Northeast Michigan Oral History and Historic Photograph Archive

Carol Witherbee Interview

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Oral Interview Part 3: Oral Interview Part 3
Transcription: CK: Okay. And is it used in bluegrass? CW: Bluegrass…not so much, maybe. But, ah, fiddle tunes and hornpipes. One of the first songs I learned to play was called Soldier's Joy, and the story behind this song, and whether it is absolutely true, I don't know. But was that a soldier from the other side, whatever side that was, was in prison, and was asked by his, you know, imprisoner, magistrate of the camp or whatever it was, if he could play "Soldier's Joy". And he said, "If you can play that song, I will let you go." And so, actually don't think, I think it was named or renamed "Soldier's Joy" because it provided him his freedom. CK: He obviously knew it. CW: Right. He knew the tune. CK: Is it a familiar tune? CW: No. I mean it's a folk tune, and it is familiar to folk musicians. CK: I thought I might have you hum a few bars. CW: Oh! Deedaladeeladee. It's very fast. CK: I get that; it is very joyful. In, ah, 1988, you were the guest artist for the Thunder Bay Arts Council "In Concert" Series. CW: Yes! Oh my goodness, that was a wonderful opportunity. It was a wonderful opportunity to… I was paired with two other, paired isn't the word because that denotes two doesn't it? I was combined with two other music teachers. One was a trumpet player, another was an oboist, and then there was me. And we did a total concert of different tunes and things, and I was lucky enough to have resurrected some of my college graduate recital music, which I had loved and performed and still hung onto the music. Ah but it, to say it took an accompanist was not quite right…it took a pianist… to accompany these pieces and I was very fortunate to have Mary Louise Hart, who in my estimation, is a true pianist, accompany me. CK: She was one of the three? CW: No, she was my accompanist. CK: Oh, she was your accompanist, okay. CW: I don't think I could have done the music without her; because the music was so much a part of the entire work, works. One was by DeBussy and another by Gerald Finzi, it was a wonderful song cycle. It was a unit, not like, here is the singer and here is the piano player. CK: Right. CW: Absolutely. CK: It was a series, so there were several performances that you did as part of being the artist in residence. CW: Well, we, I think we each had approximately a half an hour of music to perform, and really that's a lot. CK: Being on stage for that long. CW: Right. And so, but I, it was a very nice opportunity; I enjoyed it. My boys have a video of their mother, you know, doing that sort of thing. Which is kind of an heirloom. CK: So that exists. There is a video of… CW: Yes, of that concert CK: Where would we access that? CW: Well, I think it's in my drawer at home. CK: So is that something we could possibly transcribe? Um, transcribe is not the word…but CW: Copy. CK: Copy. CW: Let's just put it that way. CK: Let's just put it that way. CW; I wonder if…yes you certainly may. And I wonder if you would have, a way of putting it on, because its an old VHS, a way to put in on a disc for me? CK: Okay. CW: Because I've been wanting to do that anyway and just wondering where to have it done, so…if you have a way of doing that it would be great. CK: Okay, I will look into that. I know that we are looking at ways to transfer tape and make it digital, because ultimately what we would like to do is, if we had that piece, tie it in to this oral history, so people could go… CW: And there it is! CK: And see it along with the oral history- that would be great. Thank you for mentioning it and I will ask Nancy about that. CK: In your illustrious career, it seems like you've been involved in so much, not just in the schools; but in the community, it's impressive. You've appeared in many plays at the Alpena Civic Theater, which has been in operation since 1956 and the Thunder Bay Theater recently celebrated its forty-seventh year. In what capacity did you serve in these groups? CW: Well, I was an actress first. And I was amazed at how much I enjoyed that. I guess there is a little bit of ham in me, so musicals were light and fun and gave me a chance to be, you know, to be someone I was not, which made me a little more bold. People have said that I tend to do comedy very well. And I sort of slipped from being just a musical person, a person that did musicals, into doing straight plays, non-musicals, but most of the time they were comedies. And then, I was given a chance to do a couple of more serious plays, which I greatly enjoyed. CK: So initially music… CW: Drew me into that activity. I've also done quite a bit of directing for them now. And I still can, if I have a good assistant director who will take down my stage directions for me, because I don't write. I can't pop up on the stage like I used to and say "I want you to turn this way," but if I get the right person to work with me I still could be bossy and direct. CK: Do you work at both theaters or primarily one? CW: Well, mostly the Civic Theater because, let's see, I think the first things I ever did at TBT was their 25th anniversary thing, or I just can't remember. Of course I did some TBT things when they were housed at Civic Theater before they moved over and