Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 17

j- "-t r' 1 1 ll -r a- M- A -1- I 1 Ml1 wtiU rx 4 fl-1 w-v 9 A Sunday April 7 1963 Kingsport Times-News 5-B Hits Barter Monday TV Coverage For Spring Story Opens Opening Spring Bill The opening of the Spring season at the Barter Theatre Monday will be covered by WJHL-TV of Johnson City The TV coverage will begin at 7: 15 pm and continue until the curtain goes op at 8:00 The tape made at this time will be shown on WJHL-TV (Channel 11) on Tuesday April 9 at 11:15 pm Reservations for the opening and all over performances of The Miracle Worker which runs through April 20 can be made by writing the Barter Theatre box office or by telephone at 128-3991 Abingdon Barter Theatre Abingdon Virginia is opening its Spring Season with "The Miracle Worker by William Gibson The play opened on Broadway in October 1959 and was an immediate critical success The Barter production will bring Donna Zim-mermann and Gillian Spencer who played Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan on the national tour to Abingdon to recreate these roles THE PLAY which opened in Richmond last month met with rave reviews there and will run from April 8 through April 20 Abingdon It is a play which the entire family will enjoy and from which everyone can learn It is a highly entertaining play but it teaches that sometimes pity is not enough that compassion requires understanding that courage wears many faces The Miracle Worker opens briefly on the illness which caused Helen Keller to become deaf and blind It then moves on to look in on her family when she is six years old It shows the frustration her family feels in trying to cope with the deaf blind mute child The heartbreaking situation is explored the impossibility of disciplining the child the strain her disability places on family relationships the fear that she will be harmed or cause harm to someone because of her almost total lack of awareness of the world Annie Sullivan (Gillian Spencer) has a tense moment with Helen Keller (Donna Zimmerman) in The Miracle Worker This scene was taken during the plays run in Richmond last month Shown here in a scene from The Miracle Worker" are left to right Diane Hill Ned Beatty David Richmond Donna Zimmerman Gillian Spencer and Alice Yourman This picture was taken during the plays run in Richmond THE Three Make First ITS SO EASY TO ARTS Barter Appearance Books Drama Music FUN TALK Supporting roles in The Miracle Worker are being taken by Alice Yourman a veteran of the National Tour Henry Storzier David Richmond a newcomer to the Barter stage and Marie Goodman Hunter a Richmond-area singer Miss Yourman who appears as Aunt Ev is remembered from early radio as Maria Hawkins on "Young Widder Brown Mom on "Archie Andrews for several roles on Henry Aldrich and for appearances with most of the "soap operas and as an announcer She has been on TV as 1 aura Grant in "Guiding Light she was the original Aunt Trina on "Mama and has appeared on the Phil Silvers Show The Defenders "Naked City "Young Dr Malone" and Edge of Night Born in Illinois raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota and educated in Chicago she now resides in New York where she takes an interest in gardens early American glass old dolls flower arranging sculpting and life in general Henry Stroier appearing in The Miracle Worker as Mr Anagnos will be remembered as the Old Actor in The Fantastics and as Charley in "Wheres Charley He first appeared with the Barter Players in 1960 in "The Boy Friend "Regions of Noon "The Golden Fleecing and Rumpelstiltskin Since then he has been in Idiots Delight "Marriage-Go-Round" "Under Milk Wood "No Exit "This Wooden 0 "27 Wagons Full of Cotton and The Zoo Story at Barter He appeared at the Pinehurst Playhouse in Bus Stop Tea and Sympathy with Margaret Phillips Mister Roberts with Art James and "Time of the Cuckoo with Margaret Truman He also appeared in "Rumpelstiltskin with Pilgrim Productions in New York and off-Broadway in "Topsy Turvy Town David Richmond making his Barter Theatre debut in the role of James the half-brother of Helen Keller has previously appeared as St Thomas a Beckett in Elliots Murder in the Cathedral as Tom The Glass Menagerie and as Starbuck in "The Rainmaker At The Irish Hills Playhouse last season he appeared in "The Plays the Thing Reclining Figure and "The Importance of Being Earnest He played Hippolytus in a Wayne State University Studio Theatre production of the Racine tragedy "Phaedra last fall and was seen in Crawling Around and "Dock Brief in a Deficit coffeehousetheatre Mane Goodman