I was doing a little reminiscing about high school. Those years were good for me although I’m sure that’s not the case for some folks. I remember choir and working on Fiddler on the Roof. I was so ready for our senior production to be something that I could really go out for, and then Mr. Kessinger and Mrs. Smizer choose Fiddler. The entire cast was ethnically not in my wheelhouse as a blonde haired/blue eyed girl! I was devastated! After trying out for a lead anyway, I did get a singing part only to have my scene cut from the production before I ever got the music. Guess that’s how it goes some times.
Still loved working on the show, and the cast party at my house was quite “interesting?” Some of my fellow castmates imbibed a little bit and took aim at my mother’s mounted barracuda knocking the lower teeth out. I used Elmer’s glue to hide the damage and it remarkably held up until my parents moved to Chicago. When the movers unpacked the fish the teeth were out! Not knowing the back story there was a damage report made, and the movers had the barracuda repaired. I didn’t tell my parents for 15 years. At that point they were able to laugh with me about it! If you want to know who the guilty party was, I tell you at the reunion, but I don’t want to reveal it for the world to see on-line!
Karen Woods Reichley
8 Comments
I think my sole contribution to the Fiddler production was tripping over one of the benches on my way offstage at the end of the wedding scene. Since we were supposed to be chased by Cossacks, we were in a bit of a hurry, and oops, down I went, with an unscripted "OW." Jeanann Peterson's mom reported that yes, my un-Yiddish remark was heard by the audience.
Fiddler was fun..I was cast as Yenta the matchmaker....my was song cut too... I.wasn't that great a singer as I recall....but I made a great matchmaker as I went on to be a methodist minister and have been marrying people for thirty years!!! Looking forward to seeing all you choir members in September....
I was the curtain puller for Fiddler. During an early rehearsal, I began to open the curtain a beat too soon. Mrs. Smizer shouted out in her inimitable way, "Curtain puller, please keep your pants on!" Yes, I was embarrassed, and for the rest of the production, I did not miss one cue.
As an avid choir member, I too remember Fiddler as a highlight of my HS experience. On one occasion a number of cast members were asked to perform at a rather large home off of Glendale Rd. John Stirrat was asked to sing "Do You Love Me". Unfortuneately, Nancy Hibbet was not there, so it fell upon me to sing her part. John and I "hammed it up" singing this love song to one another. I think everyone got a kick out of it. I am saddened that John and I will not be able to repeat that performance.
BTW...I remember the After Party, also. While so many of our classmates were getting "wasted", I sat with a group of very attractive young ladies talking and consoling them as they watched many of the guys making fools of themselves. I don't remember the fish incident, but do remember preventing one very tall inibriated classmate from walking through a plate glass window.
Reading Karen and Sam's comments about choir and "Fiddler" brought back a flood of memories for me. I don't remember the antics from the "after-party", but I do remember that a group of us went to Ladue HS to see their rendition of Fiddler. OMG!! When they came out on stage with Teflon pots and pans and Samsonite luggage, Mrs. Smizer and Mr. K got up and walked out. It was hilarious!
Choir was the biggest and best part of my highschool experience and the only reason I went to school my Senior year. What a great group of people. We made alot of good memories. Have fun at the reunion,I don't know if I will be able to make it.
Nancy Knoesel Simorka
Like the rest of you I loved Fiddler too. I helped with the choreography and had to assist in getting the guy dancers to learn how to do the Bottle Dance...by balancing what were supposed to be vodka bottles on their heads while jumping around and 'knee walking like Russian dancers. We ended up trying to glue the bottles onto hats for the guys to wear...then there were the actual dancing issues. Our nice Webster boys weren't predisposed to be Russian or Jewish dancers. It was lots of fun!
Nancy, I'm sorry that you won't be able to make it to the Reunion. I was looking forward to seeing my "Prom date"! Choir and especially "Fiddler" was great. I can still remember playing Perchik, the radical student, being thrown to the floor when the soldiers broke up the wedding, having my elbow hit the stage and hearing Sue Chapman gasp in the audience, thinking that it was my head! I have lived in KC for the 36 years since college, been married for almost 29 years and have two grown daughters here in town. We're going to be grandparents for the 1st time in March!
Hey Todd! It was good to hear from you. You were my favorite Prom date. ( Don't get upset Steve Trampe, the dance we went to wasn't a" Prom". It was my first HighSchool dance,so nobody can top that!)
- Anyway, My husband Mike and I have been in New Jersey for 16 years. We have been married for 35 years. We have two sons; Brian- 28 and Steve- 25. Brian lives in North Carolina and works for the Durham Bulls as a Director of Corporate Sales. Steve is in his last semester of college at East Stroudsburg U. in PA . His major is Graphic Design and he is currently working for the University. Mike works in Pharmaceutical Sales and I am a retired preschool teacher. Everybody, enjoy the Reunion!
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