James Melton and co-star Barbara Meister
In the summer of 1960, mostly
because he needed the money, my father signed to do a traveling summer stock
production of Sigmund Romberg’s The
Student Prince. He sang seven shows a week for seven weeks. A killing pace
when he was in his late fifties and in poor health. He was cast as Dr. Engel, the tutor of the student prince,
but the role was expanded to have him sing several duets and trios (with the
prince and his lady love) so as to take advantage of his celebrity.
Recently I was contacted by
Chic Silber, who was a stagehand on those shows in 1960!
Here’s what he wrote:
The summer of
1960 when I worked for Guber Ford & Gross for their chain of tented
theaters was just prior to my starting an apprenticeship in the stagehands
union (IATSE).
During
rehearsals for The Student Prince I
met your father and instantly became in awe of him and his
presence. For some reason he encouraged an acquaintanceship. During a
discussion of his bringing the Winton "General" [ Ed. note:1917 Winton
housecar, see my blog post of 11/1/09] on the tour of
the show for publicity. Somehow it became clear that I was both eager &
capable of driving it. He entrusted me to drive it
from tent to tent during the run of
the show.
Chic, by the way, went on to fame
and fortune as a theater engineer, creating special effects and props for
circuses here and abroad, and Broadway productions (like Wicked and Dracula and Amadeus). I'm delighted to have made his acquaintance fifty-two years later!
