Thespian nostalgia !!!!

From thespian troupe 1214, wakefield high school, arlington, virginia.

Thespian Membership Card above is courtesy of Kevin Mannix.

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Below you will find a sampling of photographs and articles that show other Wakefield Thespian and related activities from the 65/66, 66/67, and 67/68 school years. Relax and enjoy !

Mrs. Mora Shell, the drama teacher and Thespian troupe sponsor, saw to it that between major play productions there was a continuous supply of one-act plays and readers theater productions to both keep actors busy and provide entertainment for the student body and parents. The program above is from "A Night of Spooks", a series of readers theater presentations, performed for Halloween in October of 1966.

During November of 1966, the Washington DC public television station WETA Channel 26 engaged members of the Wakefield Thespian troupe to portray teenagers in their production of "Our Generation: Manners and Morals of Teenagers". While the Northern Virginia Sun article above does not directly mention it, Thespian members Randy Nesseler (as the outraged student) and Jim Jacobs (as the student caught cheating on a test) appeared in the "Cheating on a Test" segment; Randy Nesseler, Bill Kaffenberger, Emerald Erickson, and BJ Lilly as partygoers and Richard Rivera as a "greaser" crashing the party appeared in the "Teenagers at a Party" segment; and Bill Kaffenberger and his date along with Randy Nesseler and Richard Rivera appeared in the "Date at Hot Shoppes" segment. The special was filmed in and around Arlington and real student interviews were interspersed between the dramatic segments.

Randy Nesseler as the Revrund, Sarah Fahey as Delilah, and Bill Kaffenberger as Willie (shown above) were featured in a readers theater Christmas production called "How Come Christmas" that appeared at Wakefield and at a couple of womens clubs in the Arlington area in December of 1966.

Also in December of 1966, Randy Nesseler as the Centurion, Bill Kaffenberger as Joseph, Mitch Morehead as Asa, and Richard Rivera as a shepherd appeared in the Arlington Workshop Players production of John McGreevey's "This Strange Night", a Christmas play detailing a fantasy meeting between the father of Pontius Pilate and the father of Jesus Christ. A review from the Northern Virginia Sun is shown above.

The Wakefield Thespians could always be counted on for involvement in the annual Wakefield "Here Come the Warriors" talent shows. The write-up above discusses Randy Nesseler's MC duties, assisted by two of the other Nobodys in Particular, Richard Rivera and Bill Kaffenberger. In addition, members of the Thespian Troupe provided a skit full of outrageous jokes and costumes featuring Richard Rivera, Bill Kaffenberger, Jim Jacobs, Jim Howard, Mitch Morehead, and Debbie Knight.

Thespian member BJ Lilly performed a monologue called "Misery" during the 1967 Here Come the Warriors show.

Another Thespian member, Jan Nesseler, portrayed Joan of Arc in a monologue presented during the 1967 talent show.

Above is a portrait of Thespian Troupe 1214 from the 1967/1968 school year.

"Here Come the Warriors" of January 1968 was a bonanza for Thespian involvement. Thespians Jim Jacobs and Dan Adams were tapped to MC the show. Above, Richard Rivera as a shiek, helps Dan announce the belly dancing segment.

The 1968 talent show was a bonanza for the Nobodys in Particular as well. Besides Bill Kaffenberger doing a folk singing act with fellow musician Mike Shanahan, the full Nobodys in Particular group also appeared in an extended one act farce called "The One Way Street". Jim Howard played the judge, Randy Nesseler and Richard Rivera were lawyers, Jim Jacobs played the man who went the wrong way down the street, and Bill Kaffenberger played the policeman who arrested him. In the first photo above, Richard, Jim Howard, and Randy belt out one of the tunes from the production. In the second photo from the Washington Star, Jim Jacobs, Richard Rivera, Randy Nesseler, and Bill Kaffenberger prepare for the show by studying a script.

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Click here to return to the Wakefield Thespian, Drama and Plays Nostalgia Page

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This page is (C) Copyright 1999 by William M. Kaffenberger, Jr.

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