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The Kenley Players was an Equity summer stock theatre company which presented hundreds of productions^[1] featuring Broadway, film, and television stars^[2] in Midwestern cities between 1940 and 1995. Variety called it the "largest network of theaters on the straw hat circuit."^[3] Founded by and operated for its entire lifespan by John Kenley, it is credited with laying the groundwork for Broadway touring companies.^[2]

The company's success was predicated on booking big-name stars for their box office potential, casting them in familiar plays and musicals, and keeping prices low, thereby attracting large crowds.^[4] In its heyday, Kenley Players productions drew crowds of 5,000 in Dayton, Akron, Columbus, Flint, Michigan, and Warren, Ohio.^[1] Kenley "pioneered the notion of putting TV stars in summer stock."^[5] In a 1950 interview Kenley told The Washington Post, "I only charge $1.50 top...I'd rather have full houses every night than be stuck with a batch of empty seats."^[6]

Headliners included Tallulah Bankhead, Cyd Charisse, Rosemary Clooney, Olivia de Havilland, Veronica Lake, Gypsy Rose Lee, Arthur Godfrey, Rudy Vallée, Tommy Tune, Burt Reynolds, George Maharis, Ethel Merman, Mae West, Billy Crystal, William Shatner, Betty White, Florence Henderson, Mickey Rooney, Roddy McDowall, Marlene Dietrich, Jayne Mansfield, Rock Hudson and Gloria Swanson.^[5]^[7] Those who appeared in more than five productions included Edie Adams, Ed Ames, Vivian Blaine, Mitzi Gaynor, Vincent Price, Genevieve, Robert Goulet, Lois Hunt, Van Johnson, Carol Lawrence, Paul Lynde, Gordon MacRae, Ann Miller, Karen Morrow, John Raitt, Martha Raye, Alexis Smith, Betty White, Barry Williams, and Earl Wrightson.^[8] In 1972, 1973, and 1975, Karen Valentine appeared in Columbus, Ohio.^[9] In 1978, Sue Ane Langdon appeared in Chicago in Columbus, Ohio.^[10]

Backstage called the Kenley Players "a legendary summer stock circuit."^[6] Playbill called it "for decades, a renowned midwestern summer stock outfit."^[4] During the period The Phil Donahue Show was broadcast from Dayton, celebrities appearing in Kenley productions appeared regularly, giving Kenley national publicity.

Production history

1940

The Barker - starring Ann Corio
Command of Love - starring Ramon Novarro
The Hottentot - starring Arthur Treacher
No More Ladies - starring Lila Lee and Pert Kelton
On the Spot - starring Anna May Wong
The Poor Nut - starring Buddy Ebsen
Private Lives - starring Ruth Chatterton
See My Lawyer - starring Teddy Hart
Tit for Tat - starring Pert Kelton and Lila Lee
Up Pops the Devil - starring Fifi D'Orsay
Worth A Million - starring Charley Chase
Young Sinners - starring Leon Janney

1947

Ah, Wilderness! - starring Frank McHugh
Arsenic and Old Lace - starring Bela Lugosi
Biography - starring Vera Vague
Caprice - starring Ruth Chatterton
Dream Play - starring Jean Parker
A Goose for the Gander - starring Gloria Swanson
Kiss and Tell - starring Peggy Ann Garner
Ladies in Retirement - starring Fritzi Scheff
The Little Foxes - starring Ruth Chatterton
The Male Animal - starring Buddy Ebsen
The Petrified Forest - starring Conrad Nagel
The Philadelphia Story - starring Diana Barrymore
Sailor Beware - starring Ann Corio
A Slight Case of Murder - starring James Dunn
Springtime for Henry - starring Edward Everett Horton
Three's A Family - no featured performers
Tobacco Road - no featured performers

