Martha Wheelwright Galleher ’45 Being shy, I was terrified in any Calvert play about forgetting my lines, especially when they were in French. Luckily, Madame Gunning would scream behind the curtain so I could hear her and so could the laughing audience. Nevermind, she became my favorite character and friend who never let me down and made me love French!
Kittie Frick Beyer ’48 I sang, “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and I think it was probably the high point in my career. It’s been downhill ever since.
Marion Parsons DeGroff ’51 I don’t remember the play or my part, but at one point we made puppets in Miss Mooney’s art class and did a puppet show for the school. I made (and still have) a Dutch boy dressed in blue and yellow. I’m now married to a man of Dutch descent, whose favorite colors are blue and yellow. Predestination?
Hill Michaels, Jr. ’51 Performing Treasure Island in Twelfth Age was my favorite memory. Frank Deford ’51 was Ben Gunn.
Kelly Finney ’76 Mr. Snyder in Eighth Age had us do Alexander the Great and the lead (I will not say his name) threw up in the hall right before the play – I came out of the dungeon moments later and slipped in it. I still remember that he had honey on toast for breakfast which I cannot eat to this day.
Julia Buchanan Salovaara ’77 In Seventh Age, I was so softspoken that I was given only one line in the class play. My only responsibility throughout the entire performance was to respond, “The last Thursday in November” to the line, “When is Thanksgiving?” In my later years at Calvert, I earned some more interesting parts, but I do not remember any of them. However, I have never forgotten that line (and I’ve never had any confusion about the timing of Thanksgiving).
Tatum Campbell DiGiovanni ’84 I always favored the Christmas play, and really hoped to be Mary or the Angel when I was in Twelfth Age. But it was not meant to be...I came down with the chicken pox two weeks before the play and ended up being just a shepherd. But I still loved being in it!
Laura Lea Bryant ’98
Bill Atkins ’74 I remember singing “Harvest Moon.” Getting on that wonderful old wooden stage was a most terrifying event. Now I am a trial lawyer!
FALL 2010
I can’t remember what the play was about – some sort of creative amalgam of children’s stories – and I played Winnie the Pooh. There was also a fantastic Paddington Bear – we were in complete head-to-toe mascot-style bear costumes and we loved it! I also played the angel in the Twelfth Age nativity play, and I was so honored to be chosen for the part. It was one of the first times I recognized that my accomplishments at Calvert were significant and would reap rewards.
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