Up Goes the Curtain - a Penny Parrish book

I picked up this book at Atlanta Vintage Books when we went through Atlanta this past summer going up to Kentucky to visit my Dad.  Having done community theater, I have grown rather fond of reading stories about the theater (such as the Mary Perkins, On Stage newspaper strips, the Carol Page theater stories, Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan, and the Backstagers series for young adults).  So, when I saw this cover, I did not hesitate to buy the book.  I have heard the author, Janet Lambert, mentioned in various book groups to which I belong, but I've never actually owned or read any of her books.  I had always assumed her books were simply young adult romance stories, but this book definitely proves me wrong.  This story was clearly based on Lambert's own experiences, both on Broadway as an actress and as an Army wife (both of these elements playing a large part of this story).  And what surprised me even more is that this book, while having a stand-alone story, is actually part of a series - the fourth book in a series of novels about Penny Parrish (with three prior books being published in 1941, 1942, and 1943 respectively, and two more after this book being published in 1947 and 1950).  Knowing this, I'm more than likely going to track down the other books in the series to see how the character evolves over the course of the decade in which the books were published.  (NOTE - Lambert also wrote series about Tippy Parrish, who is Penny's younger sister, as well as other characters, suich as Parri MacDonald, Candy Kane, Dria Meredith, etc.)

 

Up Goes the Curtain actually contains two separate stories, although Lambert does intertwine them a bit. The book opens with Penny excited about her part in an upcoming Broadway play (her background sounds very similar to that of Carol Page - spent a summer in a stock company training, went to New York, and finally lands a part in a play (p. 10), and, just like Carol Page, she makes a vow that not matter what, she will succeed, so she does not have to return home (p. 12)).  But, since the rehearsals do not begin for three weeks, Penny decides to visit her family, who are staying at Fort Knox, Kentucky where her father and brother are stationed, which begins the mystery that surrounds a young woman named Marcia McMain (what is with the alliteration in names?  Penny Parrish?  Marcia McMain?), who is being escorted to Fort Knox by Terry Hayes, a young man that had previously shown an interest in Penny. Penny is somewhat taken aback by Terry's attitude towards her, but it slowly begins to dawn on her that since Terry is serving in the military, perhaps the woman was a job - perhaps he was actually keeping tabs on her because she was a spy!  (What she does not know, but what the reader does learn thanks to a point-of-view switch to Penny's brother and his wife, who are fully aware of the situation, is that the woman is indeed a spy, and it is Terry's job to flush her out in the open!)  Of course, a lot of miscommunications ensue as the family tries to convince Penny to stay out of it, but Penny is determined to prove her theory - and, of course, she ultimately does through a fateful night at a movie theater when she witnesses the exchange of a note between the woman and a young serviceman.  Penny is able to get a hold of that note, and its contents end up giving the Army everything they need to capture the woman and her accomplice, as well as to foil the damage these spies intended to do.

 

The second half of the book features Penny's return to New York with her sister-in-law (whose name just happens to be Carrol), where they stay at the lavish multi-bedroom apartment Carrol had inherited from her family.  A young woman by the name of Letty, whose husband also happens to be in the military and fighting overseas, joins them in the house, keeping Carrol company while Penny begins her rehearsals and eventually opens the show.  And, in yet another similarity with the Carol Page series, Penny ends up having difficulties with a stage manager who seemingly dislikes her, going out of his way to make things difficult for her - but she eventually learns the truth behind his gruff attitude, and the two develop a friendship of sorts.  In addition (like Carol Page), she happens to personally know the big-name actress who is headlining the play, and because of that, the other actors try to get in her good graces - all except one actor, Miltern Wilde (what a name!), who makes every effort to upstage Penny in every scene they share.  Penny's courage grow, however, to the point where she turns the tables on him one night when he purposefully steps on her toe, causing it to bleed, and she steals the scene from him, getting a thunderous ovation (p. 157) that leads to her gaining his respect.

 

The book ends on a rather sad note, with Penny receiving news that a young man she knows was shot down in a plane over Germany, and it is uncertain whether he survived or not.  There is also uncertainty regarding her growing friendship with the stage manager, and no resolution whatsoever about her feelings for Terry Hayes.  Instead, the book ends with Penny putting on her makeup for another performance of the play, sighing to herself, "It doesn't matter about me - the show must go on" (p. 189).  That ending alone is enough to make me want to hunt down the next book in the series to see where Penny goes from here. 

 

While I had a bit of disappointment in the fact that entire book was not focused on the theater, I did rather enjoy that spy/mystery part in the first half of the book.  The second half that did feature the theater - well, I wish we could have gotten an entire book on that, so the reader could get more fleshed out characters and feel more of the drama and tension among the cast.  As it is, we only get touches upon each of the characters, and I, as the reader, do not really know enough about them, nor spend enough time with them, to really care about how they interact with Penny and how she treats them.  I will be curious to see if any of the other books in the series follow Penny's acting career.  Definitely not a bad read, and one that has me curious enough to read more.

 

RATING:  7 large cokes with lots of ice out of 10 for an unexpected combination of war, spies, theater, and drama - like getting two books for the price of one! 

Short(est) Lived Comic Series #30 - On Stage (Dell Comics)

It is with shock and surprise that I reach this 1,000th post for my blog!  When I started this blog back in 2015, I don't think I ever imagined I would still be writing it 10 years later, nor do I think I ever expected to have read as many books, short stories, and comics as I have read in that time.  It has been a fun journey, and (for the most part) I have been fortunate to have read so many great stories over those years.  So, it is fitting that for this special post, I review a comic that I have had for a number of years but have been waiting to read.  This one-off comic from Dell Comics (issue 1336 of Dell's "Four Color" series) is based upon Leonard Starr's very popular newspaper strip that ran for 22 years, from 1957 to 1979.  I have the full collection of comic strips in collected editions by Classic Comics Press, which I have been reviewing on this blog, and I never even knew this comic existed until I happened across it at a local comic convention one year.

 

Dell's On Stage comic was published in 1962, with an "April-June 1962" date listed in the indicia.  While the cover gives credit to Leonard Starr, the creator of On Stage, Starr did not actually work on the comic.  While no actual credits are given with the comic itself, which was standard in those days, the Grand Comics Database (Dell Comics - On Stage) indicates the cover art was provided by Robert Williams Meyers, while interior art was provided by Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (inside front cover); Frank Bolle and Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (main story); Frank Giacoia (inside back cover); and Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia (back cover).  The script for these stories is credited to Ken Fitch, based on information in the "Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999."  Despite Leonard Starr not being involved, I have to give the publisher credit for finding an artist who was able to mimic Starr's style when drawing Mary and her supporting cast.  Sadly, the one thing that is missing from the comic are the extremely detailed backgrounds that Starr provided in nearly each and every panel of his comic strip.  While the panels in this comic do have some backgrounds, there are quite a few panels that simply have basic, one-color backgrounds against which the characters stand.  For me, though, having only seen Mary Perkins in black and white in the reprint collections, it was exciting to see her brought to life in full color in this 32-page comic!

