The Presentation

The Presenters

Phoebe Collins..........

As the new decade of the 70s loomed, there came the desire for a permanent home. So the search began. Phoebe was the mover and shaker behind finding that home. Phoebe knew that the most logical places to explore were the burgeoning city’s old churches. Phoebe relied on the real estate people she knew who were good friends of hers — it so happened that Phoebe had many good friends in Traverse City, which worked to the Civic Players advantage as Phoebe’s involvement and commitment grew.
At one point there was a real possibility for a building on Washington Street, and then this facility, here, the First Christian Church, on the corner of Cass and Eighth became available. The main stumbling block to acquiring the building was zoning. A special use permit was needed for the Civic Players to establish themselves in the new facility, and the neighbors did not really like the idea of a theater in their nice, quiet neighborhood. It became necessary to circulate a petition to the surrounding neighborhood for signatures before the Commission would even grant the special use permit. These were just the kinds of challenges that Phoebe reveled in and handled best. Nobody said no to Phoebe — and they didn’t this time either. With signatures in hand Phoebe took on City Hall.
Despite the signatures, the City Commission, at the time, had some concerns as well, especially about the types of plays that might be performed. Because of the nude scenes Hair and Oh! Calcutta were shows not to be performed, and the prohibition was actually written into the wording of the special use permit. Even so, the Playhouse managed to perform Hair in the 1983-84 season, with nary a word heard from the city….maybe it’s time to consider…Nah.

Phoebe has Mort and Dianna Forster to thank for introducing her to Civic Players. Mort was President in 1968 and had to be out of town during the auditions of the first show of that season, Halfway up a Tree, so he asked his wife, Dianna, to attend the auditions in his place. She invited her good friend Phoebe to go along to the Park Place and then they would have a nice dinner afterwards. Upon their arrival, it was clear there were not enough people to fill the roles so Phoebe was coerced into auditioning. For her trouble, she got the role and the rest is history.

On the heels of Halfway up a Tree, Phoebe and Dianna decided they were going to audition for the first musical in Civic Players history, Guys and Dolls. When they were taught the first dance steps it was okay. They even survived the second night and the more difficult dance steps. But by the third night the dance steps were just too complicated — so they went to the Parlor instead.

As enjoyable as that onstage foray may have been, from 1968 on Phoebe preferred to work on the management and producing side of things. Among the many hats worn by Phoebe over the years was that of properties chair, which she held for a number of years. A favorite story of hers concerned props and set dressing for Mame. Mame was a huge undertaking for the Civic Players and even more so for Phoebe as the character of Mame Dennis was always redecorating her apartment. Always up for a challenge, Phoebe had begged, borrowed and stolen everything for the show, and that amounted to five complete sets of furniture and props that then had to be stored around the sides of the Dome for each of the changes. The other problem Phoebe tackled was providing hors d’oeuvres for the many cocktail parties that Mame always provided. One night, there was instant panic when the hungry cast ate all of the food that was needed on stage. We ran to the Park Place Parlor and they helped save the day. To this day I blame Eric Simon and Bill McCuddy who were 10 years old at the time. It is safe to say that Phoebe was not too fond of child stars.

One winter it was decided it was necessary to raise more money to meet expenses. Then, as now, ticket revenue was never enough to cover the ever growing expenses of the Civic Players — especially in the new home Phoebe had been so instrumental in securing. So, the Players returned to their former home, the Park Place Dome, for three nights in January to produce Entertainment ‘76 the first of numerous fundraisers held there over the next few years. This was a vaudeville-revue with audience seated at tables with their favorite beverage as several acts performed. In many ways a precursor to today’s annual Black & White Gala. Of course this type of entertainment required a chorus line of dancers who rehearsed, and rehearsed perfecting their craft. Now for some back-story: It seems Nina Collins, Phoebe’s daughter and youngest had injured her knee as a cheerleader in high school. Sometime later, Nina returned home on a break from college and her doctors decided it was in her best interest to do surgery at the next vacation time. With that in mind we move quickly forward Entertainment ‘76 is underway rehearsals were held, and Mama Phoeb advocated for dancing instead of surgery so Nina joined the troupe. We understand that as of today surgery is still awaiting that “next vacation time.”
Phoebe was a single parent during her Civic Players days, having lost her beloved husband Ray soon after they moved to Traverse City. So, amidst all her activities, she was raising five children and teaching second grade at Eastern Elementary School. Her boundless energy kept everyone else going during the roughest patches when many a person would have stopped. Phoebe always said, "It’s the Lord’s work you are doing", when we complained about anything.
There was always much to do and many was the meeting held at her kitchen table. Every crisis was solved there - with discussions often continuing into the wee small hours of the morning.

