Of our three major productions being revived this season, only one person played a major role in each the first time around.  Dottie Anthony, one of the founding members of ACT I, appeared in the role of Gay Wellington in our very first production, You Can't Take it With You, in April of 1980; she appeared as Edith in Blithe Spirit in 1981, and gave her final performances in an acting role on our stage in the role of the Mother Abbess in our first production of The Sound of Music in 1995.  And so, with our revival of that show currently running on our stage, we honor Dottie Anthony as our Member of the Month for September, 2004!

Dorothy Anthony, 70, and her husband, Dr. Sherman Anthony, (better known as Tony) have been a part of the Vinton community for the past 42 years.  The couple, both natives of Council Bluffs, knew each other at Abraham Lincoln High School there (Tony was two years older), and that's when Dottie first was bitten by the theatre bug.  She played leads in two operettas and also played a nun for the first time, the lead in Song of Bernadette.  Later, she and Tony were married while he was in medical school.  They lived in Iowa City and later Fort Riley, Kansas, where Tony was stationed while serving as an army doctor.  Following Tony's military service, the Anthonys looked for a place to settle, and after writing numerous letters to various communities selected six potential positions, before settling on Vinton.  They arrived here in 1962 and within a few months had settled in the red brick 1868 Victorian home that they have lived in ever since.  Since that time they have operated the Anthony Clinic and Tony has also been associated with Virginia Gay Hospital.

Dottie Anthony of Vinton, as the Mother Abbess, with Annette Williams as Maria sing
"My Favorite Things" in one of the opening scenes of our 1995 production of The Sound of Music.

When the Old Creamery Theatre was helping to organize a community theatre for the Benton County area, Dottie heard about the project and was interested.  “The two oldest ones were away at college, and I was getting a little more time on my hands. I thought this was something I’d like to do.”   Howard Blanning, the young director of our first production, You Can’t Take it With You, cast Dottie in the role of Gay Wellington, a tipsy actress.  “I’ve played a drunk twice for ACT I, as well as a saloon buster,” she said.  “In You Can’t Take it With You, I was to fall over the davenport with my drink in my hand and they laughed because I didn’t spill a drop!”

Dottie had lots to say about many of the early members of ACT I.  I reminded her that in one of our earlier Member of the Month articles, Marsh Berry had credited her with his first ACT I involvement.  “He had such a wonderful voice!” she said of him.  She also had praise for the comedic talents of the late Dan Campbell, who appeared in several of the earliest shows.  “And Dick Paulus was a lot of fun to work with.”  “Sally Ludden did a lot of ingénue parts.” 

Dottie was back on stage a year later for our third production, Sir Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, the third show being repeated this season.  She praised this show as being very funny.  In this production she was cast in the role of Edith.  She was back again that fall for ACT I’s fourth show, Deadwood Dick, which Dottie describes as “a really different play.”  In the style of a 19th century melodrama, the show combined the dramatic action with musical numbers from the period.  Temperance is a common theme in this genre, and Deadwood Dick was no exception -- Dottie was cast as Teetotal Tessie, a saloon busting, axe wielding WCTU matron.  “This was funny for me because my grandmother was in the WCTU in Council Bluffs, and here I was chopping up saloons on stage.”

Dottie Anthony, center right, as Teetotal Tessie, wields an axe to break up saloons
in our 1981 production of Deadwood Dick at the Old Creamery Theatre.

Dottie’s next role was as Mrs. Paddy in The Curious Savage, this time hitting the bottle again, playing a tipsy painter.  She spoke highly of the cast of that show, including the leading actress, Colleen Stufflebeam, and David Nolte, who both acted and played the violin in that show.  Next up, Dottie worked backstage, doing the program, publicity, and box office for The Murder Room.  She then appeared as a party reveler in Don’t Drink the Water.  Following that show, Dottie took a break from the stage, returning in 1986 for the role of Mary in Lovingly Yours, the musical by local composer Skeet Powers. 

Dottie has very fond memories of the late Tom Cunliffe, who directed Lovingly Yours and wrote the text of that show, during his days as an actor at The Old Creamery Theatre, particularly for performances in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Arsenic and Old Lace.  She also praised the other two Old Creamery Directors who staged our early ACT I shows, Howard Blanning, as well as Steve Shaffer, who now performs at the Old Log Theater in Excelsior, Minnesota.  “Our daughter who lives in Minnesota saw him perform just last year.”

Dottie described the Old Creamery Theatre where ACT I's first productions were staged as very cold, but also praised the Garrison theatre's intimacy, as well as the audience configuration around the stage.  She also described the work sessions that occurred at the theatre to get each production in shape.  “In those days everybody worked on sets and painting.  It made for great camaraderie.  The Creamery was so helpful, letting us use lights and costumes, we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Dottie Anthony played the maid in our 1981 production of Blithe Spirit, one of the three shows being repeated for our 25th anniversary.  She is pictured here with Keith and Becky Mossman, also veterans of the very first ACT I shows.  Becky and Keith played the cameo roles of Baron and Baroness Elberfeld in our first production of The Sound of Music.  Dottie and Becky are the only two performers who appeared in all three of the original productions being revived this year.

Dottie served as a member of our board and also as our president.  “I still get mail for ACT I, it never stops, once they get your on their lists.”

Following Lovingly Yours, Dottie had a nine year hiatus from the group.  She returned in a role that would prove to be her last -- or, more hopefully, her most recent acting assignment for ACT I, when she played the role of the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music in 1995.  This was not totally her last ACT I involvement, however.  Three years later, when ACT I staged Bye Bye Birdie in Riverside Park, Dottie performed in a pre-show vocal ensemble.  Theatre patrons at the park could purchase box dinners prior to the show, and a variety of musical treats were on hand to entertain the picnickers, of which Dottie was one.  Following these performances, Dottie then limited herself to being a member of the audience, as Tony had remained all through her years of participation.

Tony and Dottie have four children and seven grandchildren.  Lane lives in Ottumwa where he teaches the visually impaired.  Daughter Julie lives in Shorewood Minnesota where she works for Genetech, a company which sells Oncology drugs.  Jennifer is a dermatologist in Pella, and Ann -- who taught band at Washington High School in Vinton several years ago is currently in Fort Riley, Kansas, where her husband is an army doctor.

When asked about her favorite acting role, Dottie quickly named the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music.  “Tony and I grew up during World War II.  We were still very young but we remember the rationing and collecting scrap, and tin foil from chewing gum.  That play had a little more meaning for me because of that.”

Dottie went on to tell about her many visits to Germany and the rest of Europe.  “Taking a Hovercraft from England to Calais, you could see the concrete bunkers were still there.”  She recalled a visit to Warsaw, where she looked out from her hotel room to see soldiers goose stepping regularly.  The experience brought back memories of war time. 

Dottie had much good to say about ACT I and how it has done as an organization during the intervening years since her last performances.  “I think that a community theatre is an attraction for a town.  A community theatre, a community chorus, can be something you belong to that enhances the town.  We’ve been very fortunate to have such an active community theatre and to have the support that they have.  When ever we would get a new doctor these were the things that I would tell them.  It’s just good wholesome fun.”

Is Dottie really done performing?  Or could we hope for some future ACT I production with Dottie back on stage once again?  “I don’t sing any more.  That’s just like any other muscle, if you don’t use it, you lose it.”  But she doesn’t rule out some future performance.  So as we thank Dottie for all her efforts on behalf of ACT I in our early years (and Tony for all his behind the scenes support of her activity) it is with the hope that when the time is right she'll be back with us on stage once again!

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