 

This story takes place during the years collected by the fifth volume of Classic Comics Press' reprint volumes, and it brings back not just one, but two recurring characters from Mary's newspaper strip.  When Mary is asked to take a role in a new play about Shakespeare's life, supposedly based upon diaries found that reveal missing years of his life, she must convince fellow actor and friend, Maximus, to come to the States and take a role as well.  The director's difficulty in finding a backer suddenly disappears when an attorney shows up indicating he has a backer who wishes to remain anonymous.  This is when Mary happens to run into Johnny Q, who warns her about the attorney and his reputation.  So, here we have two mysterious men from Mary's strip who swoop in to help her uncover the truth, not only behind the mysterious benefactor for the play, but also the reality behind those alleged diaries of Shakespeare.

 

There's not quite as much drama in this comic as there is in the daily strip, but it does have its moments - particularly when Frank Stewart, the playwright, is brutally attacked when he refuses to allow the financier to take credit for his script.  Maximus steps in and shows the hoodlums that he is more than just a "pretty face" (and if you have read the On Stage newspaper strip, then you'll understand that pun!).  Between Mary, Pete, Maximus, and Johnny, they manage to turn the tables on the crooked producer and save the play from having any unsavory connections.  And, surprisingly, in the end, Maximus reveals to Pete the truth about his appearance, a revelation that I cannot recall has ever been made in the newspaper strip (at least, not up to the point where I have read).

 

The cover art, by Robert Meyers, depicts the very dramatic moment when Maximus shows the producer's hoodlums that he can fight back and take them down - although, in the story, there is no woman in the background watching.  I am not sure if the woman shown on the cover is supposed to be Mary Perkins, but if so, then it is an inaccurate portrayal, as this woman is a blond, and Mary has dark hair.  And since Dell Comics of that period did not have any advertisements, the inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover all feature short stories that give readers a bit more inside information, to to speak, about theater life.  "Angels Without Wings" on the inside front cover provides some details about investors, while "The Drama" on the inside back cover gives an abbreviated history of how drama has been depicted on the stage over the years. The back cover provides a color presentation of the "Arts and Tricks of Make-Up," and how strong make-up, simple techniques, and the use of rubber masks are used to hide blemishes, accentuate features, and sometimes change the appearance of actors on stage and screen. 

 

Overall, I would say this issue is a very nice tribute to the characters and stories of Leonard Starr, and it definitely does Mary Perkins proud.  Of course, only being one issue, the story is a bit faster paced than the daily strip, which had stories that lasted weeks, seven days each week, so had plenty of time to build up suspense and drop sub-plots that would come to fruition later.  Also, with just 32 pages, the writer did not have a lot of time for character development, so any readers who were not already familiar with the characters would likely have a lot of questions about who they are and how they are connected.  I wonder what we would have seen if Dell had decided to do more On Stage comics?

 

RATING:  9 electronic door locks out of 10 for keeping the drama in Mary Perkins' life and providing an interesting new theater story centered around the bard himself!

Carol on Tour - the Fourth (and final) Carol Page theater story

And so, it is with a heavy heart, we come to the fourth and final Carol Page theater story by Helen Dore Boylston.  I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Carol Page, her best friend Julia Gregg, and her gruff but faithful friend Mike Horodinsky, and it has been fun watching them start out as amateurs (Carol Goes on Stage), then spend the summer learning more of their respective crafts (Careol Plays Summer Stock), and finally return to New York to face the struggles of making their way in an already overcrowded industry (Carol on Broadway).  Now, here we are at last - Julia has been performing in a traveling show, Mike has been stage managing Miss Marlowe's show, and Carol has had a role in a Broadway hit!  So, what else is there for them to do?

 

Carol on Tour, by the title alone, gives a pretty strong hint of what comes next for Carol, Julia, and Mike. The story picks up not long after the end of the previous book, when the play written by Carol's new friend is picked up by a producer and brought to life by Carol's long-time teacher and mentor, Miss Marlowe.  The show is a success, and Carol has been getting rave reviews; although, Carol being Carol, she does not necessarily let those reviews go to her head.  At least, not at first.  The story throws a new (yet at the same time, old) twist into things.  One of Carol's fellow cast members sees Carol as a stepping stone, so she befriends her and starts taking her to a number of dinner engagements and parties - after all, in order to keep working on Broadway, it's all about who you know, not talent!  Carol is too naive to see the type of people she is associating with, and when Mike and Julia try to warn her, she only grows angry and defensive.  It's not until Carol has the opportunity to take on a major role in a touring company's production of The Merchant of Venice that she discovers the truth about her new "friend" - a truth that pushes her to take the role and head on a new journey in her career as an actress!

 

While the number of unbelievable breaks that come Carol's way continue to mount, Boylston manages to keep a certain level of believability to the story by integrating the various theater personalities around her - from those who simply use others to get ahead, to those who are always demanding to be the center of attention, to those who have years of experience and are only too happy to share their knowledge with others, to those who are anxious to get on the stage, willing to take any role offered!  And circumstances seem to always convene to make sure Carol remains humble, acknowledging her lack of experience and her great fortune to be where she is.  Of course, Boylston keeps Mike and Julia in the mix, as Julia gets a small walk-on part in the touring show, and Mike is promoted to an assistant director - so all three face some new challenges in this story, and not all of it on the stage.

 

One aspect of the tale I enjoyed was Carol's attempts to be a friend to one of her fellow actor, Harris Nichols, who seems despondent and depressed.  She soon learns he is having difficulties maintaining his relationship with the girl he loves back home, and he is fearful that she is going to turn to another man.  Carol tries to soothe his fears and boost his confidence, but when Harris gets notification that the girl has gone off to marry another man, he loses all hope.  The situation that develops is actually quite dark, and I'm rather surprised Boylston included it in a book intended for children and young adults.  However, it is that very incident that leads to a monumental decision that Carol must make - one that has been in the making since that very first book (and one I saw coming early on and kept hoping it would see fruition, and finally, at the end of this book, it does!).

 

There are couple of scenes in the book worth pointing out, as they reflect (or, rather in one case, do NOT reflect) true life in the theater.  The first is when Carol is considering the different types of audiences one must face when acting on the stage:

One never knew about the audience in the first few minutes, but as the play went on, one became more and more aware of it quality as a single, concentrated personality.  Sometimes it was responsive - quit to laughter or tears.  Sometimes it was dull and heavy - sitting out there like a great lump, a weight upon the performance and the players.  Sometimes it wasn't a personality at all, but just groups of differing reactions - "spotty" the company called it.  And sometimes it was maddeningly restless.

 

Each audience made the play a new play and each performance different from the one before. (p. 31)

Only someone who has been on the stage before can understand exactly how true this description is. The actors on stage react to the audience's reactions, and so a non-responsive audience can easily result in a not-too-exciting play; on the other hand, an audience that gasps, laughs, hoots, and is all-in can be a strong encouragement to the actors, who truly come alive in their performances as never before to make the play more real and more exciting for the cast and audience alike.  I thought this moment of reflection on the part of Carol shows just how much the character has grown over the past three books, and how much understanding she has gained with respect to the stage and its impact on those in each audience who attend.