In addition to her work with the Civic Players, Phoebe was very active in the Republican Party both locally and at the national level. Dianna Forster remembers being in Washington DC when Phoebe was Sergeant at Arms for a meeting which included Phyllis Schaffley, Maureen Reagan and even Barbara Bush.
In 1967, she became known as Mrs. Republican when she formed the “Gals for Guy” to support Guy Vanderjagt in his campaign for Representative.
Those of us who served with Phoebe during her regime would quake whenever we got a phone call from her. Invariably she would say, "Are you sitting down?" Those four little words meant something had gone wrong. One time it was during Deadwood Dick when the lead suddenly left town, another time a director had been arrested, and other times there were city commission or cast issues to deal with. One time the high school football team won the conference championship and was going to play in the Silverdome for the first time. Suddenly we couldn’t sell any of the tickets for our show on Thanksgiving weekend. With money always at issue, Phoebe called New York and coerced the licensing agency into rescinding the royalties for the Friday and Saturday shows — something unheard of today.
It is certainly very telling that Phoebe’s tenure as president began with the last show in the Park Place Dome, Desperate Hours — as many hours felt — and lasted through the first show at the old church that soon would become known as Old Town Playhouse, The Impossible Years — as they very often were.
There is one word that best describes Phoebe Collins, tenacity. She worked and played hard her whole life. She loved and challenged with equal vigor. It has been said about a number of people but is truly deserved of Phoebe. Traverse City Civic Players and Old Town Playhouse would not be where it is today without the efforts of Phoebe Collins. After all, this is the house that Phoebe built.
Hey Phoeb - "All I want to do is sing and dance".

Return to Founder's 2003

Ken Parker.............

Years ago, while Ken was working in Bellaire, he decided to follow the music, He stopped relying on “that great operatic sound chamber” the bathtub, as he once wrote, and joined the minstrel show there. With his usual flurry of involvement, he managed to write the script, print the program and locate the band. His goal was to incorporate original local humor into the show. This was so successful and stirred such excitement that folks from Traverse City’s Rotary Club came up to see it and hence began the incorporation of local humor into their annual show.

In 1969, Ken and his wife Betty began their 34 year love affair with Old Town Playhouse. It was then they saw the Civic Player’s first musical production, Guys & Dolls at the Park Place Dome. Once again the music called to Ken and he was enticed to audition for their next production.

During the 1970-71 season, Ken auditioned for Mame in and was cast in the chorus. Though, I’m sure he was happy to just be there, I know that Ken, with his keen eye noticed that the guy originally cast as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside wasn’t showing up, so he approached director, Pat Hager. He asked to do the part and was accepted. In fact, Ken is known to have snuck into several of his Playhouse roles that way. There was only one problem for the musical staff — the key was too low. Ken, ever up to the challenge solved the problem simply and directly — he just sang it up an octave — Tenors! Go figure.

The following year, Ken appeared in Gypsy, directed by Jim Matthews. Bev Attwood, a long-time favorite and good friend of Ken’s, portrayed Rose. He played Rose’s dad, and because he only appeared in the second scene of the show, he also sang in the chorus. He loved singing in the chorus. That was always his favorite role. Though, in Ken’s own words, “I was no dancer so I’d just stand on the outskirts of the dancing chorus and add my voice with a great deal of animation & enthusiasm.”
Like Phoebe Collins, he was also involved during The Impossible Years at OTP — in the play that is…this time appearing with Bev Attwood’s daughter, Vicki in the lead.

In 1973 Ken played the pompous mayor in Inherit the Wind and again in 1974 played the pompous judge in The Curious Savage. He says, “I was usually cast in parts calling for a pompous nincompoop, sometimes they came my way without out even trying out for them.” — ‘nough said?

He was waiter in Hello Dolly in 1974 and in 1975 appeared in Camelot where he continued his first love of singing in the chorus. In 1976 he was cast in 1776 as the Reverend Jonathon Witherspoon. He says that while the part wasn’t large, he at least was able to “make an entrance.” This seemed to him to be quite the coup in a largely ensemble production.

Ken’s philosophy of theatre is similar to that of the great Shakespearean actor Richard Burbage as portrayed in the popular movie, Shakespeare in Love. Ken says, “I don’t know how it happens. They start out with try outs where the tension is that of walking a tight-rope, then stumble along learning lines, finding props, figuring out how to create a set, and trying to coordinate all of the elements. I don’t know how they do it. It’s a mystery — but they do it, time after time. And they do it well.”

Ken and Betty are avid theatergoers and regularly travel to see productions at the Shaw Festival, the Stratford Ontario festival and in various venues in London. According to the Parkers, some of our productions are just as good. It’s because of the heart that our actors put into each show. There may be no pyrotechnics, no astonishing special effects or rotating stages but the quality of the performances is consistently good.

