Frank & Friends Show 0060

Frank Murphy’s friend Laura Beth Wells is filling in for Kathryn Frady, who is out of town working at Opéra Louisiane. Laura Beth recently starred in Always Patsy Cline at the Clarence Brown Theatre. Patsy became afraid of car rides after a crash in 1961. She started taking a small plane to gigs and died in a plane crash in 1963. Frank saw a microphone Patsy used at WINC radio in Winchester, Virginia. 

Frank chatted with Laura Beth when they were both in the audience for the Tennessee Valley Players production of Something Rotten! at the Ula Love Doughty Carousel Theatre, next door to the Clarence Brown Theatre. The Carousel will soon be torn down and rebuilt. 

Frank’s cousin Terry Hatton was a legendary FDNY captain. Terry used to visit all the old theatres in Times Square to memorize their floor plans and exits. One time Terry swung from a rope high above Times Square to secure a billboard that was falling. The mayor made a joke about “Captain man-Hatton” being as good as Spider-Man. 

Laura Beth played Emily Osborn in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway. Laura describes the flying techniques in the show. She says it is still bad luck to whistle in a theatre because in the days before electronic headsets, stagehands would use whistles to signal when to raise or lower curtains and set pieces. If you whistle in a theatre, you could get hit with something from above. 

Frank also saw Mary Costa at the production of Something Rotten! Mary is known for providing the voice of Aurora in the animated Sleeping Beauty. Frank and his family sat behind a ten-year-old girl and her family. Frank urged the family to go say hi to Mary Costa before the play started. Mary invited the girl to sit on her lap for a picture. 

Frank and Laura Beth knew several people in the Something Rotten! cast, including Jessica Magers-Rankin, who played Bea. Laura Beth was in a cabaret-style show with Jessica. Frank recalls that he attended the show and met Laura Beth for the first time. 

Frank once read an article about the short supply of men in community theatre. Laura Beth says the trope extends to high school theatre, with girls auditioning for the lead roles but the theatre teacher pulling a boy out of track & field practice to play the male lead. 

Laura Beth liked the minimalist style of the Something Rotten! production. She said that they used simple boxes and chairs as sets in Shakespeare’s day. Frank saw a production of Murder on the Orient Express at Theatre Knoxville Downtown that used benches to represent the parts of the train. Laura Beth knows the students who built the benches. 

Frank and his wife took their grandson Artie to the Lavender Festival in Oak Ridge on Saturday. Frank had a conversation with someone from the Oak Ridge seed library. You take seeds to grow vegetables and then harvest your seeds to bring back to the library. 

Frank says many of the festival attendees reminded him of people about five to ten years older than him and listened to rock music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Frank missed out on that era of music because his parents listened to opera and classical music. They also listened to talk radio shows like Rambling with Gambling and The Arlene Francis Show on WOR-AM. 

Laura Beth points out that her daughter can access music from all eras on Spotify. Frank’s grandson is similar. Artie’s playlist has classic rock songs, video game songs, and John Williams movie themes. 

Laura Beth says the first play that “got hold of her” was Peter Pan. The title role is traditionally played by a woman. Frank and Laura Beth both had the soundtrack of the Peter Pan production starring Mary Martin. Laura Beth used to use the “Stepsisters’ Lament” from Cinderella as her audition song. 

This episode is sponsored by The Middleburg Barn at Fox Chase Farm. The Middleburg Barn is a perfect venue with rustic luxury for your wedding or special event. Located 40 miles outside D.C and 25 minutes from Dulles Airport. Visit https://www.themiddleburgbarn.com/ or call (540) 687-5255. 

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