 

The second moment in the book that caught my attention was closer to the end, as the touring group was preparing to get on stage for opening night.  As Carol fights those opening night jitters, Julia tells her, "Good luck!," to which Carol responds with her own, "Good luck!" (p. 138).  And just a few paragraphs later, as she slips by Mike to prepare for her entrance, she hears him say, "Good luck" (p. 138).  One might think these well-wishes are nothing to make note of - however, those who have worked in the theater know that you never, never, NEVER wish an actor "good luck" before they go on stage - that is considered BAD luck; instead, you tell the actor to "break a leg" (which is a theater superstition, along the lines of the ghost light that stays on at all times or never-ever saying the name of a certain Shakespeare play inside of a theater).  Considering how well Boylston managed to portray the theatrical world correctly, I was greatly surprised by this gaffe!

 

Other than that one flub, the book was another wonderful read, ending on a high note (despite the gloom of Harris Nichols) that takes Carol and Mike on to the next stage of their life (and if that doesn't give it away to you, then you have not been paying attention at all!).  The gorgeous black and white illustrations are once again provided by Major Felten, and the frontis piece is by far his best masterpiece of the series, showing Carol waking gracefully down a staircase in a stunning dress.  The color cover, also by Felten, displays Carol in her Shakespearean outfit as Nerissa, her eyes sparkling as she recites her lines on the stage.  The cover of the British edition is the same as the previous three books, with exception of the color, which changed for each book.  The British edition for this book is unique in one way - it is the only one of the four titles to use the same title as the American edition:  Carol on Tour.  

And with that, so comes to a close another wonderful series.  It is a true shame that Carol Page only had four books of adventures, as it would have been great to read her, Mike, and Julia's further adventures in New York and on Broadway as they took the theater world by storm!  Alas, all of those tales will remain forever untold...

 

RATING:  10 plain, wine-colored silk dresses out of 10 for sharing Carol's final theatrical adventures and ending the series in a very satisfying manner.

Carol on Broadway a/k/a Carol Goes to Broadway - the Third Carol Page theater story

First, she served as an apprentice at the Stuyvesant Theatre under Miss Marlowe.  Then, she was able to play summer stock at the Richards Village Theatre in Winasser, Maine.  Now, after a year of theater training, Carol Page is ready to head for Broadway - the ultimate goal of all theater actors!  This is the third book in Helen Dore Boylston's series about a young woman whose love of acting and the theater is awakened after participating in a high school play and getting the opportunity to serve an apprenticeship under an experienced actress.  The series has followed Carol, and her two friends, Julia Gregg and Mike Horodinsky, as they have pursued their careers - Carol as a series actress; Julia as a comedic player; and Mike as a director.  Thus far, the series has given a pretty accurate portrayal of theater life, and so I was anxious to see how Carol's attempts to get a part on Broadway would play out.

 

Carol on Broadway (a/k/a Carol Comes to Broadway) opens as Carol is packing, ready to begin her new life in New York City as an aspiring actress.   Carol and Julia already have a room reserved in a "brownstone on a dingy side street west of Eighth Avenue" (p. 20).  It is there we get to meet our new cast of characters, with whom Carol and Julia will share their New York and Broadway adventures!  And these characters are some of the most fun and unique ones to appear in this series to date.  The first is Mrs. Garrentt, who runs the boarding house. Aldred Dean, who was the leading lady at Richards Village Theatre in the previous book, recommended  the place as a "respectable, old-fashioned theatrical boardinghouse" (p. 21).  Mrs. Garrett (and, yes, the first person I pictured is Charlotte Rae from TV's The Facts of Life - in fact, her image pretty much stuck with me during the whole book!) is a real hoot.  When she opens the door to Carol, Julia, and Mrs. Page, Boylston describes her as an "enormous woman dressed in purple filled the doorway like a sequin-embroidered mountain.  Her frizzed hair was dyed a color between red and blond which could only be classified as nasturtium, and in it she wore an artificial red rose" (p. 22).  With this description, my mind pictured a cross between Charlotte Rae's Mrs. Garrett and Audra Lindley's Mrs. Roper, from Three's Company.  She turns out to be a very caring person, who looks after and protects her tenants as if they were her own children.

 

As for the other tenants - Mitzi Katherine Malloy is another aspiring actress who is somewhat shy and who is beholden to the whims of her boyfriend, "who wants her to dress like those girls in the Russian Drama School" (p. 24); Miss Iverson is an aged actress, who is a bit high-strung and a bit jaded; Charlie Anders is a pasty-looking young man who is quite sure of himself, as well as a self-proclaimed ladies' man; and then there is Billy Beaseley, the former clown and current comic, whose sidekick, Herbert, makes the most unexpected appearance on the stairs of the boardinghouse, startling Carol, Julia, and Mrs. Page alike - for you see, Herbert is a skunk!  Thankfully, the girls soon learn his scent glands have been removed, and he has been trained to be a part of Billy's act,  The girls make fast friends with all of the other tenants (well, except maybe Charlie), and Carol especially gains some valuable knowledge from each of them, in their own way.

 

Boylston does not go easy with the girls.  Carol and Julia are both excited as they head out their first day to "make the rounds," as the saying goes.  They hit up every casting agency they can find, only to discover that no one is willing to see an unknown.  It seems that in order to see a casting agent, one must have experience on Broadway; yet, the only way to get experience is to get cast in a play through a casting agent!  The girls are discouraged, but they remain determined. For a while, at least.  Billy ends up providing Carol with some much needed advice, which ultimately gets her in to see one casting agent - Arthur G. Sweetster Theatrical Enterprises.  While he does not get her cast, he does provide some encouragement that eventually leads her to taking a job doing a radio commercial.  Eventually, just as Carol is about to give up hope, she falls into the good fortune of getting a small role in a play at the Valencia Theater - which, by the way, is an actual theater in New York City, located in Queens, New York.  The real Valencia Theater opened its doors in 1929, which means it would have been in existence at the time this book was written and published.

 

One thing I enjoyed about all of the tension that Carol discovers while rehearsing for this play is how realistically it is portrayed.  As a professional Broadway play, rather than just a community theater production, it's less of a family-generating atmosphere where everyone pulls together and more of a dog-eat-dog arena, where everyone is out for themselves and looking to prove they are better and more talented than everyone else.  At one point, as the cast are heading to New Haven (which is about four hours away from New York City) for the opening performance, one of the other cast members makes the snide remark that "it really won't matter how many mistakes you make, really.  After all, just remember you haven't got an important part" (p. 166).  Carol, already frustrated, replies with a stupendously catty remark, "Thanks so much.  I hope you'll be able to get some reset.  That part must be an awful strain on you.  You're looking terribly tired" (p. 166).  The insinuation that the other woman is old and tired looking would certainly strike hard to any actress, and Carol, being the nice person she really is, immediately regrets the comment.  Me, on the other hand, was happy to finally see her strike back a bit!

