Historical Commentary
| Year | Comment | Contributor | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Young Peoples Operatta Guild (YPOG) took 9 months to produce Fortune Teller because the director, Mrs. Done, took a summer vacation back to her Chicago home. To stay in practice the Assistant Director (John Healy) formed a group called the Entr' Actes (named after the music played between scenes) to perform scenes and music from Waltz Dream, Fortune Teller at different venues. | Mark Healy (06/17/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1968 | The Entr'Actes then added musical numbers from other shows and became a traveling musical review. | Mark Healy (06/17/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1968 | Hansel and Gretel was performed at the Los Gatos Fiesta del Artes on Aug 25 in 1968.. | Mark Healy (06/17/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | Cabrini Community Theater was formed in late May 1969 after a successful Spring production of Hansel & Gretel in the summer of 1968 using the sixth grade class (plus selected lower classmen) of the St. Francis Cabrini School and the church hall. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | The 1969 summer program consisted of Hansel & Gretel (Aug 12 & 13), Don Quixote (Jul 26 & 27), and The Emporers New Clothes (Aug 9, 10 & 11). Although church facilities were used, the casting was open to all youth in the local community. Because the church hall was used for Bingo on Friday nights, the three performances of the latter show ran Sat, Sun & Mon. Probably the only time in the history of CCT/SJCMT that a show played on a Monday night. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | There is no surviving documentation of the Fall shows, if any. The Outlaw King must have been rehearsed during late fall of 1969, but was performed on Saturday Jan 31 and Sunday Feb 1 of 1970. It was performed at St. Martin of Tours church hall. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | This year started off with a production of The Outlaw King. The provenance of the show is confusing since the program cover states "St. Martins Presents..." yet a newspaper clipping exists which says that the play was performed at Cabrini Hall on Jan 31 and Feb 1 by the Cabrini Community Theater. It may have been rehearsed at St Martins and performed there earlier, but the surviving program was from the Cabrini performance. A mystery. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | There is a surviving program of a performance of Little Red Riding Hood which is undated, but references auditions for a spring workshop on Mar 1. This places the performance of the show sometime in Feb of 1970. March 1 fell on a Sunday in 1970 and the 2-5 pm call time would be consistant with church hall usage. Nothing is said about the shows that are planned for the spring workshop. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Hits & Bits, a Musical Comedy Review, was performed at St. Francis Cabrini on Apr 18 & 19, 1970. A program exists, showing songs from You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, Oliver, and Bye Bye Birdy were staged and sung. The next show was to be HMS Pinafore, to be performed on Jun 13, 14, 20, 21 at Cabrini Hall. Applications for the summer workshop were available, with the major show to be Of Thee I Sing and another Operetta to be announced. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | A call for Orchestra Auditions went out for Sat, Jun 6 1970 to form a youth orchestra for performances of CCT shows, eventually to become a young peoples symphony orchestra. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | A program survives of the show The Fortune Teller, performed on Jul 10 & 11, 1970, presumeably at Cabrini Hall. It also advertises the upcomming production of Of Thee I Sing, to be performed on Aug 8 & 9. It also referenced the past performance of HMS Pinafore in June. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | A program of Jack and the Beanstalk survives which was produced by the San Jose Marionette Theater, sponsored by the Cabrini Community Theater. It was a show with both live actors and marionetts on stage, written by John Healy and Anne Sudyka. There were two performances on Oct 17, 1970 at Cabrini Hall. In the program was a call for final signups for The Survey of American Musical Theater, to be produced by CCT under the San Jose Children's Musical Theater. This is the first written reference to SJCMT that we have found so far. Final signups were set for Sat, Oct 24. Shows to be represented in this musical review were Oklahoma, Music Man, Anything Goes, and George M. A news clipping was found which states the same information in a call for Jr. High and High School students to sign up. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | The first show of the year was presented by the San Jose Childrens Musical Theater, sponsored by the Cabrini Community Theater. Titled, "A Survey of American Musical Theater", it was a review of Musical Theater history presented in two parts. Part I was a review of earlier musicals and was performed in St. Frances Cabrini Hall on Jan 9 & 10, 1971. Part II was a review of later Musical Theater, performed on Jan 30 & 31, 1971. A program of Part II has survived. The program announces the 1971 spring workshop beginning Feb 13 to produce The Emperors New Clothes in early May. Also announced was a summer production of George M, with auditions on Jun 12 & 13, with a special call for "any young men from the teen years up" interested in the title role to sign up as early as possible for special training. There is no other documentation that George M was ever produced until 1974. There is documented evidence that The Wizard of Oz was the summer show in 1971. