300 Years Of Living History

 

By Shannon Hicks

Residents of all ages were treated to a presentation of “300 years of Newtown history in living pictures” last weekend when the Tercentennial Commission presented Tableaux Vivants.

Narrated by Town Historian Dan Cruson, who also served as the historical consultant for the production, the two-performance event on October 1 offered four of the old-fashioned living pictures. Producer and director Amber Edwards had picked four scenes to celebrate Newtown’s 300th birthday, and the performances last Saturday afternoon and evening were the result of more than a year’s work by 100-plus volunteers.

The tableaux vivants were fun, surprising, enjoyable and yes, even a little bit educational. With Dan Cruson narrating each scene, audiences followed the history of Newtown through the purchase of land, the arrival of the Revolutionary War, a look at the town’s seamier side, and a tribute to Mary Hawley.

Karen Pinto directed the first scene, called “Land For Sale — Cheap,” which illustrated the purchase of the land that is now Newtown from three Indian chiefs in 1705. The center of the stage, based on John Angel’s 1955 painting “The Purchase from The Indians,” depicted Colonial settlers William Junos (portrayed by Raymond Horvath), Captain Samuel Hawley (Dr John Reed) and Justus Bush (Herb Rosenthal) signing a contract while the Indian chiefs from Mauquash (Evan Graves), Massumpas (Matt Cole) and Nunnawauk (Peter Van Buskirk) inspected a blanket. At stage left and right, Native Americans continued to do their work.

Mike and Joy Filler directed the second tableau, “You Say You Want a Revolution,” which depicted three incidents in town during the war. The first scene, called “The Raid,” illustrated a November 1775 invasion by local militia (with Jack Schaefer and Bruce Moulthrop portraying the soldiers) into a home inhabited by a Loyalist (Christian Horky).

One humorous piece of scenery had the novelist Justin Scott “playing” King George III. Mr Scott was positioned behind a piece of wood that had been painted to look like an interior wall, with an opening cut out from the wall. A scenic painter had painted a frame around the opening to look like a portrait was hanging on the wall, and it was Mr Scott’s face that the audience saw as that depicted in the portrait of the king.

The second image, “The Operation,” depicted Judge William Edmond, namesake of Newtown’s town hall, operating on his own leg to remove a bullet after being shot during the Battle of Ridgefield. Mike Filler played Judge Edmond, and Matt Cole was a boy holding a lantern for the judge.

The third image, “The Banishment,” which was based on an 1863 painting by Frederick Walker called “The Last Path,” showed the moment that Loyalist George Foote (Geoff Dent) sent away his daughter (Emily Fiorey) after she married patriot soldier Steven Hewes.

The third tableaux was “The Moral Outlaw,” which showed the unhappy ending of a feud between farmer Andrew Peck (Justin Scott) and his neighbor, Rudolf Stoffel (Christian Horky), in a scene called “The Murder.” The staging continued with the introduction of Jennie (Alice) Lockwood, Peck’s lover, in the appropriately named scene “The Mistress,” and then concluded with “The Wife’s Business Enterprise,” which unveiled what Peck’s wife did to raise her own money.

Mary Peck (portrayed by Janet Woycik), it turns out, was the entrepreneur of “a house of ill repute” in Rochester, N.Y.

The final tableaux, “Our Benefactress,” honored the one person who may have done more good for Newtown through her bequests than any single person to date. This tableaux, also broken into three scenes, showed the sad honeymoon in Florence of a young (and ill) Mary Hawley (played by Meriah Tani) and the Reverend John Addison Crockett (Matt Cole), a young minister who had been temporarily assigned to Trinity Episcopal Church. Sitting at the foot of Mary Hawley’s bed is her mother, Sarah Hawley (Suzanne Candee), while an Italian nurse (Jodi Chacho-Fay) stands at the head of the bed looking over her charge.

A photograph shot in 1858 by Henry Peach Robinson, called “Fading Away,” was the basis for this scene, simply called “Florence.” In narrating the scene Dan Cruson pointed out that the staging of this particular set was notable for the fact that Rev Crockett is staring out of the room where his wife is laying in bed, seemingly oblivious (or unaffected?) at the state of his wife’s health.

“We have no photographs or images of the Reverend Crockett,” explained Mr Cruson. “There was one photograph taken of the couple that was discovered in the basement of C.H. Booth Library a few years ago, and even that photograph had been carefully cut in half so that only Mary can still be seen. We don’t know what Reverend Crockett looked like.”

The second scene, “Newtown,” has an adult Mary Hawley (Mae Schmidle) sitting in a tallback chair within her home, and the third scene, “Legacies,” had gorgeous paintings done by scenic painter Brigette Sorensen that showed many of the buildings and a monument that were made possible thanks to Mary Hawley’s estate.

There were paintings of C.H. Booth Library, with Cyrenius Booth (Jerry Cole) sitting next to it; Edmond Town Hall, accompanied by Judge William Edmond (Mike Filler); and The Hawley School, with Marcus and Sarah Hawley (Bob Schmidle and Mary Stambaugh). There was also a painting of The Soldiers & Sailors Monument, with an unnamed soldier (Evan Graves) standing at attention.

Amber Edwards directed the third and fourth tableaux.

 Marilyn Rennagel, who is the lighting director for Martha Stewart’s new show, served as the lighting and scenic director for the Tableaux Vivants. The Newtown resident brought the talent that has already been recognized with three Emmy Awards to the high school’s stage for the Tercentennial event.

“She’s an absolute genius,” Mr Cruson commented this week. “It wasn’t until the dress rehearsals last week that I could really appreciate her work. She was able to create a starkness between the characters and the background that made it look like a wax museum on that stage. It was the lighting that did it.”

(Mr Cruson, it should be noted, was also celebrating his own latest career achievement. His brand-new book, A Mosaic of Newtown History, arrived in Newtown late last week. Attendees at either of Saturday’s performances were among the first to purchase copies of the special collection of essays.)

Each of the four tableaux were sandwiched between variety acts, or olios, also featuring local performers of all ages and talents. Performances were vaudeville style — ballet by Malenkee Ballet Company, dances by The Stardusters, singing by the female quartet Mixed Notes, comedy by the father-son team Horvath & Horvath, performances on steel guitar by Minstrel Mat — and done in front of the high school’s familiar blue stage curtain while scenery was being changed for the next tableau.

The entire production was fantastic. It was an enjoyable event whether seen from the theatrical or historic angles, and the talent that went into the show — from those who appeared on stage to everyone who contributed time and talent behind the scenes — shone during each of Saturday’s performances. This history presentation definitely was one that should go down in history now that it’s finished.