 

Boylston keeps Carol on a timeline that she has established with her father - if she is not steadily employed as an actress within one year, then she will return home and go to college.  Boylston builds some suspense for the reader, as the production in which Carol has a party is shut down, leaving the poor girl with very little time to find another role before she must return home.  Just as she has given up hope and is packing to leave, she gets a call from none other than Miss Marlowe, who is back at the Stuyvesant and ready to put on a new production written by a friend of Mike Horodinsky.  It is a big chance she is taking, but since the theatre is being converted to one showing films, Miss Marlowe believes she has nothing to lose.  Carol, of course, is cast in a large role opposite Miss Marlowe herself, and on the opening night, Carol is surprised to find her parents and brother were in the audience.  And, as fate would have it, so was Mr. Sweetster, who is so impressed with the play that he is going to have it produced on Broadway!  Thus, Carol finds herself in a guaranteed production just in time to beat that deadline, and it leaves us all wondering - just where will Carol go next?

 

While Carol's good fortune in getting in to see the casting agent, falling into the radio commercial gig, lucking into the role of her first Broadway play, and the instant success of her performance with Miss Marlowe reek of series book coincidences, the one realistic thing about it is that in order to truly make it, it all boils down to who you know.  And in each of these cases, that is exactly how Carol managed to succeed in each circumstance. 

 

There are plenty of other subplots that move the story along - Julia managing to land a role in a touring show; Mike meeting a young woman who is an aspiring playwright and who clearly has eyes for Mike; Mitzi's controlling boyfriend and her efforts to change; and Billy's desire to get back to performing in the circus like he and Herbert used to do.  The art in this book is once again provided by Major Felton, who did the illustrations in the previous book.  They do not really depict any exciting scenes (one is simply Carol pointing theater-goers to their seats, which another simply shows Carol taking bows at the end of a performance); however, they are clean and a little more refined than those in the second book.  Plus, the one illustration depicts the scene where the girls first meet Herbert!  And, just like the first two books, this book was also published in Britain, where it underwent a slight name change - instead of Carol simply being "ON" Broadway, for the British edition, the title tells reader that Carol "COMES TO" Broadway.  It follows the format of the first two books, with that same headshot of Carol, only it is outlined in blue, instead of the yellow of the second book or red of the first book.

 

One final thing worth mentioning is the dedication at the beginning of the book.  Boylston dedicates the book "FOR BUSHY - Who Was No Help at All."  I had to snicker when I read this, as Bushy Trott is the name of a villain from one of the Nancy Drew Books (Old Attic),  and it is also a nickname of a very good friend of mine.  The fact that Bolyston dedicates the book to Bushy with the comment that he was "no help at all" certainly keeps in line with the villainy of the Nancy Drew crook; as far as my friend?  Well, let's just say he would definitely get a kick out of this dedication!

 

RATING:  10 tattered, disreputable tramps on a park bench out of 10 for giving readers a taste for the darker, more difficult side of professional theater work - it's not all glamour and stardom!

Carol Plays Summer Stock a/k/a Carol in Repertory - the Second Carol Page theater story

Reading this series is pure joy for me, as it brings back so many wonderful memories of performing in community theater.  The author, Helen Dore Boylston, properly captures the excitement, the hard work, the disappointments, the backstage drama, the camaraderie, the hopes and dreams, the last minute mishaps, and everything else that goes into getting a play ready for that opening night!  And the continuing drama of what happens once the play begins - well, there's plenty of that, as well!  Boylston even offers up a word of thanks in an Author's Note at the beginning of the book - acknowledging how much she "looked to Jane Cobb for her lively suggestions and her true ear for dialogue.  In this new story of Carol she has cheerfully assumed the role of collaborator and godmother, and in gratitude I should like to dedicate the story to her." According to a tribute to Cobb in the New York Times (Jane Cobb - Author), she was a writer, too, having stories published in numerous magazines and a silent co-author of the Sue Barton books.  Thus, it is nice to see Boylston acknowledge her part in the creation of this series.

 

Carol Plays Summer Stock (a/k/a Carol in Repertory) picks up shortly after the conclusion of the first book.  For those who do not recall, at the end of the last book, Carol and her friends, Julia Gregg, Mike Horodinsky, Keith Macdonald, and Nan Walton were all selected to spend the summer at the Richards Village Theater in Winasser, Maine - Mike as a stage manager, Julia, Keith, and Nan as apprentices, and Carol in her first paying job as second ingenue!  The book opens as they arrive at the small town theater, full of hope, dreams, and excitement about the summer that lies ahead of them - and little do they know just how much drama they are going to experience - both on stage and behind the scenes!  Boylston ups the ante for this story, as her characters now have a bit of experience under their belts, so she puts them through some true challenges that test not only their dedication to the theater, but also their loyalty to one another.

 

With this book, readers are introduced to a small batch of new characters - Pete Gregory, Remember Hingham, and Orchid Wynton - two of whom become fast friends with the group, and one of whom defines the epitome of acting, both on and off the stage!  Pete, Julia, and Nan are relegated to classes and backstage work, while Mike becomes the assistant to the theater's own stage manager, Bill Dolan.  Carol is given a script for her first play, at which time she learns that Jane Sefton - the actress who gave Carol a ride in her car in the first book - is going to be performing at the theater that summer, and she has high hopes that she will have the opportunity to share the stage with her.  And it seems like she may get her chance, until a very sly Orchid Wynton decides she wants the role, and she tricks her way into it!  Yes, the story features an ongoing feud (of sorts) between Orchid and Carol, as Orchid is determine to keep her "star" status at the theater, even if that means making Carol look bad on stage.  But once Carol figures out what the other girl is up to, she manages to circumvent the mishaps and, once again, save the theater in the most imaginative way.

 

While I suspected in the first book that Carol and Mike were destined to get together - after all, it's the oldest trope in the world to have the two people who can't stand each other at the start end up together in the end! - this book seems to further the idea that while Carol and Mike have mutual respect for one another, their relationship is nothing more than friends in the theater.  That is not to say their friendship is not tested, as Boylston uses Orchid to come between the two in some rather devious ways, but despite her flaws, the one thing that can be said about Carol Page is that she is loyal to those she cares about - and it is her loyalty to Mike that helps save him from destroying his future by the end of the book.

 

There was an interesting comment in the book, when Mike gets irritated and makes the comment, "What's the Wonder Girl going to do now - imitations?" (p. 132).  As a long-time fan of the Wonder Woman comics from DC Comics, I was curious as to the name.  It seems this reference, published in 1942, actually predates the first appearance of Wonder Girl in DC Comics, who did not make her first appearance as a teen-age Wonder Woman until 1947!  However, the character of Wonder Woman had made her first appearance in All-Star Comics issue 8, published in 1941, just one year before this book was published, thus leaving one to wonder if the "Wonder Girl" reference was a simple play on words from the Wonder Woman character.