Aside from singing in the chorus Ken’s other favorite aspect of Community Theatre are the recognition that comes from performing and the intense and long-lasting friendships made. He cites an example: “I was eating lunch at Oleson’s lunch counter one day and a woman came up to me and said ‘weren’t you in…?’ What a rush!”

I also count myself as one among those friendships Ken speaks of, though it maybe not as intense as some of his others…it is certainly long-lasting, and has been far more to my own benefit than Ken and Betty’s I would venture to say.

Ken is also proud of his ability to improvise and milk a scene. A version of accidental art, he calls it. He tells the story of “going up on line” theatre lingo for drawing a total blank onstage and not having any idea what your next line is. He says this about one time onstage, “…Becky was staring at me and waiting expectantly for me to say my line…to say something. So, I created a new line for the show. I shook my head and said: ‘It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.’ I delivered this significant statement with the appropriate amount of grave pomposity. Becky immediately saw my predicament and got the show thankfully back on track. So, there it was. I may not have been a star, but I was simply too creative to be bound completely by the script.” — And, thereby, immediately passed the buck to poor Becky. Still as Ken also says, “We who think on our feet like that can’t help it.”

Theatre runs in the veins of the Parker family. Ken’s brother Oren is professor emeritus of drama at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University. He also wrote the bible of scenic design and lighting used throughout the academic world and renowned for its excellence. The book Scene Design and Stage Lighting is considered a classic and is now in its 7th edition.

Ken too is a writer of note. In addition to his work as a journalist, Ken has written two books. His Civilian at War is in now in its 2nd printing. Starting your Own Newspaper is his other book. In addition to this, Ken also served as public relations director for TCAPS.
Ken was a member of the Board of Directors during the transition to our current home and was instrumental in moving us toward non-profit status. He then joined the Board of Directors again in 1989 for his second tenure as a governor of Playhouse activities. During that same year he took charge of publicity for the comedy Bus Stop. To add to the so-called “cinéma vérité of the mise-en-scène,” people from the playhouse community were asked to eat at the on-stage diner before the show. The Parkers asked their good friends John and Margaret Smedley to join them for this slight repast. Since then the foursome has been buying season tickets, attending most productions together.

Ken’s commitment to the Old Town Playhouse goes well beyond lending his many talents to our productions and management. They include financial commitments that have been important cornerstones to our independence, growth, and organizational maturity. In the 1970s, during the first Capital Campaign to finance the building, Ken garnered the first $1000.00 contribution from Dr. Edward Stokes and set the bar for major contributions from many community members. No small feat at that time. He and his wife, Betty, also established another precedent by pledging a thousand dollars to be paid over time, in this instance, three years.

He is still astonished at the chutzpah this committed group had during that time. They put up their homes as collateral to purchase this building we now call home here on Cass. It was an incredible gamble on their part. It paid off, and along with the Parkers, are to be congratulated and appreciated for their legacy and lasting contribution to our community.

Time and again, Ken has seen the resilience with which this theatre has taken on adversity. He recalls in 1999, when the fire marshal closed the Old Town Playhouse for not meeting current public fire codes, his horror at an editorial in the Record Eagle. The Record Eagle editorial board thought the community theatre should brainstorm some different ideas, even suggesting between-the-lines that other agendas, not in the best interest of Old Town Playhouse and its constituents, should be in play. Ken was clearly outraged. He wanted to do something, say something, but was on his way to Arizona. Despite his immediate departure, he took time to write a letter to the Record Eagle. In no uncertain terms, yet still taking the high road, Ken sternly chastised the editors for their knee-jerk reaction to our funding drive. In his letter he stated: “to suggest that [the members of Old Town Playhouse] will be faint-hearted because another crisis may loom down the way is to belittle their passion for theatre and that of their patrons. I think the people of the Playhouse and the businessmen of downtown Traverse City as well as the people of the Grand Traverse area are going to act to keep this institution alive.”

Once again Ken and Betty set the bar by pledging the first $1000 for the new capital campaign over three years. In a sense it was a challenge to the many middle income families and supporters who aren’t used to philanthropy. A thousand-dollar contribution is a lot of money for most of us. Ken readily admits that he and Betty aren’t moneyed people at all, but when spread out over a period of time, it is doable. It is through their example that many more people might consider a gift to an organization that provides so much for the community. Ken Parker has indeed provided us with a gift, the gift of himself.

The last production that Ken appeared in at OTP was Kismet in 1982. It seems his claim to fame was being the “oldest living chorus boy.” Nonetheless, there he was, singing in the chorus just as he wished. Though it may have been his last onstage appearance, Ken’s offstage involvement and support of Old Town Playhouse continues to this very day. And today with a song in our hearts, we sing his praises.

Ladies and Gentlemen….Mr. Ken Parker.