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | In the program for The Survey of American Musical Theater, the San Jose Children's Musical Theater was described as "an arm of the sponsoring Cabrini Community Theater" formed the summer of 1970 with the first production being Of Thee I Sing. A production of Hansel and Gretel was performed at the Santa Clara County Fair in August, and the Marionette/Musical Jack and the Beanstalk was produced in October. The stated goal of SJCMT was to serve as a stepping stone to the Cabrini Community Theater and other teenage and adult Light Opera Companies. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | On Mar 27 & 28 the Cabrini Community Theater presented HMS Pinafore in Los Gatos High School, sponsored by the Vietnam Memorial Committee as a fund raiser. A couple of news clippings survived. In one it was stated that the cast of "over 30", composed of performers ranging in age from 12 to 30, had performed Pinafore in San Jose, Cambrian Park, and Palo Alto. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | On Jul 17 & 18 the San Jose Childrens Musical Theater presented The San Jose Marionette Theater's production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, co-authored and directed by John P Healy Jr. and Ann Sudyka at Cabrini Hall. The program announced a comming production of Little Red Riding Hood to be performed at St Martin of Tours Parish Hall on Jul 31 and Aug 1. Also announced was the summer production of the Wizard of Oz opening in Cabrini Hall on the weekend of Aug 7 and performing on the following two weekends. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | The Wizard of Oz was performed on three successive weekends starting on Aug 7, 1971 based on a full page spread in a local newspaper. There were numerous publicity photos of the cast and director in rehearsal. No documentation has survived regarding any fall shows in 1971. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | The first show of this year was Oliver, with performances starting Jan 29, 1972 and running three successive weekends at Cabrini Hall. There was also one performance at the new "San Jose Community theater", later known as the Center for the Performing Arts (CPA). By some, this was before the new theater was officially open to the public, and was a trial run for the facility. The summer workshop newsletter called Oliver a tremendous success. Several promotional photos survive from this show. Also, for this show and one other, an LP disc was cut from a performance. The audio tracks were converted to MP3 format and, along with images of the album cover are available elsewhere on this website. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Your a Good Man Charlie Brown played on Feb 25 & 25 at the West Valley Community Center and on Mar 18 & 19 at Cabrini Hall. No program has survived, but several newspaper clippings describe the cast and show dates. One clipping noted that signups for the summer show, Annie Get Your Gun, would be taken at the Cabrini Hall performances. A call for auditions for the summer program was issued in the paper on Feb 19, 1972 to be held at St Martins on May 6 & 7, and at Cabrini Hall on May 14. Shows listed were Annie Get Your Gun, to be rehearsed and performed at Cabrini Hall, and Cinderella, to be rehearsed and performed at St Martins. A third show for younger performers, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, was announced to be rehearsed and performed at the Cabrini Hall, but personal communication from the director is that this original show was never performed. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | The Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta, Pirates of Penzance, was performed at Cabrini Hall on Apr 29 & 30 as noted in the SJCMT Newsletter for the Summer workshops. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Cinderella was scheduled to be performed in late July at St Martins church hall based on summer program schedule. No other information exists about this show. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Annie Get Your Gun performances were scheduled at Cabrini Hall on Aug 12, 1972, and runs for three consecutive weekends. No program survives, but several newspaper clippings do, and this was the other SJCMT show for which an LP disk was cut. The sound tracks and album cover are also available elsewhere on this web site. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | In September 1972 a special newsletter was issued announcing a new temporary home for SJCMT at 222 So. Second St. This was to be a set construction and storage area as well as rehearsal hall. Audition announcements were issued for Sep 23 & 24 at Cabrini Hall for the Magic Nutcracker, to be rehearsed at 222 S Second St, and Music Man, to be rehearsed at Camden High School. It seems that this is the end of the affiliation with St. Frances Cabrini. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | The Magic Nutcracker was performed at Bret Harte School in the Almaden area of San Jose on Dec 9 & 10. Music Man was performed in January of 1973 at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose. | Jim McElroy (06/01/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Music Man was performed at the Montgomery Theater on Jan 12, 13, and 14. Page 2 of the program comprised a statement of organization and purpose, including a strongly stated disclaimer that SJCMT was not connected in any way with any other theater organization. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | The spring program of SJCMT was announced to include Little Red Riding Hood in Apr and Bye Bye Birdy in May. Nothing appears in the record regarding the April performance of Little Red Riding Hood. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Several newspaper clippings record the performance of Bye Bye Birdy on the weekend of May 18, 19, & 20. A cut up program from the show was found in a scrapbook which provide the cast list, some of the cast biographies and some pictures, including a large centerfold picture of the entire cast. