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Putting together a show like the Franz Lehar musical “The Merry Widow,” is no one-man job, ac cording to Floyd Boyer, president of Municipal Musicals, producers of “The Widow.” “From the time the ten men and women of our Board and Adminis trative Staff first begin reading prospective scripts, until the last curtain call on Friday, May 18, more than 50 Terre Hauteans will be muscle-weary and foot-sore from feverish behind-the-scenes activity getting the ‘Widow’ on the stage,” Mr. Boyer said in an in terview. “And that doesn’t include the sixty-five people in the cast.” One of the first jobs fails to Bette Kwozglla who sketches the three elaborate sets in color. Bette is a young Terre Haute artist who was also responsible for the breath-taking sets used in the re cent production of “Brigadoon.” Constructs Sets. The sketches are then turned over to Pete Hurst for construc tion. Pete's labors are performed in an ancient store building north of Spelterville. There, too, Walter Rice and his crew of volunteer brushmen paint the sets as fast as Pete puts them together. “We needed some added orches trations for ‘The Merry Widow’,” Boyer confided, “and we turned to Robert Wallace of Indiana State and Bob Smith to perform that highly technical chore for us. “I don’t know what we'd do without Mel Riggs and his wife, Wilma. Night after night for three weary months Mel directs the choruses while Wilma sits at the ancient piano through the endless accompaniments. And as if that were not enough, Mel, with the help of Kay Sorrells, performs the miracles of make-up that charac terize every Municipal Musicals production.” It is Lee Strosnider who is charged with the hair-raising job of seeing that the necessary canes, letters, champagne glasses, fans swords, gloves and a thousand and one other properties are exactly where they're supposed to be at the precise moment that an actor must carry them on stage. Edith Palmer is in charge of the same 150 costumes worn by the members of the cast. She must not only see that they're on hand when needed but that they're im maculately clean, perfectly pressed and fit like the proverbial paper on the wall. And, in case of an accident (and there's at least one in every performance) she must be on hand with needle and thread to repair the damage while the courageous thespian holds his breath as the needle plunges into the fabric so perilously close to his tender hide. Paints Portraits. Dick Broyles, another young Terre Haute artist, is painting the five huge portraits used in the Marovian Embassy scene in “The Merry Widow.” Dick was a serious casualty of World War II and only recently has been able to re turn to his easel. Leo Deming shoots dozens of pictures of the cast to be used in publicity and posters. Floyd Bombard mimeo graphs the scripts used by the performers. “And there are many others,” Boyer said. “The crew that solicits advertising for our program, the sponsors and members of the First Nighters’ Club who put up the money to make Municipal Musicals possible, the girls who sell tickets in the Terre Haute House lobby, the group who, this Sunday after noon, will be sitting around the table in somebody’s dining room numbering the 5,000 tickets so that everyone gets in the right pew ... all these people deserve much credit. “The Merry Widow” will be presented in the Student Union auditorium on May 16, 17 and 18 at 8 o'clock.
Newspaper Details
Terre Haute Tribune Star
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
Sun, Apr 15, 1951
Page 31
Full Page
Clipped by
Christopher F.
USA 28 Jun 2026
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