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Show TOM FOOLERY Guest Columnist, John Baxter. Spring City Remember the old Opera (pronounced opery) houses and stock road shows that used to play them? The historic Salt Lake Theatre was, of course, the father of them . all, but each town and hamlet had one. x The advance agent would come tc each town and book his show, usually beginning at Fairview, then to Mt. Pleasant Pleas-ant and Soring City, crossing over to Moroni and Fountain Green, then down to Ephraim and South. The names of the show companies were famous at least to us as any company on Broadway. Their leading man or lady as attractive, and more capable than any Va!-entino, Va!-entino, Bing Crosby or Bette Davis. Stuttz on the billboards meant that the Stuttz shov; would be at the Opery House for 1, 2 or 3 days as per advertised ad-vertised dates. K. K. K. didn't mean what you think. It meant The Kempton Komedy Ko. was on its way to entertain you Little Johnnie Keough, son-in-law of the manager and owner own-er of the show, and a comedian of more than average ability, was the main attraction in his between-the-acts appearance! Some shows called it vaudeville between acts others called it specialties but they all had them. Bill Wampshire and his Company came in about 1907 or 1908 and took some of our local talent with him Arnold (Hap) Allred, Austin Erickson, Lew BlackEam, Bill Anderson, Ander-son, Bill Brady. They played in the band on parade, sometimes some-times in blackface, in the orchestra at night, or doubled on some part on the stage. You will, of course, remember The Walters Co. with old Luke Cosgrove who went "Hollywood" about the time Jimmy Cruse made "The Covered Wagon". Remember when the original production of "Corian- ton", the Book of Mormon play, was presented in some of the larger towns in the state? All North Sanpete hitched up the best steeds to "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" . and went to Mt. Pleasant and paid them the ridiculous price of 75c for reserved seats. Remember names like Theodore Lorch, Lew Foote, J, Forrest Taylor, Josephine Deffery or Ada Daniels? About the last of the stock companies to survive the 1 movies (the silent ones of course) was the "Toby" Taylor i Show which made the circuit every two weeks. Sometimes they were a little late if the mud in Fairview lane, or across . Dry Bottom or up Pigeon Hollow was a little too sticky. Remember, too, the local talent shows. Each town had them and presented several plays from Shakespearre down, each winter. Often when they felt they had something some-thing that would make a Broadway production look tame, they would take it to one or more of the neighboring towns, usually taking the town band along -with them. In one oi these James W. Blain as the Country Kid in the play of the same name, was more freckled, and his missing front tooth just as conspicuous, as the original. To you who have seen the stage plays, wouldn't you like to see some of them again? And wouldn't it be a revelation rev-elation to the younger generation who don't know there was ever anything but movies and jazz-1 |