SLEUTH Program

I worked on 15 productions altogether for the WICHITA COMMUNITY THEATRE, designing Sets for 12 of those and and Sets and Costumes for 2. This production of SLEUTH was probably the high point for me there. MARY JANE TEALL made a big deal out of my working for her in the Winter and the HIP POCKET THEATRE work I would travel to do in the summers. The idea of that appealed to her and to be truthful I was honing my craft with each new assignment, so it appealed to me as well. Working with Ms. Teall was always interesting...she was truly a force of nature.

I first met her in 1977 when I was working with the TROTTER BROTHERS Puppet Production Company. We were using a holding area just off the underground parking at Century II in Wichita as a rehearsal space for my production of  JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. I was directing the puppeteers one evening when I spied this little woman in a leopard print cap watching from the corner. I remember smiling and acknowledging her presence...and having a vague idea of who she was...but that is all I remember. She moved on to the elevators and up to her own rehearsal in the Little Theatre.

4 years later we met again at a summer performance of COMMEDIA and to my surprise she not only remembered me but had some  knowledge of my work both locally and in Texas. She asked me if I would be interested in working with WCT and the rest is history.