Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series: Theater
By Topic: Theater

H.M.S. PINAFORE PRODUCTIONS

“H.M.S. Pinafore” productions occurred several times at Pine Mountain Settlement School. Although this two-act operetta, written by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, was a demanding musical piece, it never failed to please at both the audience and the performer level. The cast was comprised of staff and students. The joint effort was a practice that was often found in the School theater productions. By engaging all available campus dwellers, the audience was guaranteed and talent was found across all residents at the School.

Several stage productions of other plays were presented at Pine Mountain Settlement School during the School’s earlier years. In 1929, two were mentioned in the School’s annual fundraising letter:

Several plays are under way. “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” written by some of the boys and girls, was given most successfully for a Friday assembly. “Julius Caesar” has filled the upper school with fervor so great that a big boy wanted to make a coffin in the workshop so that the funeral scene might be more realistic!

The following images are programs and photographs from two stage productions of “H.M.S. Pinafore or the Lass Who Loved a Sailor.” The scene for both acts of this play, “Noon” and “Night,” was set on the “quarterdeck of H.M.S. Pinafore, off Portsmouth.”

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“H.M.S. PINAFORE” PRODUCTIONS: Program & Photographs, April 1, 1933

“Dramatis personae” in the 1933 production included: Harry Brooke, Charles Frazier, Ulysses Shackelford, Winfield Cornett, Bennie Turner, Lucille Perkins, Frona Cooper, Cuma Shepherd.

Women’s Chorus: Luvilla Ison ; Jewel Rainey ; Joan Ayers ; Alberta Creech ; Horma Frazier ; Elizabeth Mitchell ; Bessie Woodward ; Bertie Wilson ; Allene Maliccat ; Polly Turner ;  Della Turner ; Susie Hall.

Men’s Chorus: Oscar Peace ; George Maliccat ; Jim Wooton ; Charles Vaughn ; Burnett Draughn ; Alonzo Turner ; Earl Frazier ; Boyd Harris ; James Morrissey.

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“H.M.S. PINAFORE” PRODUCTIONS: Program, November 24, 1940 

The 1940 production included Willard Enix ; Malcolm Arny ; Oral Howard ; Bonnie Ayers ; August Angel ; Waler Franklin ; Majel Jones; Mabel Beeler ; Eleanor Ayers ;

The First Lord’s Sisters, His Cousins, His Aunts, Sailors, Marines, etc.: June Anderson ; Jane Bishop ; Thelma Centers ; Helen Ruth Cornett ; Patsy Hall ; Opal Hall ; Louise Hawn ; Gwendolyn Hendren ; Emma Lou Mullins ; Mary Pace ; Velma Peters ; Nell Shuler ; Anita Steen ; Charlsie Vaughn ; Jewel Weaver ; Barbara Spelman ; Miss Trufant ;

Jim Bishop ; Robert Blanton ; Janes Centers ; Harrison Cornett ; Carl Farley ; Jack Halcomb ; Newton Hamilton ; Karl Henson ; Herman Irick ; Fred Jones ; Ray Miller ; Collie Randolph ; Donald Thompson ; William Hayes ; John Spelman III.

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