Memories of "Winterthing"

 

This was a strange little play at First Presbyterian Theater, November 23-December 2, 1979. It was directed by Godspell's choreographer, Lynn Hillsamer Blosser, with whom, for some reason I can't remember, Beloved and I spent the night once and enjoyed a hash and eggs breakfast.

A piece of direction I received in this show sticks in my memory. I was putting a lot of volume and anger in a particular line and Lynn suggested I try the line again, but to hold all that emotion inside. It instantly made the whole scene feel better and actually gave that particular line MORE power.

The young gal (maybe 10 at the time?) who played my youngest sister, Melanie Wharton, was super smart and cute. She once spent the night with Beloved and me. It must have been that she came home with us after a Sunday matinee performance because she came to the little radio station in Decatur, IN where I did a Sunday night shift (kinda like a hobby I got paid for). We ordered a pizza from a little place across the street and when she brought it into the studio, she plopped it down on the turntable...that was currently playing a record on the air. I did a little "Augh! No!", she screamed and ran out and I may have traumatized her for life.

No, that's not me on the left, but I think we all know which part I'd play if I was doing the show NOW (2023)

"Dewey Roth as Jakin and Melanie Wharton as Carilan capitalize on the juiciest parts in the play and are thus able to establish definite characterizations which the other principals fall short of doing. Wharton could be called a modern Jane Withers. She's so insufferably whiney and snotty that you tend to cheer Roth on when he tells her to shut up." [Roxanne Mueller - Journal Gazette]

Just remembered...I supplied the wolf howl that ended each performance.

Memories of "Godspell"

 

This special show, retelling the parables of Matthew and Luke with vaudevillian humor and acoustic rock music, was my first show with First Presbyterian Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the means of Beloved and I meeting and "falling in love."

It was her first involvement in musical theater and my...umpteenth.

With performances May 12-21, 1978, it was just a few years after Godspell had been a hit on Broadway and only five years after the far-less-successful movie. A couple hundred people auditioned, but only 14 were cast (and also a couple mimes that mostly stayed on the sidelines...don't really remember WHAT they did). Because the show was originally written for a cast of 10, we played around with the parts and solos. I mostly did Jeffery's lines and had his solo, "We Beseech Thee".

Once the initial herd was whittled into a more-manageable 30 or so, the audition process, in addition to singing a song, was mostly a series of theater improvisational games, which I loved. Once cast, there was a high level of actor input for our costuming and clown makeup design. (It's not in the couple of early promo photos below, but I ended up wearing a colorful Walt Disney World hat that I borrowed from my "baby" sister.

This was, without a doubt, my favorite theatrical involvement of all time. Between the subject matter and the sheer FUN of it all, there is no competition.

Fun Fact: Opening night featured the opportunity for dinner and the show if you were willing to shell out $7.50 a ticket!

"Debbie Ann Brewer, with her doll-face makeup and outfit, is outstanding on what I think is the show's most beautiful song, 'By My Side'." - Roxanne T. Mueller, Journal Gazette

"Dew-Dew! It isn't difficult to allow freedom to an actor as disciplined as you. Your talent, your warmth and especially your supportive attitude carried me through several rough times in Godspell's life. I sincerely look forward to working with you again. Your head's in a grand place, Mr. Roth. You witness well! Love, JT" [Director]

"My special thanks. You do the nicest things in the nicest way! Love, Debbie [Given when she wasn't sure if we would ever see each other after the play was done.]

Memories of "Kiss Me Kate"

The musical was Kiss Me Kate, produced by Arena Dinner Theatre at the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 14-29, 1977. I was awarded the Arena Theater Award for Best Actor in a Minor Role in a Musical for my work as Nate, Hortensio, and Dancer.

Strongest memories: trying to sing and dance on a tiny side-stage while wearing a mask and loaded down with a garden hose and 3 or 4 additional props; running down a hallway to make it to my next entrance; learning how to play a few notes on a mandolin for a scene.

My bio: Dewey Roth was last seen on the Arena stage in Lend an Ear, the musical revue for which he was nominated for a best acting award. He has appeared with Purdue Indiana Theatre in Ah, Wilderness and 1776, also with the Little Theatre of Northern Wells in Li'l Abner, The Boyfriend, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He is a graduate of Norwell High School where he was active in the theatre program and attended Indiana Purdue at Fort Wayne. He is currently a radio announcer for WFWR Radio here in Fort Wayne.

"Dearest Dewey, Thank you for being talented, dependable, professional, supportive, and a good friend. And a special thanks for the enjoyable dream!

Lynda [our choreographer]

"Dewey - I just want to say..."ABOUT TIME we did a show together!" Thanks for ALL (every single bit) your work and encouragement. Everything you do to make this show work is beautifully executed. Break a leg.

Love, Denny [the director]

Memories of "1776"

 

1776 is a musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence and was the only musical I was involved in at Purdue-Indiana Theatre (PIT). I had just finished my freshman year of college at Indiana Purdue University - Fort Wayne as a Theater major.

