EVENT
Theatre Under the Stars
1940-presentEVENT TYPE Cultural History
Housed at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park, Theatre Under the Stars has been at the forefront of professional musical theatre production in Vancouver since its inception in 1940. The company's summer productions have provided "both training and recognition to…well-known local performers" ("Musicals" 690), including Broadway stars Brent Carver and Jeff Hyslop, local Arts Club Theatre fixture Ruth Nichols, and legendary jazz vocalist Eleanor Collins. Collins, who performed in both the 1952 and 1954 productions of Finian's Rainbow, insisted on playing the role of the black sharecropper in the second run. Thanks to her national weekly show on CBC, she was considered to have enough star appeal to sell the role, which had been played by a heavily made-up white singer in the 1952 production.
The Malkin Bowl, which "sits on the site of one of the park's first entertainment gazebos" ("Stanley"), was originally established by Vancouver Mayor W.H. Malkin in 1934 as a band shell for summer concerts. It has served as the TUTS venue since their debut season, which featured The Geisha, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. These three productions were offered to the public at a cost of fifty cents for reserved seating or twenty-five cents for unreserved.
Burgeoning Vancouver impresario Hugh Pickett worked as press agent for Theatre Under the Stars from 1946 to 1964. Originally employed by TUTS founder Gordon Hilker at Hilker Attractions Concert Agencies, he and Holly Maxwell took over the company in 1950, renaming it Famous Artists Limited. Over the course of his career, Pickett was responsible for bringing such stellar and renowned artists as Frank Sinatra, Helen Hayes, Bette Davis, Mae West, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Sir Laurence Olivier, Bette Midler, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis to Vancouver. For him, working in entertainment was never a chore. He says of his career, "I've never worked a day in my life. None of the money I've earned was "hard-earned." It was all showbiz money, starting with my first summer job when I worked from eleven in the morning until eleven at night and loved every minute of it" (qtd. in Thom 727).
Theatre Under the Stars folded in 1963 as a result of bad weather and competition from the Vancouver International Festival. However, the company was revived in 1969 and has since proved its resilience by surviving both a fire at Malkin Bowl in 1982 and a company reorganization in 2006. TUTS continues to provide high-quality summer entertainment today.
The Malkin Bowl, which "sits on the site of one of the park's first entertainment gazebos" ("Stanley"), was originally established by Vancouver Mayor W.H. Malkin in 1934 as a band shell for summer concerts. It has served as the TUTS venue since their debut season, which featured The Geisha, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. These three productions were offered to the public at a cost of fifty cents for reserved seating or twenty-five cents for unreserved.
Burgeoning Vancouver impresario Hugh Pickett worked as press agent for Theatre Under the Stars from 1946 to 1964. Originally employed by TUTS founder Gordon Hilker at Hilker Attractions Concert Agencies, he and Holly Maxwell took over the company in 1950, renaming it Famous Artists Limited. Over the course of his career, Pickett was responsible for bringing such stellar and renowned artists as Frank Sinatra, Helen Hayes, Bette Davis, Mae West, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Sir Laurence Olivier, Bette Midler, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis to Vancouver. For him, working in entertainment was never a chore. He says of his career, "I've never worked a day in my life. None of the money I've earned was "hard-earned." It was all showbiz money, starting with my first summer job when I worked from eleven in the morning until eleven at night and loved every minute of it" (qtd. in Thom 727).
Theatre Under the Stars folded in 1963 as a result of bad weather and competition from the Vancouver International Festival. However, the company was revived in 1969 and has since proved its resilience by surviving both a fire at Malkin Bowl in 1982 and a company reorganization in 2006. TUTS continues to provide high-quality summer entertainment today.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Collins, Eleanor. Personal Interview with Colleen Savage. Vancouver, BC. 2 Nov. 2005.Davis, Chuck, ed. The Greater Vancouver Book. Surrey: Linkman Press, 1997.
"Eleanor Collins." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 22 Feb. 2008. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/
Gooch, Bryan N.S. "Theatre Under the Stars." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 22 Feb. 2008. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/
Leiren-Young, Mark. "Musicals and Revues." Davis 690-691.
Leiren-Young, Mark. "History of Entertainment." Davis 719-724.
"Stanley Park: Arts." Vancouver Parks Board. Home page. City of Vancouver. 22 Feb. 2008. http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/parks/stanley/arts.htm.
"Theatre Under the Stars (Vancouver)." Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. 22 Feb. 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/
Thom, Agnes. "Hugh Pickett." Davis 727.
