IMOGENE

Another production at the Meadowbrook was "High Spirits," a musical based on Noel Coward's "Blithe Sprit."  In the role of Madame Arcati, the medium who conjures up the ghosts, we had the high spirited Imogene Coca.  As some of you will know, she rose to fame in the early days of television on "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar.  I watched it as a kid and always had a laugh or two.   And now she was doing the dinner theater circuit.

For this production I was in charge of props and also had a small role (i.e. chorus) as Rupert, one of Arcati's "Friends of the Unseen."

Theater-in-the-round is unique in that there is no curtain. Our stage had four ramps at its four corners for entrances and exits through the audience.  Sets are changed in the dark between scenes.   I was part of that crew as well.  I remember, every night, without fail, when we were moving Madame Arcati's bed onto the stage, Imogene would run up beside me in the dark and help me (and another crew member) carry the bed onstage.  And try as we might to get her to stop, saying that she was the star of the show, she would always come back with a quick retort like "There ain't gonna be no show if we don't get this bed on stage."  It still makes me smile.

As you can surmise, she was a true joy to work with and a very funny and extremely sweet lady.  One of my delicious memories.