Preserving a piece of Yesteryear?s entertainment

By Brooks Taylor, Mt Pleasant News

?I never had so much fun making so little money,? Bob Hollis told the 50 people gathered Saturday at The Theatre Museum at Midwest Old Threshers.

Hollis, a ?trouper? (a term referring to actors in repertoire theatre) was among several troupers reminiscing during the 33rd annual meeting of the National Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre.

The event, which has drawn as many as 175 attendees in the past, is hosted in Mt. Pleasant because as David Ripper of Cedar Rapids, president of the national society, says, Mt. Pleasant is where the goods are. ?Mt. Pleasant has the largest collection of memorabilia from the repertoire theatre in the United States.?

That?s largely due to the collection of material from the late Neil and Caroline Schaffner, who were the top names in repertoire theatre in its hey day in the 1920s and 1930s. The Schaffners were also founders of the ?Toby? shows, which are still performed today.

Ripper, with a tone of sadness in his voice, admits the popularity of repertoire theatre has diminished greatly over the years, and the conference is one way to keep it alive among the faithful. ?Repertoire theatre is dying off,? he stated. ?Today there are so many other entertainment options. People don?t know what they are missing.?

Monie Hayes, of Mt. Pleasant, treasurer of the national society, said that at one time, repertoire theatre topped the entertainment venue. ?At one time, people were seeing tent shows more often than operas or Broadway shows. Repertoire theatre is a part of American history.?

Repertoire theatre differs from traditional theater, Ripper said, in that the actors played in different plays. ?Generally, there were five or six plays in repertoire compared to just one in regular theater. The theme of it was humans showing humans to be humans.?

The national society?s conference is always in April and this year there were attendees from as far away as California. Ripper estimated that five or six states were represented but added past conferences have attracted guests from Great Britain and Australia.

He said another purpose of the conference is to encourage study in repertoire theatre and to give students a line of study. ?It is not just theatrical. So many other fields of study can be applied.?

Ripper was excited to relate that the museum at Old Threshers recently received a collection of photos from the great-niece of J.S. Angel, which included pictures of repertoire theatre from 1870 to 1930.

?Mt. Pleasant should be proud of this (theater museum),? Ripper said. ?People from all over the country come here to see it.?

Hayes said repertoire theatre, which also is termed tent shows, is still alive and well in major markets. She said she became involved in the society ?because part of my personal life was as an actor. I think it is extremely important to pass this along to the next generation as a form of entertainment.

?However, I am more of a scholar than an actor,? she continued. ?I am able to draw on my love for the theater.?

She is now one of the tour guides at the museum, having been recruited for the position by the late Martha Hayes, who was heavily involved in Mt. Pleasant history and the museum. ?I would like to see more local people take advantage of the museum. ?A lot of people who come, come because their parents were troopers. Caroline (Schaffner) always advocated the keeping of history and Neil (Schaffner) wrote a lot of plays. He was pretty prolific.?

Probably the most significant reason for the decline of repertoire theatre was the television, Hayes noted. ?With television, people didn?t have to leave their homes.?

This year?s conference included presentations by many former troupers including reflections by Allan Allsup who worked with the Schaffners and other descendants of troupers and offered glimpses into family life while involved in show business.

Hayes said the tours pick up during Old Threshers. Still, she wishes she would see more locals. ?Once, I had four men from Great Britain, who were taking a cross-country trip, stop. They had a great time. If four people from Great Britain can do it (tour the museum), people from New London can, too.?