The Nineteen Seventies
1974-75
H. Wesley Balk was at the helm of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, the first offering of the fall season featuring Brian Johnson, Peggy Wetli, and Susan Casserly. This was followed by Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad in the Arena, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest featuring Frank Dent and ex-boxer turned actor Jim Beattie, in the Proscenium. Theatre of the Word performed Victorian Voices directed by Jean Congdon.
In winter quarter Robert Moulton directed As You Like It, followed by 
8 Ball (The Past is the Past) and Alicia (Goin’ Through Changes) directed by Horace Bond and featuring Lou Bellamy. This production in the Arena was the first time we made extensive use of slides designed by Lance Brockman in that space to provide scenic background. The final winter quarter production was Inherit the Wind in the Proscenium with Charles Nolte and colleagues occasionally lurking as spectators on stage while Tom Hegg held forth in court. The winter Workshop was Sisters of Sappho directed by Robyn Samuels.
Spring quarter opened with Lee Adey’s Arms and the Man in the Thrust, Tonight at 8:30 in the Arena, and Uncle Vanya directed by Warren Frost in the Proscenium. Marlin the Magnificent was the year’s YPUT production. Mark S. Weinberg directed the spring workshop production of The Bacchae. Theatre of the Word: The Rites and Wrongs of Spring.
The Showboat opened its eighteenth season with An Ideal Husband directed by David W. Thompson followed in July by The Magistrate directed by Charles Nolte. This marked the first season without “Doc” at the helm. Lance Brockman designed scenery for the first and Jean Montgomery did the honors on the second. The Peppermint Tent presented The Dancing Donkey and Scandinavian Tales. In Rarig, summer audiences were treated to The Mousetrap in the Thrust. In addition, the University Theatre also presented The Winter Garden Proudly Presents a Special Performance of Julius Caesar by the Brothers Booth written by Eric Brogger and directed by Ellen Lewis.
