Alway's Raquel

 

It looks like Raquel is on a stage, so I'm going with a theatrical photo rather than a costume party.  Too, that's a great kick.  Written on the back, "To Dear Leo, Sincerely your's Raquel."  

More Good Communists

 

More East German actors serving the state with portrayals of western decadence.  Dig the greaser beatnik in the background.  The stamp on the back, "Reproduktion u. Anderungen verboten.  Aenny Jungermann Photoarelier  Rudolstadt, Registr.  Nr. 8"  Rudolstadt is a city in Thuringia, a German state that was onc epart of the East.  

On the Stage With That Weird Thing In the Background

I can make out the guys Afro when I blow it up, so no, that big thing in the background isn't a hat.  I have no idea what it is.  Dated "MAY  72." 

On the Stage With A Whip

This one's dated "MAY 69."  I've been assuming all these photos are from  amateur theatrical productions, but that guy on the left looks a lot like Adam West from Batman.  I just don't think he'd be in some low rent stage play unless he was really strapped for cash. 

On the Stage In Blackface

Not too long a go I bought an envelope of random photographs.  There were three, square formatted photos of stage plays.  If they were all dated in the same year I'd say they were related, but they run from the fifties to the seventies.  This one, "JUN 58."  With all that's going on now a days it's a bit jarring to find a picture of a woman in blackface spanking a white guy, and I have to wonder who wrote this show.  Even in the late fifties, while it wouldn't be scandalous, it would be considered in bad taste. 

Music To My Ears 5

Stamped on the back, "PLEASE CREDIT Kerr 43 west 51st street new york, n. y. eldoarado 5-3178."  And yes, they did use lower case letters as I've typed them.  Well, I did find a bit about The Kerr Studio.  It was opened in 1951 by husband and wife team, Justin and Barbara Kerr.  Originally they specialized in theatrical portraits, but by the late 1950's they began restoring and photographing pre-Colombian artifacts from Mexico and Central America.  I dug up a bit on Barbara, but nothing about Justin.  Barbara went to the Pratt Institute and died in 2014.  As I wrote, a bit.  This collection isn't finished yet, but I'm going to shelve things for awhile and move on to other photos.

Once again click on Music To My Ears to see other posts from this series.

The Attorney for the Defense

There's a fair amount of information written on this print, "St. Michaels Luther League Cast for "The Attorney for the Defense" Sunday, May 15, 1932."  With all that I had. I still had a lot of trouble finding a very small amount of information.  The Luther League is an organization for young Lutherans founded in New York City in 1888.  St Michaels is probably a church, but without a city, it's not possible to narrow down which chapter.  Despite checking a number of sources, I couldn't find any information about the play named.  I checked IBDB, The Internet Broadway Data Base.  Apparently it was never made into a movie since there's no listing in IMDB.

Who Is This?

I know I've seen this man before.  I'm fairly certain  he's a character actor from the the 1950s?  Anyway, he looks like he's standing there, script in hand, waiting to rehearse. 

Dana Hall School For Girls 13

Unless someone writes in their photo album that these photos belong to me and sign their name, there is always a question of who put the thing together.  I'd guess it's probable that the owner has put some pictures of herself in this collection of life at Dana Hall School, and the most likely culprit has to be one of the three theatrical subjects.  One might stress friends and faculty from the ordinary days at school, but the theatrical portraits are special and say, "Look, that was me." 

The very first post from this collection was a loose photo, not pasted on to any of the pages, and the young lady was identified as Helen Zollinger.  But whether Helen was a classmate of the album's owner or that identification was written by Helen's grandchild years latter, well, who knows.   In any case, none of the three women in costumes look like Helen.

The couple are ID'd as Henry Doran and Helen Moock.  They've showed up before this, and they look just young enough that they might be friends, and just old enough to be junior faculty.  And speaking of labels, once again click on Dana Hall School to see more.

Dana Hall School For Girls 12

This album pages seems to be all about student activities.  The top photo, a wide picture that takes up the top of the album page, is the school play.  Since Dana Hall was a girls school, I'd assume all the actors are female students.  And then, picture number two and four has the students marching and doing calisthenics on the outdoor basketball court.  Gym class, or are they warming up for a game?

Once again, click on Dana Hall School in the labels section at the bottom of the post to see more album pages and to get more information.

An Actor Prepares-2

No, I didn't make a mistake this time.  Two of these are almost identical.  The slight difference is a slight tilt of the head.  Also, one photo in male mode.  It's the Tyrol/girl scout look in the first picture in the column that I really like.

An Actor Prepares-1, Oops

Hey, when I did the last post it was 1:00 A.M., I was tired, and put up one image twice and missed this one.

An Actor Prepares 1

I swear, if I ever get enough money to buy a really good scanner,  I'll redo this post.  The one I've got know seems intent on correcting photographs even when it's not necessary.  The fact is, the better the quality print, the harder it tries to dig out detail in shadow areas which were printed in a way to plug up those ares and give a nice solid black. Well, now that that's over....

There are two possible explanations for this gentleman posing as a woman.  Either he was what is now referred to as trans-gendered, or he's a male actor playing a female role.  Considering these photos were shot in a studio, printed on a heavy double weight paper, I'm betting on the latter.  I've spent the last hour or so searching cross-dressed actors trying to get an identification, but so far, no luck.