Memories of "Dracula"

 

'Twas December 1-2, 1971...late fall of my freshman year of high school. Either I gave an amazing audition reading or there just weren't that many guys interested in being in a non-musical because I was cast in one of the lead roles, Jonathan Harker, for which I was far too young.

Random memories:

• This was my first stage kiss, as recounted in THIS edition of Almost the Truth.
• Dracula "magically" made a mirror shatter by throwing a small pocket knife at it. It looked like he was doing a flamboyant "alakazam" hand gesture, and the audience was far enough away they probably couldn't see the knife.
• In one scene, Professor Van Helsing (played by Lee Bynum) entered the room just as my fiance, Lucy (played by Judy Lambert), was about to bite my neck...saving me from becoming a vampire. During one performance, Lee was distracted by a card game backstage and was late making his entrance. Judy just kept hovering over my neck, fangs bared, for what seemed like forever, until the good professor appeared...sliding into the arched doorway like Tom Cruise in Risky Business (but fully clothed!).
• I earned enough points with this one role for membership in the National Thespian Society...something that ticked off a few of the older theater nerds.

Memories of "The Wizard of Oz"

 

Toward the end of my 8th-grade year, I was cast as the Scarecrow in our production of The Wizard of Oz. While I had been Prince Charming as a 3rd grader, a Korean orphan in a short play at church, and one of the Three Men in a Tub in our 6th-grade show, I count this as my first "real" theater experience.

The friendships made during this production lasted throughout high school and beyond. It is significant to me that Abby Dormire was Dorothy to my Scarecrow and, in our Junior year, Oliver to my Fagin.

The director, Dorotha "Dot" Sellers, was my oldest sister's music teacher, and she would often remind me of that. Here's the nice note she wrote after the show was over:

Congratulations, Dewey, for an excellent performance as "Scarecrow" in "Wizard of Oz". I am sure the Lancaster grade students will never let you forget this play. They will not know your real name, but they will remember you as the "Scarecrow". You have great talent, so I hope to see you in the musicals at Norwell. A person talked with me after the performance and mentioned about the way you stood in the cornfield. You didn't move!! Thanks for your wonderful cooperation. I hope you had fun doing the musical. It is a lot of hard work but very rewarding. Best of luck to you at Norwell. Sincerely Yours, Miss D. Sellers