 

 Something that did surprise me in the book is a reference to divorce.  Remember (the character) admits to Carol that her father and mother were divorced, and that her father has re-married three times since then, and her mother twice (p. 155)!  While divorce was not necessarily uncommon by the 1940s, it was still unusual to see if mentioned in a young adult novel - and to think that the divorced man and women remarried multiple times after that, why, it is shocking!  According to a study by Bowling Green State University, in 1940 "approximately 3% of ever-married women in all education groups were separated or divorced"; however, the '40s basically started the increase in divorce rate, which grow higher and higher with each passing decade.  Now, it is fairly common to read about divorces; but in the early 1940s, it was a completely different story.  As such, I'm surprised not only that Boylston chose to give her character such a background, but that the publisher (Little Brown & Company) allowed it to be published.

 

As with the first book in this series, the plays referenced in the story are actual plays - from Dear Brutus, by J.M. Barrie (p. 21) to The Red Coat, by John Patrick Shanley (p. 33) to the musical Camille (p. 190) and even Seagulls Crying (p. 190), which is probably a take on Chekhov's 1895 play, The Seagull - while others are fictional in nature, such as The Upper Brackets (p, 68) and The Merry Woods of Windsor (p. 89), which is likely a take on the real play, Merry Wives of Windsor, as well as Run for Your Money (p 190), which, interestingly enough, was the name of a film in 1949.  Likewise, the location of this small town theater, Winasset, Maine, is fictional, but bears a close resemblance to the town of Wiscasset, Maine (although I could not find any community theaters in Wiscasset back in the 1940s when this book was written and published).

 

The artist on the internal illustrations changed - while the first book featured illustrations by Frederick E. Wallace, this book features internals by Major Felton.  From what I could learn online, Felton provided book illustrations and painted posters in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, and his biography page on Wikipedia ( Major Felton - Artist) even acknowledges his work on the Carol page and Sue Barton series!  And like the first book, the British edition published two years after the first American edition, changed the title, this time more drastically to Carol in Repertory.  The British edition does feature the same internal illustrations, but the cover art is merely the same painted headshot that appeared on the cover of the first book.

 

This second book confirms my love of the series and the characters, and as indicated in the final chapter of this book, Carol and Mike are off to Broadway to see if they can make a name for themselves!

 

RATING:  10 carefully carried cups of tea out of 10 for another fun romp in the world of theater and acting with some very real, very flawed, and very enjoyable characters!

Carol Goes Backstage a/k/a Carol Goes on the Stage - the First Carol Page theater story

Having enjoyed some years performing in local community theaters, it is only natural that I would pick up series books having to do with the theater.  I can't recall exactly how I came to find out about the Carol Page theater stories, but once I learned of them, I had to track them down.  I managed to get the first three fairly easy, but it was that fourth and final book in the series that proved elusive (and the completist in me just will not start reading a series until I have all of the books first!).  I did manage to track it down at last, and so I was finally able to sit down and give the series a read.  Of course, this does not account for the fact that the series was published in England, as well as here in the States, and that the book names differed depending on where they were published - so that left me with the conundrum - do I wait until I track down all of the "alternate" titles before I start reading?  Since I'm writing this post, clearly I decided not to wait (and more on those alternate titles below...).

 

Carol Goes Backstage (a/k/a Carol Goes on the Stage) is the first book in the series, introducing readers to seventeen-year old Carol Page, a high school graduate who has gotten a small taste of the theater in her senior year and has decided that acting on the stage is a career she would like to pursue - much to her parents' chagrin!   Carol, and her best friend Julia Gregg, audition for a chance to be a part of an apprentice group "connected with the Stuyvesant Theater in New York" (p. 54), where a select group of aspiring actors had the opportunity to learn under the tutelage of Miss Phyllis Marlowe, a woman Carol calls "a swell actress" (p. 55).  Of course, they are selected, and Carol is barely able to convince her parents to allow here to attend (as her father is determined that acting schools are a waste of time, and she needs to focus on a viable career).  Thus begins the journey of Carol Page to become an actress of the Broadway stage!

 

Carol Page is not like a lot of her contemporaries in series fiction of the time, as her family is not affluent, providing her the freedom to do as she pleases; while the Page family is not poor by any means, she and Julia share a room in a "respectable girls' club" (p. 88), where the room was "sunny and comfortable, and the food, as Julia pointed out, was probably better than anything they could have turned out for themselves" (p. 89).  But that does not stop one particular apprentice - Michael Horodinsky - from viewing Carol as highfalutin and taking an instant disliking to her, which leads to considerable contention between the two throughout the entire book.  Now, having watched soap operas for many years, I've learned that when two individuals begin a relationship by warring with one another, it usually leads to not only an amicable friendship, but eventually a romance - and while there is no romance in this book at all, I have a sneaky suspicion that Carol and Mike have a budding romance somewhere in their future (we shall have to see what the next three books hold in store...).

 

The story approaches theater life in a very realistic way.  While Carol has talent, she gets in her own way sometimes by thinking she knows better than others, or in thinking that she can succeed by copying the way she has seen others perform a particular role on stage.  She is called out more than once and must learn a bit of humility along the way, which often occurs with beginning actors in the theater.  And Julia, who was the one from the very beginning with big dreams of becoming a star, finds her path to stardom changed along the way, as she (and everyone around her) discover that she is far more talented as a comedic actor than in any serious role.  The story also introduces readers to all of the backstage trials and tribulations of putting together a show for the stage - from building of sets, working of the lights, learning of lines, timing of rehearsals, and overcoming differing temperaments of the actors, directors, stage managers, and set designers.  The character of Miss Marlowe reminds me of one particular director I had the pleasure of working with on a number of plays - he was extremely strict, he was direct and to the point, and he did not tolerate those who were not serious about their performance; yet, he would always offer suggestions and encouragement, and his efforts taught all of us so much about acting.  These are the things Carol, Julia, and all of their newfound friends discover during their time at the Stuyvesant Theater.

 

The book does have a few typical series book scenarios in it.  Once incident involves Carol having to hitchhike back to the high school theater after a friend convinces her to go out to the nearby river to run lines just before the show, and then his car dies.  Carol is picked up by a dazzling woman who questions her about her upcoming performance in Miss Hipkin's Descent (not a real play); it is only later when her brother Phil takes her to New York to see a play does Carol learn the woman was an actual Broadway actress, who they have the opportunity to meet backstage and who encourages Carol to pursue a career in acting!  Another situation involves the owner of a summer theater who offers a job each year to one talented apprentice, and so Miss Marlowe's apprentices put together their own show for a chance that one of them might get selected to be that person!  The only problem is, Carol's troublesome aunt has convinced her mother than Carol should be brought home and not allowed to stay in New York.  As such, Carol must find a way to convince her mother the theater is not detrimental to her future, that Michael Horodinsky is not her boyfriend, and that she has a real chance at landing that summer job with the summer program.  Obviously, all goes well and Carol is not only allowed to stay, but she - along with Julia, Michael, and two others - are selected to join the summer stock at Mr. Richards' theater (which leads directly into the second book in this series).

