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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 |
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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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