1948

Fatal Weakness - starring Glenda Farrell
Free Hand - starring Larry Parks
Good News - starring Dean Havers (first musical)
John Loves Mary - starring Guy Madison
Kind Lady - starring Sylvia Sidney
Kiss and Tell - starring James Dobson
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney - starring Kay Francis
Laura - starring Signe Hasso
Made in Heaven - starring Richard Arlen
Strictly Dishonorable - starring Edmund Lowe
Ten Little Indians - starring Beverly Roberts and Beverly Bayne
Twentieth Century - starring Mischa Auer and Haila Stoddard
The Voice of the Turtle - starring Virginia Gilmore
Years Ago - starring Nancy Carroll

1949

Accent on Youth - starring Paul Lukas
Anna Lucasta - starring Lizabeth Scott
The Barretts of Wimpole Street - starring Susan Peters
The Bat - starring Zasu Pitts
Burlesque - starring Bert Lahr
Dressed to Kill - starring Chester Morris
Happy Birthday - starring Joan Blondell
Her Cardboard Lover - starring Tom Drake
Kiss and Tell - starring Peggy Ann Garner
Let Us Be Gay - starring Kay Francis
Light Up The Sky - starring Diana Barrymore
My Sister Eileen - starring Billy Gilbert
Petticoat Fever - starring Sonny Tufts
The Philadelphia Story - starring Sarah Churchill
Yes, My Darling Daughter - starring Ann Harding

1950

Angel Street - starring Laraine Day and Ernest Cossart
Another Language - starring Martha Scott
Apple of His Eye - starring Edward Arnold
Born Yesterday - starring Shelley Winters
Candle-Light - starring Jean Parker
The Chocolate Soldier - starring Ernest McChesney
Finian's Rainbow - starring Jerry Wayne
For Love or Money - starring John Loder
Goodbye, My Fancy - starring Sylvia Sidney
Harvey - starring Bert Wheeler
Over 21 - starring Eve Arden
The Poor Nut - starring Lon McAllister
Post Road - starring Zasu Pitts
The Primrose Path - starring Ann Corio
The Spider - starring Victor Jory
Tobacco Road - starring John Carradine

1951

Brigadoon - no featured performers
Candida - starring Olivia de Havilland
The Curtain Rises - starring Veronica Lake
Die Fledermaus - starring Ernest McChesney
Glad Tidings - starring Melvyn Douglas and Signe Hasso
Golden Boy - starring John Garfield
Mirror, Mirror - starring Kay Francis
Pal Joey - starring Carol Bruce and Bob Fosse
Personal Appearance - starring Georgia Sothern
Rain - starring Lawrence Tibbett
Separate Rooms - starring Barbara Britton
Skylark - starring Constance Bennett
Springtime for Henry - starring Edward Everett Horton
A Streetcar Named Desire - starring Richard Kiley
Tonight or Never - starring Ilona Massey

1952

Anonymous Lover - starring Betty Garrett and Larry Parks
Charley's Aunt - starring Francis Ballard
Come Back, Little Sheba - starring Joan Blondell
Come On Up (Ring Twice) - starring Mae West
Gramercy Ghost - starring Angela Lansbury
The Happy Time - starring Denise Darcel
Kiss Me, Kate - starring Arthur Maxwell and Juliana Larson
The Little Foxes - starring Ruth Chatterton
Maid in the Ozarks - starring Gina and Burman Bodel
A Night at Madame Tussaud's - starring Peter Lorre and Miriam Hopkins
On Your Toes - starring Katharine Sergava, Bill Callahan and Yvonne Adair
Private Lives - starring Alexis Smith and Victor Jory
Remains to Be Seen - starring Veronica Lake and Jackie Cooper
The Second Man - starring Franchot Tone and Betsy von Furstenberg
Theatre - starring Kay Francis
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - starring Lanny Ross
White Cargo - starring Rose La Rose

1953

Affairs of State - starring June Havoc
Anna Lucasta - starring Sherry Britton
Annie Get Your Gun - starring Sara Dillon
Bell, Book and Candle - starring Alexis Smith and Victor Jory
Call Me Madam - starring Patrice Wilkes and Jimmy Kirkwood
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - starring Rusti Salmon
I Am a Camera - starring Evelyn Keyes
Loco - starring Dagmar and Arthur Treacher
Mister Roberts - no featured performers
The Moon Is Blue - starring Jean Jory
The Postman Always Rings Twice - starring Barbara Payton and Tom Neal
The Respectful Prostitute - starring Amelia Corley
Sassy Little Lassie - starring Chaz Chase

