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Home , Gwen Verdon, Lauren Bacall, Richard Benjamin, Smash (novel), Walnut Street Theatre

Philadelphia Memories

Kent Jones

One of my best memories of was going to the Academy of Music to hear The Philadelphia Orchestra, with Eugene Ormandy conducting. The Orchestra was famous world-wide for its lush string sound and it was a thrill to hear that sound in-person, after listening to it on records. It was also a thrill to see the concertmaster, Norman Carol, who was previously the concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra. I grew up in the Twin Cities and saw Mr. Carol many times with that Orchestra. Following the concerts, I would take quiet walks back to campus along Locust Street, through Rittenhouse Square, down charming Delancey Place and across the South Street Bridge.

I also discovered Sam Goody! Each Sunday in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sam Goody had an ad in the arts section, offering discounts that week on certain record labels. I would clip out the ad and take the subway to Center City to check out the extensive classical music section. Thanks to Sam Goody and the discounts, over time I built my own record collection. Classmate George Korengold introduced me to his love for jazz and I soon added records of Miles Davis, and other jazz greats from the 50s and 60s, to my collection.

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Barry A. Guryan

One of my best memories at Penn was dancing in the Mask and Wig show, “All’s Fair”, at the Mask and Wig Club downtown. Other than collecting a ton of overtime parking tickets, it was a glorious experience.

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Fran Poeppelmeier Sheeley & Karen Whitestone Carr

WALNUT WALK 1968

While whiling away a few hours in our majestic Hamilton Court apartment, E101 as we lovingly called it, we hatched an idea about how to spend one day before graduation with all of our best pals. We actually thought about this our junior year but expanded it to include just about anyone who wanted to join our merry band senior year during graduation week. We based this upon the fact that alcohol may have been involved during some of our best times at Penn and the fact that we adored Philadelphia. So we recruited Alex Conroy, our illustrious class president, to lead this merry band of reprobates for a farewell tour of Walnut Street by leading a stroll from 2nd and Walnut (Bookbinder’s) to Smokey Joe’s (38th and Walnut), stopping at every establishment along the way for one “short” drink.

There were rules of the road. The alcohol consumption was for men only and the women were required to be “minders”, i.e. not drink, and make sure the guys survived – after, all, this was 1968. Only one drink was allowed at each bar/pub/restaurant and then we moved onto the next one, always as a pack. We met at 10:00 am at Bookbinder’s with the goal of making it to Smoke’s in time for “cocktails” to celebrate this achievement. Our recollection is that everyone did make it for many more celebratory toasts and a burger. Mary, Smokey Joe’s favorite waitress, was there to greet us! A few needed to use some back alleys along the way but, heh, it was a long way up Walnut Street.

What we remember, however, is the total delight in walking Walnut Street from Society Hill through Center City and Rittenhouse Square and crossing the bridge into University City and Penn’s campus, shouting upon arrival after stops at Carney’s, The Deck, among others before hitting Smokey Joe’s, “We made it!” And none of us were arrested along the way…

The beauty of Center City and Penn’s campus that day was cemented in our minds (at least for some us). After all, we were the Class of 1968 and had spent 4 glorious years of our lives in the City of Brotherly Love.

Those of you who participated know who you are and shall remain nameless!

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"BROADWAY IN PHILLY" by Lee Gordon C'68

In the 1950’s, my parents owned the Music House record store in Baltimore. Besides the tons of 45 RPM rock ‘n’ roll records I scarfed up, I also listened to 33 1/3 RPM records of Broadway shows from that era, such as The Pajama Game, South Pacific, and My Fair Lady. I dreamed of seeing such shows on the “Great White Way,” but I knew that Baltimore was too distant for my dreams to be realized. Then in 1963, on a college exploration tour to Columbia University, my father took me to an unforgettable musical: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford – a hilarious comedic duo. Sixth row center!

I was hooked; but where and when and how could I afford to return to Broadway after I turned Columbia down for dear ol’ Penn? The answer: Pre-Broadway tryouts. Yup, for a cheap student ticket, I found myself headed down to four venues: at 1114 Walnut Street; New Locust Theatre at 1411 Locust Street; Shubert Theatre at 250 South Broad Street; Walnut Street Theatre at 825 Walnut Street. Unforgettable performances by famous stars, all headed straight to Broadway!

Forrest Theatre: Alan King in The Impossible Years (September 1965); in (December 1965); , and Richard Benjamin in The Star-Spangled Girl (December 1966). New Locust Theatre: Louis Gossett, Jr., , Diane Ladd and David Steinberg in Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights (Directed by ) (February 1968). Shubert Theatre: in the musical (December 1965); Clive Revill in Sherry! (The Man Who Came to Dinner) (February 1967). Walnut Street Theatre: Nicol Williamson in Inadmissible Evidence (November 1965); Tony Randall and (with Margaret Hamilton) in UTBU (December 1965).

UTBU and Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights both bombed , each having only 7 performances. What do I know? I thoroughly enjoyed both! UTBU was a hilarious farce, with two verbal jousting comedic stars, centering around a wacky organization UTBU (“Unhealthy To Be Unpleasant”) dedicated to righting the world's ills by exterminating nasty people. Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, with a stellar cast and famous director, is a scathing satire about a guilt ridden young Jewish man who offers to be a slave to a Black Columbia law student.

But the most memorable production I saw was the only musical in my list: Sweet Charity, a play. Bob ’s staging was impeccable, and as a bonus, this Philly play was longer and had more musical numbers than the Broadway production. I had seen Gwen Verdon in 1955 as Lola in . This 9-year-old boy fell in love with this stunning , this terrific singer and dancer supreme. But now my adult college self also got to see Gwen Verdon perform her classic role – that’s better than any Philly cheesesteak!

Thank you, Philadelphia theatre district, for this wonderful life enhancing education!