 

Now, since this book does deal with the theater and Broadway, it only stands to reader the author would include real plays and actors in its pages.  Carol and her brother take in a production of Candida, which is a comedy written by George Bernard Shaw, which was performed in both London and New York in the early 1900s.  Mr. Anders, who introduces the apprentices to the Stuyvesant Theater, tells them how the theater used to be an opera house, and how famous actors sushc as Edwin Booth, Sir Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, and "the great Duse" (p. 80) had all acted on that stage.  All of those are real life actors, with the great Duse referring to Eleonora Duse, an Italian actress considered one of the greatest of all time.  In addition, readers are treated to the history of "the green room" (the backstage area were acteors wait until they must go on stage), which, in the book, is said to originate from the early days in England, when the theaters had waiting rooms close to the stage, where the doors were painted green (p. 87).  While the book references those early London theaters as "the Drury Lane and Covent Garden" (p. 87), in real life, it was likely from London's Blackfriars Theatre, in which the waiting room was painted green.  It is these type of historical facts that really breathe additional life and realism into the story!

 

One final tidbit I must mention, which has no connection to theater but which I found to be amusing and quite coincidental, is found on page 59, when Carol is trying to convince her father that she wants to pursue an acting career and go to New York to be an apprentice to Miss Marlowe.  In her argument, she finally confesses to her father, "Daddy - I don't want to go to Wellesley" (p. 59).   This is so amusing because Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, one of the major driving forces behind the highly successful Nancy Drew series, was a graduate of Wellesley (Class of 1914)!  Thus, the story has an unexpected (and unintentional!) series book reference in it.

 

The series is written by Helen Dore Boylston, who also authored the Sue Barton nursing series from 1936 to 1952.  Boylston was a nurse in real life, so her writing stories about a nurse was only natural.  Five years after her first Sue Barton book was published, she began the Carol Page series of novels.  From online sources, Boylston received advice from her neighbor, Eva Le Gallienne (a Broadway actress who eventually left that career and found the Civic Repertory Theatre - on whom the character of Miss Marlowe was clearly based).  Boylston also went backstage at the Civic Repertory Theatre to gain additional research, all of which explains why the details in her first book are so spot-on with regard to theater life!  (On a side note, the Civic Repertory Theatre was once a home for French dramas and operas, leaving one to believe that the theater was the inspiration for Boylston's Stuyvesant in the book.)

 

Now, as indicated above, this book was first published in America in 1941, but later republished in 1943 in England by John Lane The Bodley Head publishers under the title Carol Goes on the Stage.  Both books kept the same headshot of Carol on their covers, and both books featured the same beautiful internal illustrations by Frederick E. Wallace.  They also both featured a brief word of thanks from the author to Jane Ayer Cobb, "with whose help, encouragement, and staying powers have been invaluable throughout the writing of this book."  Cobb was an author of short stories and children's books, and some online sources give her credit as being a "co-author" of the Carol Page series.  An article in The New York Times written after the death of Cobb indicates the Carol Page series was "originated by Mrs. Berry, but again bore only the name of Miss Boylston" (The New York Time - Jane Cobb).  How much truth there is to this statement, I cannot say.

 

What I can say, though, is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  The characters were engaging and realistic, the portrayal of life in the theater was entirely accurate and not overly dramatized at all,  and the story itself was perfectly paced and throughout enjoyable.  I am anxiously looking forward to reading book two!

 

RATING:  10  bunches of white peonies out of 10 for a wonderful story of theater life and the start of one young woman's journey to becoming a real actress!

Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan - an Alma Benecke Sasse novel

This is yet another one of those books that I have heard about for years and years, but I never thought I would actually ever read the book, let alone own a copy.  Yet, thanks to my wonderful friend, Geoffrey S. Lapin, who gifted me with a copy of the book this past summer, I know have a beautiful copy of Alma Benecke Sasse's novel for young adults.  And for those who do not know, Alma Sasse was the ghostwriter for the 29th Nancy Drew Mystery Story, The Mystery at the Ski Jump (1952).  Thus, I was aware of her name, and I was aware that she had written this particular book; I just never thought I'd have a copy of the book, especially in dust jacket, since it has always seemed so elusive.  But now I was able to sit down and enjoy this wonderful tale of a young woman's dream of running a community theater in her hometown...

Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan (notice the alliteration in the title ... T.C., T.C.) is the story of college senior Terry Carvel.  There is no mystery to this story, unlike Sasse's Nancy Drew tale or her other book, The Mystery of the Chinese Box.  Rather, this more akin to a career girl story, as the protagonist graduates college and sets about to fulfill her dream of establishing a community theater and directing local talent in plays for her hometown.  In fact, Sasse writes a Foreword to the book that specifically states the book "...is written for all those eager, dramatically minded young people whose Caravan of Dreams is, in some way, connected with the stage."  And the story opens with Terry reading the announcement on the college bulletin board that auditions for the annual commencement play are about to be held.  Terry, who is a drama student, "had dreamed of taking part ever since her freshman days" (p. 2).  Interestingly enough, Sasse does not describe her lead character as beautiful - in fact, she makes it clear that Terry is "certainly not beautiful; her mouth a trifle too wide, with good-humored quirks at each corner.  In fact only the eyes redeemed her features from plainness.  These were a heritage from her Irish mother and a deep sea blue" (p. 4).  Most protagonists in young adult books are always beautiful, or at the very least pretty in some way; so it is refreshing to see a book where the lead character is as plain as likely many of her readers were!

Although this book was published in 1943 (with even the disclaimer at the front of the book indicating the book was manufactured under wartime conditions in conformity with all government regulations controlling the use of paper and other materials), it is clear from reading that the story takes place prior to the United States entering World War II.  There are several mentions of the possibility of the country entering war, and even at the end, one of the main characters reveals that he has registered with the government, and it is likely he will be called "if war comes" (p. 238).  Whether this is an indication that Sasse actually wrote the story prior to the country entering the War, or if she simply decided to set the tale prior to the War to avoid any complications a wartime setting might create, I suppose we will never know.  In any event, even with the thought of war looming over the characters, they never lose their zest for life.

The story itself follows Terry as she auditions for her college's commencement play (which happens to be Madame Butterfly).  Her hopes are high until she learns that the auditions will be conducted in the presence of Carl Milton Zorkoff, who is described in the book as being "the greatest stage director since Belasco" (p. 25).  While Zorkoff is a fictional character, Belasco is a direct reference to David Belasco, who was an American director and playwright who just so happened to be the first writer to adapt Madame Butterfly for the stage!  Later in the story, Terry's competition for the coveted role in the play makes references to Billie Burke, Anna Neagle, Leslie Howard, and Lionel Barrymore (p. 27), all actors who got their start in the theater before moving on to Hollywood. Thus, Sasse knew her stuff when she threw these references into the story.  Anyway, Terry is a bit disappointed that she does not land the lead, but she does get the next best part - but even better, she is asked by the director at one point to assist with directing when he has to be away for a few days!  Terry gets a taste of running the show, and before you know it, her aspirations for opening a community theater are burning brighter than ever before!

