{"id":34,"date":"1949-12-02T00:00:49","date_gmt":"1949-12-02T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/collection\/articles\/ytmt\/?p=34"},"modified":"2016-06-26T17:17:20","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T22:17:20","slug":"34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/?p=34","title":{"rendered":"Footlighters, part 6 \u2013 T. Bertram Genay, Tredyffrin Country Club, WWI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t<\/span><\/strong>At the October 1932 business meeting of the Footlighters, T. Bertram Genay was re-elected to the presidency for the \u201832-\u201933 season. These were still the years of the depression. Nevertheless Wayne\u2019s Little Theatre Group carried on with energy unabated. Ten one-act plays were given as well as two three act ones, notably \u201cChildren of the Moon\u201d, with T. B. Beatty directing. This was one of the Footlighters\u2019 most pretentious efforts to date. Christmas was marked by the presentation of \u201cMaid of France\u201d, followed by much whole-hearted carol singing on the part of the audience. In June came the fourth annual frolic \u201cHappy Days,\u201d when dinner was served at the Saturday Club, followed by skits and monologues.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>At the annual meeting held in October, 1934, Herbert L. Badger was elected to succeed T. B. Genay as president. There were the usual quota of one act and of three act plays during that season. Milne\u2019s well-known play \u201cMichael and Mary\u201d was given at the Saturday Club for four nights as a benefit for the Radnor High School Fund. Philip Barry\u2019s \u201cHoliday\u201d presented in april was another noteworthy play. In June the fifth annual frolic, dinner followed by entertainment and dancing and \u201c$1.50 for everything\u201d was given with T. B. Genay as chairman.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>In October, 1935, Mr. Badger was re-elected to the office of president. Dues were now three dollars a year and a big membership drive was under way with Mrs. Henry Ecroyd as chairman. As a result of the presentation of \u201cBig Hearted Herbert\u201d in the High School auditorium in February, a a check for $450 was presented to the Scholarship fund by the Footlighters. A \u201ctragi-comedy\u201d \u201cOf Things Not Seen\u201d, written by H. Morgan Ruth, was the April offering with W. N. Stilwell, Joan Hodson and Stuard Armour as the three central figures.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>The sixth annual meeting held in October 1935 had the following \u201corder of events\u201d, snappy business meeting, conversation, refreshments, cards and dancing to a 7-piece orchestra. Mrs. Y. Parran Dawkins was elected president for the 1935-36 season. There were now 125 members interested in acting, 34 in directing, 40 in various forms of stage management and still others in publicity and membership, costumes and make-up. In January \u201cThe Monkey\u2019s Paw\u201d was broadcast over station WIP as the last in a series of amateur theatrical radio programs. Eventually the Footlighters were chosen as one of the three finalists in the contest, though they were not the final prize winners. The February play, \u201cThe Late Christopher Bean\u201d, was the most pretentious offering of the season. Two original plays of Footlighter members closed the season \u201cMugs and Millions,\u201d by John H. Hoag and \u201cMake Mine Rare\u201d, by Margaret Geis.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>Wendell Warner succeeded Mrs. Dawkins in the presidency. The Neighborhood League benefited by about $500 from the January play \u201cAs Husbands GO\u201d. April was noteworthy in Footlighter history with the presentation of three episodes from Victoria Regina\u201d. It was at this time that the end of the fiscal year was changed from October to May. For the first time it became possible to plan in the summer for the winter program. More money was necessary, and again it became imperative to raise dues.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>Thomas O. Haydock succeeded Mr. Warner as the president in a rather gala annual meeting held at St. Davids Golf Club in May, 1938. The new season opened with \u201cGhost Train\u201d produced by Betty Powell and directed by Margaret Weinberg. In November, \u201cThe Nut Farm\u201d was given as a benefit for the Neighborhood League. \u201cLove From a Stranger\u201d, a difficult play, not often attempted by amateurs was the March offering. \u201cAccent on Youth\u201d given in April, was a benefit for the Wayne Art Center.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>Mr. Haydock succeeded himself as president in the May 1939 elections. The \u201839-\u201940 season opened with \u201cThe Patsy\u201d, given for the Scholarship Fund, while \u201cDear Brutus\u201d, given in February, benefited the Wayne Art Center, and \u201cHoliday\u201d, given in April, was for the Saturday Club. A demand for the once popular one act plays resulted in the presentation of three in March.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>At the annual dinner, dance and bridge at the Tredyffrin Country Club held in May 1940, Horace B. Montgomery was named president. It was at this time that the Footlighters received \u201cThe Boulders\u201d, a large residence on the corner of Conestoga and Audubon avenues as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John A. Tillotson. An immediate campaign was launched to sell season tickets to augment Footlighter funds for the maintenance of this property, which the Little Theater group hoped to have as its future home. However, since the property was in a Class A residential district, there was considerable opposition to it as a site for a theater. Eventually it was sold, with the proceeds forming a nucleus for a building fund for the organization.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>The 1940-\u201941 season saw the presentation of both one act and three act plays, notably \u201cOutward Bound\u201d and \u201cCaptain Applejack\u201d. Mr. Montgomery succeeded himself in the presidency in May. November saw \u201cthe first Footlighter Benefit for the Footlighters\u201d in the form of a large card party with Ida Belle Kistler in charge of the large committee working for its success.<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/strong>December marked the beginning of World War II. Mr. Montgomery immediately announced that \u201call theatrical productions of the Wayne Footlighters during the remainder of the War will be held for the benefit of was relief and charity organizations\u201d. Just as the Footlighers survived the depression, so it survived the War, in each instance helping to sustain the morale of its members and their friends. There were many difficulties to surmount, chief among them perhaps being the shortage of young men for roles in plays. But this, like every other obstacle was overcome, and the Footlighters \u201ccarried on\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the October 1932 business meeting of the Footlighters, T. Bertram Genay was re-elected to the presidency for the \u201832-\u201933 season. These were still the years of the depression. Nevertheless Wayne\u2019s Little Theatre Group carried on with energy unabated. Ten one-act plays were given as well as two three act ones, notably \u201cChildren of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-footlighters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1063,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions\/1063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radnorhistory.org\/archive\/articles\/ytmt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}