Performances were June 4-20, 1976. Something I had totally forgotten is that we did TWO performances each Friday and Saturday, starting at 7 and 10 p.m. TEN PM??!?

The director, Larry Life, instructed the cast to approach their characters with the underlying thought that they are all sex-starved, having been in Philadelphia, away from their wives, for at least six months. Being the know-it-all freshman who had done the assigned research, I informed him that MY character, Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, actually lived in Philadelphia and so his instruction didn't apply to me.

Not that it really mattered. None of my lines consisted of my character actually talking. All I did was read letters from George Washington to the assembled congressmen. (And I didn't memorize them...which required a lot of faith in the "messenger boy" who brought the dispatches to me (High school classmate, Mark Ferrell). If he had handed me the wrong one, we all would have been sunk!)

Random Memories:

• "Other nice moments are contributed by...Dewey Roth as Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson." [Connie Trexler News-Sentinel]
• During one of the dress rehearsals, the actor portraying Benjamin Franklin cast his vote AGAINST the declaration. We were all dumbfounded: "What?!?"
• The day of our last performance was the last time I shaved for several years.
• The one lasting effect on my life from being in this show was the acquisition of the multi-useful phrase "hot tuna" from the man who played John Adams, Jan Swank. ("Hot tuna" can be used in place of "yippee"...either sincerely or sarcastically. It also stands in for something more vulgar when saying "He thinks he's hot tuna.")

Orthodontic Farewell

 

I got orthodontic braces at an older age than most...the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. It made for a different relationship than most patients had with the 20-something female assistants in Dr. Ingleman's office. (At least, my fantasy life told me it did.) But two years later, when those braces came off, I was given the following farewell "card" and it made it seem as if my daydreams were accurate after all.

[Editor's Note: The "black thing" mentioned in this poem was a rubber mold designed to fine-tune the placement of my teeth.]

Dewey, Dewey,

Blonde and blue, don't you know - we love you
With your sensuous mouth, braces and all
For such charms you made us fall,
OH, those tender lips we did touch,
We will miss them so very much.

From now on your mouth filled with black
Will no more do that famous "Dewey Smack"
The fun we shared for two years long,
To miss that now; it all seems wrong.

We'll say goodbye to those monthly visits
And farewell to those shiny rivets
Taking those bands apart
Has caused all of us to have broken hearts.

Don't forget in years to come,
Who made you cute and quite handsome.
Now you'll have to bite, bite, bite
On that black thing - oh, so tight.

Don't be sad, now that the time has come to say bye
Just think of all the times we've had to say hi!

Judy, Cindy, Jane

Memories of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"

 

Presented by The Little Theatre of Northern Wells June 6-15, 1975, I'm pretty sure this is the first show in which Denny Bechtelneimer directed me...though we were both in the cast of Lend an Ear at Arena Theater a year earlier. It was also my introduction (again, "I'm pretty sure") to Jari Cook, 20 years my senior, but the holder of a special place in my heart and the woman who introduced me to the music of Bette Midler.

I was cast as one of "The seven proteans, men with incredible versatility and dignity." Whenever the script called for sailors or soldiers or singers or slobs, we took care of the need. It was a fun group of guys, but, as can be seen below, our costumes were...um...interesting.

I pity the folks in the orchestra pit for the view they no doubt had

Thanks to Doreen Dunphy Ayers for these pictures. (Even this one, where I am but a mysterious shadow in the upper right.

Words of a Departing High School Senior

 

Here are two paragraphs I don't remember writing for a piece in the final high school newspaper, "Seniors Leave with Varied Emotions".

I also don't remember drawing the illustration that appeared with the article, but it's definitely my work.

"It would be easy to say that I'll miss the kids the most, but I don't think that's true. What I'll miss most are the feelings and affections that have grown between other students and myself. I have special feelings about the class of '75; feelings that are good and won't be replaced until I spend twelve years of my life with someone else.

"These last few days of school have been really strange. I always thought I would be a 'good student' to the end, but I've been inflicted with a terminal case of Senior-itis. It's so confusing to not care at all about school and wanting to leave, while at the same time, I don't want to be left alone without the fellowship that school provides."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

And from a "Memory Book" published at the same time...

"Can you imagine Dewey Roth without his sense of humor?"

DUANE ALVIN ROTH

Nickname: Dewey
Favorite
     Song: My Sweet Lady
     Color: Selsun Blue
     Food: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun
     Pastime: Memories & Poetry writing
     TV Show: M*A*S*H
     What will you miss most about NHS? Those special people
     Pet Peeve: Wall Builders
     Words of Wisdom: All that's gold may not glitter

I, Dewey Roth, being of faulty mind and forgotten body do hereby will and bequeath my share of Donna Keech's glasses to Barry Gordon, a near-sighted dog.

[P.S. On the page describing the "Ideal Senior", the ideal senior boy would have my personality and wittiness! How nice!]