Players And Ghosts

Mother and Grandmother were season ticket holders for the Peabody Auditorium and Daytona Beach Playhouse both of which arrived on the scene about the same time as my younger sister and I did. Growing up Mother and Grandmother believed exposure was directly keyed with learning. So at a very young age alongside Space, Beach, arts and crafts, sailing and tennis, symphonies, museums, ballet, Shakespeare and the Classics as well as the Blues and Jazz became cornerstones of our childhood. Looking back I sometimes marvel how they managed to schedule so much into our lives and yet time was left to run around our neighborhood totally left to our own imagination without timelines!

And yes growing up I did find myself on stage in the spotlight as either a ballerina or an actress but only in supporting roles except for four times. As child I played the lead in a Greek History that featured a future ruler a young boy – the part requiring a white haired very light child. I also was selected to be the Virgin Mary in the school’s Christmas Pageant. Then later I captured a lead role on our eighth grade Civics play that was filmed by a local television station. My last performance was as Gay Wellington in the college theater production of "You Can’t Take It With You".

When in 1973 I spent time abroad attending post graduate courses in London England I was delighted to find I could attend live performances every night and before completing the circuit, much to my dismay,  would be forced to start eliminating the less choice for it was impossible to see them all!

In 1981 the fascination of the stage followed me to Titusville where I now live and am a member of the Titusville Playhouse.

The Emma Parrish theater, opening in 1905 as hotel and saloon, has a fascinating history: from movie theater, to brothel, to abandon home to thousands of pigeons, then to live theater. Now the venue has expanded to include Emma’s Attic and the Rising Stars.


And those who have a long intimacy with the place give much credence to legacy that some of the best preformers are those who are not paid but refuse to leave their haunt!

Recently we joined friends to attend Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and the Follies Those Fabulous Fifties,

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was excellent and we had rare treat that one of my friend's husband was in the cast and that the other friend I had not seen in 10 years!

And the Follies took me back a beat or two and I remembered a rare visit from my father and he let me buy an Elvis Record as a gift but Mother would not let me play it!  The music and performers were magical about taking one back to that period.  There was an elderly lady next to me very proper trying so hard not to enjoy herself and yet she find herslf smiling and having fun and hoping no one would notice!

And we are looking forward to Delicious Demise! TPI's annual interactive murder mystery on April 16.