established...it was called Summer Bay Summer Theater. CK: Oh, I remember that. CW: Keith Titus and Ginny most of, Keith and Sonya and Ginny, ah, did most of that. So I was in Fiddler on the Roof there, for Thunder Bay Summer Theater, I was in Damned Yankees as a community person; but then when they moved over, they ah, wanted to employ the professionals, but I use the term loosely because many of them were in college, working on their degrees. Or having just graduated from college and were starting out. CK: So it wasn't that they necessarily had experience, but were in the field. CW: Yes, in the field, and thus would be called professional, or setting out to make their living in the theatre and many found out it was a hard way to do that. CK: So what were some of the serious roles that you had, do you recall? CW: I recall doing a play several years ago called "The Westside Waltz", and in the movie version, it was Shirley MacLaine who did the role. And, it was about a woman who was a pianist, used to perform, getting older, and it shows her, during the course of the play going from a cane, to a walker, to a wheel chair. And how she lived by herself in a New York apartment, and ah, there was a friend, a single woman, who kind of makes friends with her, in a, let's see, I think you would say the young woman was more eager for a friendship with the pianist, than the pianist was with her. It was just a kind of a "hello, how are you?" but they end up realizing that they, ah the main character, ends up realizing how much she is dependent on this young woman to, for her friendship and her support. And they actually end up being quite endeared to one another which was, I thought, a nice storyline…so, it was a challenge to sort of build this um, this relationship, to the point to which it became at the end of the play. CK: What part did you play? CK: I played the Shirley MacLaine part. It was amazing. Chip Lavely, who was the director of this show, did so much stage work. He actually built a grand piano that looked darn like a grand piano on the stage and, being a musician myself, the pieces of piano music that were to be played by this woman, ah, I could tell when I had to go down, so people said they actually thought I was playing. So that was good. CK: You were able to add some believability to it. How was it for you to do the aging process? CW: Well, I think it was, of course the lines of the play, and how it was written established the changes in her. And physically, I just had to get a little more feeble in my movements and how much I depended on. This young woman was a violinist and so they would often play together. And there is a third character that comes in, a young girl and she is, kind of involves herself somewhat, with the pianist. They have sort of a mother-daughter kind of thing going. And, she ends up getting married and leaving, and that's when the two original friends pull, really pull together. CK: It's called "The West Side Waltz". CW: Right. CK: I'm going to have to check out the movie version, it sounds good. CW: Oh yes, yeah, yeah. CK: Were there other memorable roles? CW: I loved playing in "The Odd Couple" female version. I got to be the neat freak. And ah, a very well known person in Alpena, Sonya Titus, was the Oscar, of the, or was it Oscar that was... Anyway, she was the slob. CK: Have you two known each other for years? CW: Oh yeah. CK: So that probably even made it more fun too. CW: It was. It was really a lot of fun. And that's the only time I ever did something as crude as belching on stage. I said "That's the lowest I will go, don't ask me anymore." CK: Any others? I'm guessing you were in a lot over the years? CW: Well, let's see. Isn't that funny, I just don't… CK: Or in direction, you did a lot of directing… CW: Oh I have been very lucky in directing. I directed "Escanaba in da Moonlight." CK: Oh I saw that! CW: Our production? CK: Upstairs at the Civic Theater. CW: That was me. How five men entrusted their flatulence to me,
Creators: Cindy Kus; Carol Witherbee
, Interviewee
Media Type: Audio
Item Type: Interviews
Description: Carol Witherbee is a vocalist, music educator, choir director, plays the dulcimer and has directed local theatrical productions. She began her career in the Alpena Public Schools teaching music in the elementary classroom in the late 1960s.
Place of Publication: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
Date of Original: June 2015
Date Of Event: 1960s-2015
Playing Time: 01:02:52
Subject(s): Music education
Musical instruments
Operas & operettas
Theaters
Theatrical productions
Oral histories
Personal Name(s): Witherbee, Carol
Corporate Name(s): Alpena Civic Theater ; Thunder Bay Theater ; Three On A String
Collection: Musicians of Northeast Michigan
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 2015
Copyright Holder: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Library
Recommended Citation: In Text- Witherbee, C. (2015)
Reference- Witherbee, C.(2015, June 2)Retrieved from http://www.nemoha.org/3235701/data?n=2
Contact: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
Email:specialcollections@alpenalibrary.org
Website:
https://www.alpenalibrary.org

Agency street/mail address:
211 N. First Ave.
Alpena, Michigan 49707
USA
(989)356-6188
Transcription: Cindy Kus

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