Hunter is making her first non-singing appearance in the role of Viney the housekeeper in The Miracle Worker She is a graduate of Virginia State College and did graduate work at Columbia University where she was a soloist with the Teachers College Choir She appeared with The Common Glory in 1956 and is a soloist with several Richmond choirs She taught in the Richmond public school system for eight years The family decides to write to a famous specialist but the only help he can offer is to recommend a nurse and tutor who may be able to teach Helen The scene shifts to Boston and Annie Sullivans departure from the Perkins Institute where she has been taught after being blind herself WE NEXT see her arrival in Alabama and her first meeting with Helen She is young and confident and feels that Helens family has given up any hope of the childs really being helped We see her begin to teach Helen a fmger alphabet knowing that the letters have no meaning to her but hoping that constant repetition will enable her to connect this finger game with words and the words with objects Her first attempt to discipline Helen results in a battle royal Helens family is disconcerted by her methods and by her direct manner and Annies dismissal nearly results Instead she is given two weeks alone with Helen in which to try to reach her Her only hope and her only method is to spell to her to spell into her hand endlessly She is successful in teaching the child discipline but is unable to really reach into her mind AS THE two weeks come to an end she is frustrated that she has not been able to reach Helen and pleads for more time The Kellers refuse they are impatient to have Helen back and they are pleased with the results she has obtained It goes against the gram of Annie Sullivan to accept mere obedience for Helen instead of understanding but she is for the moment at least helpless The family gathers for a dinner in celebration of Helens return and in celebration of her newly acquired manners Helen chooses this time to misbehave she is testing Annie Sullivan When Annie refuses to let Helen test her in this manner and tries to discipline her the family interferes and then permits Annie to have her way It is at this point that understanding finally comes to Helen She remembers the one word she had known before her illness a childish wah-wah for water and the gates of her mind are opened THE MIRACLE WORKER is the story of Annie Sullivan and her Boston Insh indomitable spirit Throughout he play there are flashbacks to her childhood and her memories of her dead brother It is the story of her determination to succeed at the only thing there was for her to do and of her eventual success The Miracle Worker has been called brilliant drama and it won the coveted Tony (The Antoinette Perry Award) as the best play of the 1959-1960 Broadway season One critic has commented that The Miracle Worker is not only seen with the eyes but believed with the heart SMALL TALK Diane Hill and Ned Beatty who play Helen Kellers parents in The Miracle Worker are shown here in a scene from the Barter Theatres spring season opening play MIRACLE WORKER Diane Hill Old elton Directs Pro At Barter sJ 4 i i I SWEET TALK and appeared most recently on television in Car 54 Where Are You? and the Jackie Gleason Show Mr Melton is a cum laude graduate of Washington Square College of New York University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and wrote an honors thesis on Tennessee Williams He comes to the Barter from Broadway where he has been working on die production of Strange Interlude the initial presentation of the new Actors Studio Theatre vision Network and the CBS Radio Network has been broadcast on over 140 radio and TV stations here and abroad In theatre plays he has directed indude Orpheus Descending "Teahouse of the August Moon" Mr Roberts A Sleep of Prisoners Rope Talk to Me Like the Rain and "Command Decision He has studied directing with Lee Strasberg and Jose Quintero cated with Jason Robards Don Murray and Tom Postal The Miracle Worker opening Monday at the Barter Theater is directed by Paid Melton Melton has been a CBS television producer and wnote The Strategy of Truth a one-hour television special featuring Dr Arnold Toynbee A Liebling James Reston and Charles Collingwoo exploring how freedom of information originated and evaluating how well government and the media inform the public The program carried by both (he National Educational Tele rate Tables with Dennis King "Auntie Marne with Elizabeth Wilson in which she played Vera Charles The Reluctant Debutante: as Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac and during this wmters season in The Taming of the Shrew Misalliance Uncle Vanya and the Christmas Special which was cycle of miracle plays collected from various sources by her husband actor-director Jerrv Hardin Diane Hill a Barter Theatre veteran will play the role of Mrs Keller the mother of Helen Keller in the Barter Players production of The Miracle Worker which opens on Monday April 8th Miss Hill came to the Barter Theatre in 1958 from the University of North Carolina She has appeared on Broadway in Talent 60 and off-Broadway in Dead End She has been seen on television the series Our Protestant Heritage George Abbott Barter Award winner 1960 (hose her for a job at the Barter from a field of many of the finest young actors and actresses in the country At Barter Theatre she has appeared in more than twenty productions including Sepa Barter Patron Miss Hill who claims Greensboro North Carolina as her home town met her husband while at Barter She was married 1959 and is the mother of a year-old son She has studied with Milton Katselis Sam Rosen and at the School of Modern Ballet TALL TALK Membership Books On Sale 1 v0 a Jing-Aport ffllost Complet 4k -b m) 1 -i lg 1 ii 4 BOOK SHOP A Barter Theatre Patron Membership Book for the 1963 season can be your passport to the world of the theatre for seven evenings this year It will admit you to seven performances by the world-famous Barter Players of Abingdon Virginia The Barter Players are the oldest legitimate theatre company outside New York City and the only repertory company south of the Mason and Dixon Line WEBSTERS SEVENTH NEW ANY TALK COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY Professional standards at Barter Theatre are high The thirty-year success story of the Barter stands as a testimonial to the quality of performances and productions at the Barter Theatre This years Spring Season will continue in the established tradition of Barter Theatre and Offer three fine plays it is A Brand New Dictionary The latest most complete dlc-tlonary based on the unabridged Websters Third New International Dictionary The first completely new college desk dictionary in 10 years 20000 new words and new meanings 75 i i V1 iG The season will open on Monday April 8 with "The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Starring in this play will be Donna Zimmermann and Gillian Spencer who played the roles of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan in the national louring company of The Miracle Worker" Si THE SAND PEBBLES Richard McKenna DEVILS HARVEST Frank Slaughter MARTHA IN PARIS Margery Sharp RENOIR MY FATHER Jean Renoir TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY--John Steinbeck CALL LjONG DISTANCE 595 3 95 3 95 8 95 4 95 THE WORD BECAME FLESH Stanley Jones GODS MASTERPIECES Grace Noll Crowell AS A WOMAN PRAYS Elsie Lapsley Ogden FLOWERS OF THE HOLY LAND 250 175 50 200 Barter regulars Ned Beatty and Diane Hill will appear as Cap- tain and Mrs Keller Alice Yourman who also appeared with thd national touring company will recreate the role of Aunt Ev The season will be continued with Jean Anouilhs "Ring Around the Moon as translated and adapted by English playwright Christopher Fry which will open on April 22 1 The third offering In the spring season will be "Period of Adjustment by Tennessee Williams opening on May Patron Membership Books are $1400 end contain seven slips which are to be exchanged at the box office for reserved seat tickets They may be used for -a single performance rather than seven different plays if the ticket-holder chooses 11 The PatronJMembership Books are available from the following Friends of the Barter committee members and in the locations listed: Kingsport Office Supply Co Fred Johnson Co City Feed and Produce Mrs Earl Dysart Mrs Ellers Mrs John Gillis Miss Jean Hilton Mrs Sandy Laws Mrs James Boles Mrs A Hoge Mrs Max Parker Mrs Louise Allison Mrs Wil 1 liam Harrison Mrs Heiberger Mrs Stanley Murray Miss Diana Long and Mrs Howard Long I PROFESSIONAL BOOK SALE 10 off on 100 best-selling Business Technical and Professional Books during April only Inter- Mountain Telephone Company THE BOOK --SHOP KINGSPORT OFF)CESUPPLY Gillian Spencer (left) Donna Zimmerman (center) and James Jones are shown here in a scene from The Miracle Worker which opens the spring season at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon Monday night Misses Spencer and Gillian had the roles of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller ikhen the production was on nation- A I sy altour i 1 Y-r i 1' 4" I-1.