1955

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - starring Chester Morris
Finian's Rainbow - starring Susan Reed
For Love or Money - starring Marie Wilson
Guys and Dolls - no featured performers
Member of the Wedding - starring Ethel Waters
The Moon Is Blue - starring Donald Woods
No Time For Comedy - starring Sarah Churchill
Picnic - starring Gloria Vanderbilt and Jack Warden
The Shanghai Gesture - starring Claire Luce
A Streetcar Named Desire - starring Diana Barrymore
Tobacco Road - starring Larry Barton
White Cargo - starring Julie Gibson
You Can't Take It With You - starring Charles Colburn

References

^ ^a ^b Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (October 30, 2009). "John Kenley, Who Took Big Stars to Small-Town Stages, Dies at 103". New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Tonguette, Peter (July 2015). "Those Summer Nights: The Rollicking Good Times of the Kenley Players". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ "Producer John Kenley dies at 103". Variety. November 1, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Simonson, Robert (June 5, 2013). "Leslie B. Cutler, Mainstay Director for Kenley Players, Dies at 93". Playbill. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Brown, Tony (October 30, 2009). "John Kenley, legendary Ohio impresario, dead at 103: Obituary". Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Summer Theater Producer John Kenley Dies at 103". Backstage. October 30, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ "Headliners for the Kenley Players". KenleyPlayersHistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ "Most Appearances by a Headliner". KenleyPlayersHistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ "096V157 Karen Valentine portrait". Columbus in Historic Photographs. Columbus Metropolitan Library. Retrieved 17 April 2022. Karen Valentine appeared in Columbus in "The Moon is Blue" on 6/27/1972, "Born Yesterday" on 6/23/1973 and "Bus Stop" on 6/24/1975.
^ "096C2891 Sue Ane Langdon portrait". Columbus in Historic Photographs. Columbus Metropolitan Library. Retrieved 17 April 2022. Actress Sue Ane Langdon (3/8/1936- ), appeared in Columbus in the Kenley Players production of Chicago in 1978.

External links

List of Kenley Players Headliners

[nytobit-1] Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (October 30, 2009). "John Kenley, Who Took Big Stars to Small-Town Stages, Dies at 103". New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[colmonth1507-2] Tonguette, Peter (July 2015). "Those Summer Nights: The Rollicking Good Times of the Kenley Players". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[varietyobit-3] "Producer John Kenley dies at 103". Variety. November 1, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[cutlerobit-4] Simonson, Robert (June 5, 2013). "Leslie B. Cutler, Mainstay Director for Kenley Players, Dies at 93". Playbill. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[pdobit-5] Brown, Tony (October 30, 2009). "John Kenley, legendary Ohio impresario, dead at 103: Obituary". Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[backstage_obit-6] "Summer Theater Producer John Kenley Dies at 103". Backstage. October 30, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[headliners-7] "Headliners for the Kenley Players". KenleyPlayersHistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[kenleymostappearances-8] "Most Appearances by a Headliner". KenleyPlayersHistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

[9] "096V157 Karen Valentine portrait". Columbus in Historic Photographs. Columbus Metropolitan Library. Retrieved 17 April 2022. Karen Valentine appeared in Columbus in "The Moon is Blue" on 6/27/1972, "Born Yesterday" on 6/23/1973 and "Bus Stop" on 6/24/1975.

[columbuslibrary-096C2891-10] "096C2891 Sue Ane Langdon portrait". Columbus in Historic Photographs. Columbus Metropolitan Library. Retrieved 17 April 2022. Actress Sue Ane Langdon (3/8/1936- ), appeared in Columbus in the Kenley Players production of Chicago in 1978.

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Kenley Players

Production history

1940

1947

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References

External links

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