Life Without Lesson Plans

Brooke Hills Playhouse, Print by Russ Shaffer, 1982 THE FIRST CAST OF CHARACTERS or THE BARNSTORMERS As I wrote at the beginning of Part 5A & 5B—Amazing people came to help make the Playhouse a reality in that summer of 1972. They sweated and shivered. They worked long hours and never complained loudly. They did… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 5C →

First Season Poster, 1972 THE FIRST CAST OF CHARACTERS or THE BARNSTORMERS As I wrote at the beginning of Part 5A—Amazing people came to help make the Playhouse a reality in that summer of 1972. They sweated and shivered. They worked long hours and never complained loudly. They did smelly, dirty jobs, and created a… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 5B →

Brooke Hills Playhouse, circa 1980 THE FIRST CAST OF CHARACTERS or THE BARNSTORMERS! (NOTE: Part 5 has three parts--5A, 5B, and 5C. The parts are about the great friends and relatives who worked at turning a barn into a theatre. There were too many people to tell you about in one post!) Amazing people came… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 5A →

ANOTHER BREAK IN THE ACTION: THAT WHICH WAS MISSING FROM THE RECENT CELEBRATION 1972 Season Program Cover, Cover design by Marlene Marston Bringardner I realize that this is going backward, but now that I’ve had time to reflect on the celebration for the 50th season at the Playhouse, I can think of about a hundred… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 2B →

Brooke Hills Playhouse GETTING ORGANIZED So, how did the Playhouse incorporators (perhaps more accurately “dreamers”), Bill Harper, John Hennen, and Shari Murphy, go about starting a theatre production company AND turning a barn into a theatre simultaneously?  We started making lists! The first important decision was deciding what plays to do, which play would run… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PARTS 3 & 4 →

A BREAK IN THE ACTION I’m taking a break from the Memoir posts relating to the history of the Playhouse today in order to write a little bit about the wonderful celebration for the Brooke Hills Playhouse’s 50th Season on Friday, July 9, and Saturday, July 10, 2021. On Friday evening, an appreciative audience of… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 2-A →

Shari Murphy, Bill Harper, John Hennen (photo taken in 1972, but this post takes place in 1971) PART TWO: NOW OR NEVER In the summer of 1971, during an impromptu get together at Ye Olde Alpha in Wheeling, W. Va., Bill Harper, John Hennen, and I once again talked about those great summers at the… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 2 →

Brooke Hills Playhouse A LITTLE ANCIENT HISTORY, OUR FOREBEARS The story of Brooke Hills Playhouse begins long before that first opening night on July 5, 1972. Albert (Al) Martin was a wonderful English and drama teacher at Kirk Junior High School in Cleveland, Ohio for years. Eventually, he became a traveling elementary drama teacher, and… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PART 1 →

Brooke Hills Playhouse It’s 2021, and the Brooke Hills Playhouse is celebrating the opening of its 50th season. As one of the initial investors, it seemed appropriate for me  to look back over the decades of plays and musicals produced on the Playhouse stage. This then is the story of how a pre-Civil War apple… Continue reading BROOKE HILLS PLAYHOUSE: A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR, PROLOGUE →

My husband Richard Coote first met John McDowell when they were students at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. Before graduating, both left college during the Viet Nam War and joined the military. Richard and John both made it back to college after completing their military service, and they are friends to this day. John eventually wrote… Continue reading No Guns on Sunday →