The play is a success, and along the way, Terry becomes friends with Don Mackaye, a young man who handles all of the lighting and electrical matters for the college plays.  It's pretty obvious from the moment he is introduced that he and Terry will become much more than friends, but it literally takes the entire book for that to happen!  Of course, along with Don comes his little dog, Brutus, who Don affectionately refers to as "Et tu" - and anyone who knows theater will immediately get the reference; if not, then go look it up (it will do you good to do some research!).  At one point, Terry's godfather, Dr. Jed, and Don become boarders at the Carvel house while Terry's father goes to California for the summer to regain his strength after an automobile accident (which occurred before the opening of the story).  This only serves to keep them in close contact with one another, so even after Terry's graduation and her escapades in starting that community theater, Don is a constant presence in her life.  And while we are on the subject of Don, he shares a similar physical aspect with Terry - he's "not exactly handsome," as Terry describes him, but his eyes twinkle and he has a nice, wide smile (p. 141).  Funny how both Terry's and Don's physical traits are specifically played down, while their character and personality are played up to their fullest.  What a great way for Sasse to remind her readers that it is not always about looks!

One might notice while reading this book that even though this is not a mystery series book, Sasse does follow some of the same plot devices as many of those series did back in the day.  Terry lives with her father, who is a professional (albeit on a sabbatical at the moment); her mother died when she was young; and they have a live-in housekeeper (by the name of Timmie!) who has helped raise Terry and is always looking out for her well-being.  Gee, does that sound like the set-up of a very familiar female sleuth that we all know and love?  There are no big chapter cliffhangers, though, and there is nothing to really build up suspense.  Instead, the reader follows along as Terry first takes a summer job working with neighborhood children to put on a play for their families; then moves up to having the production put on at the local movie house as part of a series of amateur nights; and ultimately to convincing the community at large that they would benefit from the theater and directing her first of many plays using local members of the community as her actors!  And, frankly, I'm surprised she moves the story at a natural pace, as it takes place not just over the summer, but into the fall, over the Christmas holidays, through the next spring, and int the next summer!  So, Terry does not see her success come overnight - it takes a lot of hard work and determination on her part.

And for her part, Sasse does utilize a number of real theatrical references throughout the book.  One of the first plays Terry directs is The Bishop Misbehaves (p. 192), which is a comedy that originally premiered in England back in 1934 before opening on Broadway in 1935.  Later, when Terry goes to visit her friend Vi in Seattle, she is overjoyed at the chance to visit The Showboat Theater, the Penthouse Theater, and the Repertory Playhouse (p. 201).  All three are actual theaters that existed at the time this book was published - The Showboat Theater opened in 1938 (demolished in 1994); The Penthouse Theater was built in 1940 (which is still in use today, albeit in a new location): and the Repertory Playhouse opened its doors in 1930 (but closed them in 1950, after which it was acquired by the University of Washington).  I love when authors integrate some of the real world into their stories, as it breathes some life into them that grounds them in reality!

The book does end on a bittersweet note - one of Terry's actors, an elderly gentleman who always wanted to try his hand on the stage, passes away and bequeaths a sum of money to Terry to help get the Stanbrook Repertory Playhouse off the ground.  While the bequest is definitely generous and just what Terry needs to get her career started, it is also sad that one of the characters that you grow to enjoy reading about dies for that to happen.  But, again, these are things that happen in real life, so it blurs that line between fiction and the real world.

The only thing I was actually disappointed about when I finished this book is that we see very little time in the story actually spent at the theater or on the stage.  We get the build up of Terry trying to get actors, find a stage, etc. - but we see very few, if any, rehearsals, and we only get brief snippets of the actual plays themselves.  I was really hoping to see the book focused on the ups and downs of trying to put on one, or maybe two plays.  Instead, we jump from the commencement play to the children's play to the first community play, to the caravan play (yes, before the book closes, a nearby town asks Terry to bring her troupe over to their area to put on one of their plays, and that is where the title of the story comes from), with more time spent on the in-between moments as Terry tries to get her act together than we do with the plays themselves.  But, I guess that is part of what makes a career girl story - it's the drama of trying to build up to and succeed in the chosen career and not actually about the career itself.

One last thing I wanted to mention before I sign off - on the back cover of the dust jacket, there is a listing of books by Gertrude E. Mallette, headlined as "Books for Girls Interested in Careers."  Some of the titles include No Vacancies, Private Props, Single Stones, Inside Out, and others.  I did quick search online to see if I could find any of these books, and I was surprised to discover she wrote a book that I already had (and did not even realize...)  If you're wondering what that is, well, you'll find out in just a few posts...

RATING:  9 big boxes of chocolates out of 10 for a story that delves into numerous sides of the community theater and the truth that it truly does take a community to put it all together!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #8 - Murder in the Act

The eighth Zebra Mystery Puzzler brings us another new author into the series.  Elizabeth St. Clair is yet another pseudonym, but surprisingly, this time it is not for a male author.  St. Clair is actually a pen name used by Susan Lois Handler-Cohen, who utilized the name for eleven Gothic romances and mysteries (including three in the Zebra Mystery Puzzler line).  And she offers up a wonderful mystery with more suspects than you can shake a stick at - in fact, I think this is the first Puzzler that I was not able to figure out the identity of the killer before reaching that sealed final chapter!

Murder in the Act features an actress turned director turned amateur sleuth by the name of Marilyn Ambers.  Not gonna lie here, when I first saw that name, my mind automatically thought of a certain "actress" by the name of Marilyn Chambers (if you know, you know).  Not sure if St. Clair (Handler-Cohen) actually pulled the name from that actress, but considering Chambers' notoriety after that film of hers debuted in 1972, it would not surprise me if the author saw that name in the headlines and simply altered a bit for her main character here.  In any event, Marilyn Ambers, in this book, is an actress who is ting her hand at directing for the first time in a small town dinner theater.  The show is being financed by Silas Bishop, a rather wealthy businessman whose wife also happens to be in the starring role of the play.  But Bishop is a rather unlikable man, and every person in the cast has a distaste for him.  So, when Marilyn discovers him dead behind his desk at his cottage, she has no shortage of suspects from which to choose!

Handler-Cohen (a/k/a St. Clair) offers up a superb mystery that, quite frankly, kept me guessing up until that very last chapter, and even then, I didn't have it figured out.  She gives readers plenty of suspects, all of whom have good motives and opportunity, and just like Marilyn, it's almost impossible to narrow it down.  And I give Handler-Cohen credit for truly misleading the reader, as there some very subtle clues that come into play along the way that lead you to believe one particular character is pretending to be someone he is not, and that he is the killer, but the author pulls another twist, which left me quite surprised, but thoroughly pleased.  It's always a joy to read a mystery where the killer does not become obvious within the first few chapters, and it's even more exciting when the killer's identity remains a secret until the very end reveal!  Such is the case with this book.

