Theater became a viable art farm in the Valley in the 1870s. Since then, hundreds, possibly thousands of actresses have tread the local boards. Most of them never made it into the archives. Here are some that did but who did not leave enough information behind to construct individual pages.
CAROLYN ALLHANDS
Actress, active in the 1960s. Credits: 1967, Nude With Violin, Arizona Repertory Theatre; 1967, The Lower Depths, Arizona Repertory Theatre.
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LUCILLE ANDERSON
In the mid-to-late 1890s, Lucille was the star of what the papers of the day called “musical entertainments.” Something of an understatement since her credits included La Boheme, The Girl of the Golden West and Mlle Modiste.
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SARAH JANE BLUEMLE
Actress, active in the 1960s. Notable credits: 1963, Counterpoint West, Arizona Repertory Theatre; 1963, Antony and Cleopatra, co-production between Phoenix Little Theatre and Arizona Repertory Theatre.
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VICTORIA BROTHERTON
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FAY BULLOCK
Fay was one of the critics’ darlings in the 1950s and ’60s. They got to put their pens to good use rhapsodizing over her Amanda in the 1960 production of The Glass Menagerie at Phoenix Little Theatre. Though drama was her forte, she had a nice touch with musicals, too, including PLT’s 1961 mounting of The Happiest Millionaire.
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LYNN ERZINGER
Lynn appeared in a number of productions at the Sombrero Playhouse and the Phoenix Civic Light Opera Company in the 1950s and ’60s. Her credits include No Time for Sergeants (1959) at Phoenix Little Theatre.
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MARGIE GHIGO
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Margie was a popular addition to any cast list. She was a triple threat: a fine actress, singer and dancer. Among her roles were Brigadoon (1978), Scottsdale Community Players; Anything Goes (1977), French Quarter Dinner Theatre at the Safari, Scottsdale; and South Pacific (1977), French Quarter.
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SYLVIA GODFREY
Sylvia was a wonderfully witty actress whose skills encompassed high drama and low comedy. She brought considerable panache to the theater scene of the 1970s and ’80s. One of her best roles was in the 1977 production of South Pacific at the French Quarter Dinner Theatre. Her Bloody Mary stole the show – and the reviews!
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BETTY HEISLEY
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IRMA LANGE
Scottsdale actress whose credits include The Male Animal (1959), Scottsdale Community Players, and The Far Country (1965), also Scottsdale Community Players.
BARBARA LECOCQ
Actress, active in the 1960s. Credits: 1967, Nude With Violin, Arizona Repertory Theatre; 1967, The Lower Depths, Arizona Repertory Theatre.
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VIRGINIA LEE
Virginia was one of the Valley’s leading sopranos in the 1960s and ’70s. She worked frequently for the Ala Carte Players. Her credits include 1776 (1976) at Phoenix Little Theatre.
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SARAH JANE MILLER
Actress active in the 1960s, often with Arizona Repertory Theatre. Credits: 1967, Nude With Violin, Arizona Repertory Theatre; 1967, The Lower Depths, Arizona Repertory Theatre.
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MARY MIZELL
Mary was an actress/teacher/producer who was active in local theater from the 1970s through the ’90s.
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BETTY MOORE
There have been a long line of sopranos who dominated Phoenix’s musical stages, dating back to Julia McCormack in the 1890s. In the 1950s, the spotlight was on Betty who snagged the leads in the best musicals of the era.
Betty worked for Phoenix Musical Theatre and its predecessor, the Phoenix Civic Light Opera Company; Phoenix Little Theatre and the Stagebrush Chamber Opera.
Her best roles were Julie Jordan in Carousel, Babe in The Pajama Game, Marsinah in Kismet, Tuptim in The King and I, Sarah in Guys and Dolls, Linda in Pal Joey and Natalie in The Merry Widow.
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KATHLEEN QUILLEN
Active in the 1960s and ’70s, Kathleen was an actress with a beautiful singing voice.
She studied opera in New York City with Emmy Joseph.
Her roles here included Volpone for Arizona Repertory Theatre, The Most Happy Fella and Little Mary Sunshine. She also spent two seasons working in productions at the Star Theatre (now the Celebrity).
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FRAN TOLLESON
Ask any theater old-timer about Fran Tolleson and the reply inevitably is “She was Cleopatra, wasn’t she?” Although she worked regularly in the ’60s, Fran is most remembered for her sultry Queen of the Nile in the 1963 co-production between Phoenix Little Theatre and Arizona Repertory Theatre of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Said Helen Backer in her Arizona Republic review, “Miss Tolleson has succeeded to a great degree in a role where many of her illustrious predecessors have failed. She showed us last night a temperament well-suited to the variable Cleopatra. She allowed no sympathy toward her except perhaps in the final scenes where she made the transition from the coquette she had been to the woman she finally became.”
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MARTHA ANN VISEUR
Credits include Candida (1960), Phoenix Little Theatre and The Happiest Millionaire (1961), PLT.