The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-07-29
A SPEAKER TELLS
ROTARIANS ABOUT
THE LOST COLONY
Many Interesting Things Attach
to The Production Of This
Outdoor Drama
BY AYCOCK BROWN

| AhSic are eAdStly 1,UOU pearls
on the purple velvet costume which
The Lost Colony's Queen Elizabeth
wears and some of the costumes
work by other members of the cast
are the originals, used each sea-
son since the dramas premiere in
1887.
These backstage sidelights and
many more of interest provided the
subject matter of a talk by Andrew
Kormany, of South Bound Brook
N. j., before Manteo Rotary Club
here Monday evening. His back
stage sidelights of the drama which
has outlived all other outdoor pro-
auctions came between two solos
from South Pacific musical score
which he sang to the accompani-
ment of Miss Pat Robinson, a
Spruce Pines resident, who like
Kormany is member of The Lost
Colony Chorus.
each of those 1000 pearls on
the velvet costume, one of those
worn by Mary Long of Rock Hill,
S. c., who portrays the 18th Cen
fury queen were sewn on by hand"
said Kormany.
at is interesting to know that
Irene Rains and her team Of six
assistants wash each of the cos
tunes by hand, turned many times
and dried in the natural heat of
the sun. That is why a costume
used in 1887, is still in perfect con-
dition and use today"
1.-THE audience would never guess
that there are 750 properties neces-
sary for each performance-prop-
critics ranging from colonists guns,
wooden knives, tomahawks, pixies.
halberts, shields, to three doll
babies to show the growth of Vir-
ginia Dare. Also there are beds,
candles, a cradle, a large log
brooms, water buckets, mugs, and
tarpaulin for Old Tom to lie on
during rainy nights. There are
many, many other large and small
properties. These have to be made
repaired and cared for and each
night the mistress of propertieT
places the props on two prop tables
and after the show puts everything
away in it's place to await the next
performance" he added.
ain all there are about 200 cos
tunes used in the show since every
character wears at least two
changes and some wear as many as
five or six changes during per-
Torrance. These costumes must be
checked daily and washed weekly"
Kormany doubles as a bass
singer in the choir and as Wan
cheese, the unfriendly Indian. He Is
first seen wearing his choir robes.
At that time beneath his robe he
is painted up to the neck. Moments
after the choir leaves the loft, he
had painted his face and decorated
same automatically with contrast
ing stripes.
Several notable actors gained
their first foothold on professional
theatre in The Lost Colony. Sew
eral have attained fame and for
tune. Among the group might be
remembered Julia Meade of the
Ed Sullivan Show who once played
the female lead role of Eleanor
Dare, R. G. Armstrong, now in
New York production of the mira
Gle worked who is best known in
TV, Charles Griggs, now in Holly
wood acting in television and on
the screen, the late Ainslie Pryor.
and the most famous of all, Bar
Ibara and Andy Griffith"
"It may not be generally known
that in the technical work, since
there is no curtain, all scenery has
to be shifted as noiselessly as posi-
BILE in the dark and by unframed
technicians, except for the five or
six rehearsals they have before the
show formally opens. There are
some 1000 or more mistakes that
could be made, anyone of which
could wreck the show. For example
in striking (taking DOWN the set
for the Queens Garden Scene in
Act One, there are over 100 handles
to be found in the dark, and that
| in no scene change is there as much
as two minutes for the stage to
be cleared and ready for the next
scene-all in the dark and quiet
ly."
Continuing, Kormany pointed out
that, understudies have to be Sc
lected chiefly for size, since, when
thye go on in the place of a princi-
pal, they must wear the principals
costume. In few cases where an
understudy and principal vary
greatly in size new costumes have
to be made for the understudy,
which must blend with the lights
and all the other costumes OF the
scene in which it will be worn"
Lighting for the show pulls
100000 watts. The lighting must
indicate the time of day or night
r -.