Tracks of the Richwood Tiger, 10 of 12

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Tracks of the Richwood Tiger
Stage

The top of the big black stage curtain was masked by a valance, a long horizontal piece of drapery. In the middle of the valance was a golden Richwood High School emblem.

I always thought the letters should have been “RHS” instead of “HRS,” but a monogram locates its most important initial in the center.

1965, page 22

In 1953, I performed on this stage (see the pictures here) in front of a full-width canvas backdrop that was painted with an outdoors scene.

As you can see at the right in a photo from the Class of '63 Junior Play, the backdrop came all the way to the floor, where it was attached to a long cylinder.

Similar scenery was painted on a set of wings, consisting of canvas over wooden frames. The edges were scalloped to blend more naturally into the background.

1962, page 69

1954, page 59

Neutral-colored curtains formed most of the backdrop for this scene from the Class of '54 Senior Play, the drama Wings of the Morning.

However, in most cases we placed painted canvas flats across the back of the stage, as we did for my senior class play, shown here.

For these performances, the “orchestra seats” were metal folding chairs arranged on the gym floor. When I was the one assigned to set up the chairs, I kept the rows straight and evenly spaced by simply locating the left front leg of each chair in a corresponding spot of the repeating parquet pattern. Four parallel planks made up each nine-inch-square block. Even if angled rows of chairs were required, they were easy to line up using this method.

1962, page 76

For musicals, our “orchestra pit” often contained only a piano, with a pianist and a page-turner. Sometimes a few other instruments were added to form a small combo. But we had no violinists or other string players.

1962, page 76

This particular production was an adaptation of the Broadway musical My Fair Lady, performed by the Girls’ Chorus as part of their annual Choral Cabaret. I was a freshman that year. As I recall, my mother and I watched the show from the permanent seating section, while the gym floor was furnished with chairs and small tables arranged in the style of a night club.

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