then Woodrow students are its stars.
Sitting with my classmate Joe Sholden ’76 and his daughter, Lauren, we had to count back 17 years to director Marca Lee Bircher’s first Woodrow production, “Oliver!”. That was our 15 minutes of fame as he played Fagin and I was the artful Dodger. (I wonder whatever happened to Jack Wild, who played “Dodger” in the movie version?)
By the way, Bircher has now directed half of the Broadway shows ever produced at Woodrow.
Behind us sat Nancy Battle Ewert ’68, who starred as the Wicked Witch in the 1968 production of “The Wizard of Oz”. Her daughter, Kelley, played a Rockette this year.
“Oz” happens to be the first musical that Joe and I saw at Woodrow. Joe tried to pull off Nancy’s witch nose after the show. In a bit of poetic justice, Joe’s “Fagin” nose m-e-e-lted in dress rehearsal for “Oliver!”
“Oz”, produced twice by high school musical pioneer, Helen Eckelman, who is now retired, also featured my sister, Jana Rains Stillwagon ’78. She was part of a group of Phil Johnson’s ’42 dance students who played Munchkins. His dance studio, the terpsichorean touchstone for many area children was located behind the old Wilshire Theater, which dominated the southeast corner of Skillman and Mockingbird.
But I digress. Back to the show, which was a true collaboration among alumni, students, parents and current/former teachers.
Other Woodrow second- and third-generation thespians were: Lead star “Daddy Warbucks” G.P. Theriot, along with siblings Joe and Kelley; “Sandy” Jamie Beach; Kim Monzingo; Stephen Holley; Amy Jones; Stephanie Cagley; Madeline Parrish; Meredith Kuesel; Champ Hensley; Jennifer Sherman; Fox Holt; Knox Peden; and Greg Hinckley. At least the last four are third-generation students. And Shannon McBride, daughter of former teacher Marilyn McBride, appeared as Shirley Temple.
Most of their parents contributed time and money, including Jeannie Mitchell Beach ’75, part of former teacher Jerry McKinney’s last extravaganza at Woodrow, “Hello, Dolly!”, in 1975.
Bircher-era alums Mark Howell and Tom Truitt also assisted.
Euphonius Euphoria
Another star of “Annie” was the new sound system, thanks to Park Cities parent Mary Hodge, whose daughter, Lucia Hodge, attends Woodrow and played a Rockette. Hodge raised money for the $40,000 system from the Woodrow community.
Among the contributors were many prominent alums who haven’t forgotten dear, old Woodrow. Among them; Locke Purnell Rain Harrell founder Talbot Rain; real estate tycoons Trammell Crow, Largent Parks and W.W. Fair, Lyne Oil’s Martha Steed Lyne; Ensearch/Lone Star Gas CEO W.C. McCord; Higginbotham-Bailey’s Katherine Higginbotham Russell and Mrs. J.L. Higginbotham Jr.; engineer Mark Goode; attorney and Highland Park Cafeteria heir Robert Yates; former Texas Federal CEO and University Park Mayor Joel T. Williams Jr.; physicians Charles Max Cole, Ellwood Jones, P.E. Luecke Jr. and James K. Peden; automotive legend Carroll Shelby; Lakewood Theatre co-owner Jo Hensley Barr; and Jeff Senter, star of the 1969 state-semifinalist football team. Magnanimity from other noted alums made possible the production of “Annie”, including philanthropist Ruth CollinsAltshuler, Baylor Medical Center CEO Boone Powell Jr., retired Southwestern Life CEO William H. Seay, and former parents Jack Brittingham (“Texas Monthly’s” 100 Richest Texans) and Jack Corgan (Corgan and Associates, Architects). Retired teacher Wilhelmina “You’re not being geometric, class” Blevins made a donation, as well. An insert was placed in the program in memory of Lorrie Brooks ’82, who played Susie in the 1982 musical, “Babes in Arms”.
Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!
Don’t be dilatory about sending in your entry/sponsor form for the Second Annual Tim Brown/Woodrow Wilson Gold Tournament, to be held Monday, April 26, at Lakewood Country Club. (For more information, see Neighborhood News Roundup on page 3.) Last year’s tournament sold out last.