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | A Newsletter announcing the workshop schedules for Summer of 1973 was mailed before June 2, when the registrations and auditions were heldat the San Jose Library Community Room on San Carlos. The summer productions were Babes in Toyland for ages 6-18, and Don Quixote for ages 13-21. Performances of Babes in Toyland to be in the Montgomery Theater on Aug 17, 18, & 19, and of Don Quixote on Jul 20, 21 & 22, also in Montgomery. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | A suplementary Newsletter was sent out (undated) notifying parents and cast members that Don Quixote could only be performed if the City Council could be successfully persuaded to restore funding cuts by the Arts Commission. Parents and cast members were urged to lobby the City Council and to attend the meeting in which the funding was to be discussed. The only record that Don Quixote was actually performed is an offhand comment in a newsletter announcing the spring workshops in 1974. An announcement was made of a free performance, in the Montgomery Theater, of the San Jose Symphonette (conducted by John P Healy Jr) in concert with the San Jose Boys Chorus. One of the performers, Jerry Negrete, was recognized as having played the part of Don Quixote "last summer". | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Nothing has been found concerning the fall/winter shows if any. The 1973 calendar year of SJCMT is pretty poorly documented. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | The year started off with the performance of George M! in the Montgomery Theater on Jan 4, 5 & 6. This performance was the first in a series of "Americana" productions produced in cooperation with the San Jose Bi-Centenial Commission. Later productions were to include a program of American Composers performed by the San Jose Symphonette Orchestra (SJCMT Show Orchestra reformatted as a Youth Symphony); "Oklahoma", in May of 1975; "Of Thee I Sing" in Jan of 1976; and in grand conclusion, "1776", in Jul of 1976. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | George M also marked the last performance of Mark, Anne and Mary Healy as they moved to Arizona. To paraphrase George M. Cohan himself, " My Mother thanks you, my Father thanks you, my Sisters thank you, and I thank you" | Mark Healy (06/03/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | A much expanded set of workshops and classes were announced as a result of additional funding and cooperation from the City of San Jose. Shows announced were Little Abner to be performed in May 1974; Wizard of Oz to be performed in Aug 1974; Oliver for Jan 1975; and Oklahoma in May of 1975. The performance of Oklahoma was promised for the San Jose Community Theater (later CPA). Additional unnamed Training Shows were promised for younger performers. For the spring workshop the young performers were to do Jack and the Beanstalk. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Another change noted in this program was that SJCMT had a new home. The building at 43 E St James St, affectionately known as POPA was now the offical home and rehearsal hall of the group. Some claim the name was from "Papa" DiNapoli who leased the building to the group for $1 per year (there is a rumor that the payments are still in arrears), but most believe it is an acronym for Palace Of (the) Performing Arts, a tongue in cheek name based on its dilapidated, though sturdy condition. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Joint performances of Jack & the Beanstalk and Hansel & Gretel were held at the Montgomery Theater on Mar 16, 17 & 18 as noted by several newspaper clippings. Some pretty decent publicity photos from these shows survived. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Little Abner was performed on May 24, 25 & 26 and Jun 1 at the Montgomery Theater. A program with complete Cast list survives. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Auditions for the Wizard of Oz and the childrens production of Robin Hood on June 8 & 9. The Wizard of Oz was performed at the Montgomery Theater on Aug 23, 24 & 25. Robin Hood was performed on Aug 16 & 17 at Parker School off Union Avenue. Neither of these shows are represented by programs, but some of the cast list can be pieced together from newspaper clippings. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Registration for fall workshops and classes took place on Sep 7, 8, & 15. Rehearsals for the Jan 3 performance of Oliver began in September. A "Christmas Show", otherwise unidentified, was promised for Dec 13, 14 at Parker School. A credit in the program for Cinderella, performed in Aug 1975, was given to Virginia Vlahakis for costuming the 1974 Christmas show, "The Magi's Gift". | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | The first show of the year was Oliver, performed at the Montgomery Theater on two weekends, Jan 3-5 & 10-12, based on the fall Newsletter from 1974. No program or clippings for this show seem to exist, though that is hard to believe. Some rather good publicity photos do exist. The cast and crew had been working on the show since September 1974. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | A spring Newsletter announced the spring workshops to be Oklahoma, to be performed at the Center for Performing Arts on May 16-18. This was one of the Bi-Centenial performances. Also, the Emperor's New Clothes, to be performed at the Montgomery Theater on April 25-27. The spring training show, Goldilocks & the Three Bears, was to be performed at Farnham School sometime in early April. Auditions for the three shows were held at 43 E St James St on Jan 18, 19 & 25. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | A special Newsletter issued in March 1975 announced the performance of a double feature, Aladdin's Lamp & Jack and the Beanstalk, directed by Penny & Debbie Patrick. Performance one weekend only on Mar 29 & 30. Also performing was HMS Pinafore at the Montgomery Theater on Apr 11-13 & 18-19. Nothing was said about this being in addition to or a replacement of The Emperor's New Clothes (see above) but a later Newsletter paragraph claimed a sellout for The Emperor. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | The March Newsletter also included a paragraph of congratulations to several former SJCMT performers who had recently been hired by Great America Theme Park theater program. Of the 60 performers hired that first year from the entire country, 16 were from SJCMT. Named were:
| Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | A second special NewsLetter in May reiterated the comming summer season but was principally concerned about Arts Commission and Council actions regarding the Arts Grant Application. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Oklahoma was performed on May 16 & 17 at the Center for Performing Arts, and a program with full cast list and selected cast Bios has survived. The program stated that both "Goldilocks & the Three Bears" and "The Emperorer's New Clothes" played to standing room audiences in April of 1975. The page describing activities of SJCMT in support of the San Jose Bicentenial Celebration was included, and it is worth noting that the show "West Side Story" has replaced "Of Thee I Sing" as the signature performance in Jan 1976. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Cinderella was performed at the Montgomery Theater on Jul 18, 19 & 20. A program has survived with the complete cast list and selected cast member bios. A call was made for new orchestra members and a list of upcomming productions included, "My Fair Lady", "West Side Story", "Damn Yankees", and "1776". The two next attractions were announced as "Alladin" and "The Frog Prince" to be performed Aug 1 & 2 at Castro Jr. High School. The fall workshops were announced to be "West Side Story", five performances in the Center for Performing Arts, Jan 9 & 10, 1976; "Scrooge", five performances at the Montgomery Theater, Dec 12, 13 & 14; a Fairy Tale Musical TBA with rehearsals and performances at a neighborhood school. The back cover was a poster and ticket order form for the upcomming "Damn Yankees". | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | The Bicentenial Celebration page now announces the formation of a special "Bi-Centenial Tour Show" to feature scenes from American Musicals, such as 1776, George M, Oklahoma, Damn Yankees, Grease, and West Side Story. The group was to tour the Southwest the last week of August 1976 and perform in other special bookings. Auditions were to be held May 24 for six men and six women performers. No further information has been found regarding this group. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Damn Yankees was performed at the Center for Performing Arts on Aug 15 & 16, 1975. A program has survived, with full cast list and selected performer bios. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | On Sep 13 & 14 Auditions were held at 43 E St James St for West Side Story, to be produced in CPA Jan 9-11, 1976; Scrooge, to be produced in Montgomery Theater Dec 12-14 & 18-19; Snow White, a special training show. A second clipping from another paper listed the training show as "Treasure Island". | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Scrooge, The Stingiest Man in Town, played at the Montgomery Theater on two weekends, Dec 12-14, and Dec 18 & 19. A program has survived with full cast list and selected performer Bios. The call for young musicians for the show orchestra referred to upcomming performances of HMS Pinafore and Tom Sawyer. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | The spring 1976 workshops were announced to be HMS Pinafore presented at the Montgomery Theater on Mar 26-28, and Apr 2-4; Tom Sawyer performed in the Montgomery Theater on Apr 23-25. Training shows were Hansel & Gretel, to be produced and rehearsed in the Almaden area and performed in early May, and Little Red Riding Hood rehearsed and performed in the West Valley Area, performance date not stated. The back cover of the Scrooge program was a poster and ticket order for West Side Story, performed at CPA on Jan 9 & 10, 1976. | Jim McElroy (06/02/06) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | After the last performance of WIZARD, the whole cast waved goodbye to Paula Benedetti and Jennifer Cihi as they dashed off to catch a plane for a final call-back in Los Angeles for the West Coast Touring Production of ANNIE. They were both cast in the show only because John had taken them and several other SJCMT girls down to audition in November. It was a fabulous experience that could only have happened because of the skills and opportunities John gave them! (SJ Mercury Article) | Joan Benedetti (06/24/08) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | I don't even know where to start. SJCMT was a major part of my life. First show was WIZARD OF OZ. 1974. I was a Munchkin. Many, many shows up through my teen years. POPA, the old building downtown, was like a second home. It was a refugee froma very tumultous home life. I never was one of John's "stars", but he encouraged me enough to believe in my talent...which ultimately lead to two years on Broadway in Les Miserables. SJCMT gave me an early boot camp to separate my self-worth from the part/audition. John was easily one of the most important men in my formative years. I can still see all those faces of my youth: the Hart kids, Carol Marmorek, Teresa Tracey, Adele and Nora Sparks. Paula Mulcahey, ( What a crush I had on that one!) Candi Milo. Sean Burger. Hope life is well for all of you. I ran into Dee-Dee and he in a Bookstore in San Francisco in the 80's. I was the lead at the time in ACT'S "the Floating Lightbulb" I took his hand, looked into this aged face, and thanked him. He had no idea. How lucky I was to be a boy there. At POPA. Singing. With other misfits. Investing in myself I never would have imagined. There truly is something extraordinary in giving a child a place to stand before others...terrified...and sing to the rafters. It's taken me so far. Liam O'Brien | Liam O'Brien (09/08/07) |
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History Page last updated 7/31/08 1:57 pm