Our logo in 1957
This just in from former Celebrity Series Executive Director Walter Pierce, a little missive on some of the not-so-good old days. I wonder if Walter tells us these great old stories of trials past to make us feel better about ourselves somehow . . . well, it works. I, for one, am relieved I wasn't present!
Dear Jack:
How is the Royal Ballet doing at the box-office? I am so looking forward to seeing that great company again -- my first attraction at the Celebrity Series when I joined Aaron Richmond in the fall of 1957. Total staff including me at the time: 4. What a nightmare for a first timer. The company was scheduled to play at the old Opera House on Huntington Avenue the first week of October, and tickets had been on sale beginning in the Spring with the mailing of the series announcement. The Shuberts, who owned the theatre, were facing mega-repair costs (rumor had it the facade was about to descend into the street below).
We had to request the return of tickets from the public while we sought an alternate site. We ended up renting a movie house, the Loew's State, on Mass. Ave. now a condo owned by the Mother Church. Terrible conditions. Shallow stage, no dressing rooms, minuscule orchestra pit. We rented the Fine Arts Theatre around the corner for dressing rooms. The dancers ran through an adjacent alley to enter the Loew's State.
Not everyone returned tickets, so people were showing up at sold out performances with tickets for the Opera House and I had to scurry around trying to find places for them. It was like Jesus and the loaves of bread as I shoe-horned people into two boxes I had at my disposal. Somehow we got through the engagement of "Sleeping Beauty" which at the time was the Royal's signature piece.
Anyway, that's the news from Lake Wobegon where the impresarios are pretty and the children are strong.
Best Wishes,
Walter
A subscription brochure from the fall of 1957 indicates that the roster of stars for that engagement included Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, Beryl Grey and John Field. The thought of those dancers sprinting across alleys off Mass. Avenue is horrifyingly funny. Or is it hilariously horrifying?
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