Dalton Perez is the self-absorbed actor who thinks he is God's gift to the theater world.  Sally Bishop is the producer's wife who lacks talent and appears to be having an affair with Dalton.  Randolph Rivers is an aging actor, always on the brink of failure, who desperately needs this play to be a success.  Vana MacIntyre is an actress whose career is just starting, but who got the part solely because Marilyn did not want her in the play and Silas forced her to take her on just to remind everyone who was financing the show.  Peter Dennis only has eyes for Vana, and he will do anything to protect her.  Richard Riordan is a professor of drama at Yale who only acts part time simply for the fun of it, and he quickly becomes Marilyn's friend and confidant.  Then there is Evelyn Blake, who has been Bishop's personal secretary for the past twenty years and who has a few secrets of her own.  And poor Ed Simpson, who is the chief of police for this small town, bounces from one suspect to the next, although in his eyes, Perez makes the perfect killer - after all, it was one of Perez's handkerchiefs that was found at the crime scene.  Marilyn is not so sure, since Bishop was found clutching one of the programs for the upcoming play, The Executive Secretary, which has the word "secretary" circled.  This would point to either Bishop's wife (who plays the secretary in the play) or Evelyn Blake, who was his actual secretary.  But, as Marilyn eventually learns, one word can have more than one meaning...

No clue as to who provided the cover art for this book, but the interior art was provided once again by Luke Ryan (who signed his name to the last internal illustration).  I believe this is the third or fourth Zebra Mystery Puzzler that boasts his interiors.  He provides beautiful pencil drawings, and it is always fun to carefully comb over each illustration to figure out exactly what clue each one contains.  After all, as the cover says, it's up to the reader to find the clues in the story, one the cover, and in the illustrations - before you cut open the final, sealed chapter!  And it is somewhat amusing, because the final illustration actually has a key that someone is holding, and the key represents a "key" clue that will help the reader (and Marilyn!) confirm or eliminate at least one suspect.  I thought this was a fun visual "pun."

Handler-Cohen (St. Clair) does give readers an exciting payoff for the conclusion to the mystery, as Marilyn faces off against the killer in the very same place where she found Bishop's body. And once the killer's identity is revealed, certain moments in the story suddenly come together and make a lot of sense - which shows some excellent writing, as this person is actually presented as one of the least likely of suspects, if not the most unlikely of all the suspects.  But it works, although the motive is not something that the reader could pick up on throughout the story, as that revelation is completely out of the blue.  That's okay, though, because the writing is riveting, that climactic confrontation is well worth the wait!

Thankfully, Handler-Cohen wrote a few more Zebra Mystery Puzzlers in this series, so I know we'll get to see Marilyn Ambers pop up again to solve another murder or two before the series ends.

RATING:  9 loudly quacking birds eating bread crumbs out of 10 for an exciting, engaging, and expertly-plotted murder mystery that should definitely not be missed!

Mary Perkins, On Stage - Volume Seven

It's always a joy to jump back into the world of Mary Perkins.  I never really know what to expect with each of these comic strip collections, as Mary's creator, Leonard Starr, has proven that he is an amazing writer, managing to always keep the stories fresh and engaging, and to provide art that is absolutely stunning with each and every panel.  This particular volume has a forward by the creator himself, Leonard Starr, which gives some insight into Starr's own inspiration for getting into the field of art - his love of the Terry and the Pirates strip back in the day, and his fateful meeting with the creator of that strip, Milton Caniff.  There's also an introduction by Sal Amendola, who started his career in comics way back in 1969 at DC Comics.  Amendola discusses how the characters in Starr's strips are always fully human - neither all good, nor all bad, as particularly evidenced by the stories in this collection.  And he's write.  As I was reading this year-and-a-half worth of strips, I realized that is what truly draws the reader into Starr's stories - the characters are very real, even in some very unusual circumstances.

 

Volume Seven of Mary Starr, On Stage picks up with the October 12, 1964 strip that introduces readers to the Russian Major Volkov and re-introduces readers to Morgana D'Alexius (incorrectly identified as "D'Alexis" on the back cover blurb for this volume).  And thus begins the opening story for this volume, as Mary is informed one of her films is being shown at the Moscow film festival, and they want her there; while, at the same time, Pete (Mary's photographer husband, for those who may have forgotten) is told the Soviet government is opening new areas to the foreign press, and he has been personally invited to photograph them.  Mary and Pete both believe this is too much of a coincidence, and as they quickly find out, it is!  Morgana has enlisted the aid of Major Volkov in a plan to steal Pete away from Mary - by having the Major basically hold Mary captive at his castle home, while she leads Pete to another small country where she can seduce him away from his wife.  As you can expect, the plan fails, Mary and Pete figure out what is going on, and they find their way back to each other.   The one great thing about this story is the gorgeous backgrounds of Russia and its architectural beauty in Moscow.  The story has a very powerful ending, with the Major sacrificing himself during a horrific storm to hold Morgana out in the treacherous waters so she cannot get back to Pete.  Both are assumed lost at sea, but no bodies are found ... (gee, like with any good soap opera, you know what that means!)

 

As one story ends, so does another begin, and Starr takes us from international danger and intrigue to a May-December romance as Mary happens to meet up with Constance Heath, a former drama coach of Mary's who is aging somewhat gracefully.  A young up-and-coming actor gives up everything to be in her current show just so he can get close to the woman he claims to love.  Constance doesn't know what to think, and Starr plays with the readers emotions, as Constance and young Eric go back and forth - will they marry?  Will they part ways?  Will they be able to bridge the large age gap to find true love?  Mary just wants her former coach to be happy, but at what price comes happiness?  Starr actually touches on some very real issues here regarding the compromises and sacrifices that come with loving someone who is vastly older / younger than one's self.

From here, we slide right into an island adventure, as Mary heads south to film a television version of "The Tempest."  Little does she realize that she's going to be reunited with a face from the past - or rather, a faceless one!  That's right, Mary is startled at first, but then overjoyed to discover that Maximus is going to be playing the role of Caliban in the production.  The master of disguise is in top form, but the producer's assistant falls head over heels for him, not knowing of his deformity.  The young girl's brother, though, has other ideas, as he sees Maximus as a money ticket and his way off the island.  Blackmail gone wrong and a near-fatal fight at the top of a lighthouse lead to the origin of our faceless hero, as well as a marriage proposal that shows just how much heart and soul matter more than physical appearance!

The next story takes us back to New York, where Mary is preparing for her latest stage role, alongside two very different men - Claude Harper, a boy from the country who is thrilled to be working with Mary; and Rod Damian, an arrogant, self-absorbed star from Hollywood who sees only himself ... until he meets Claude's girlfriend, however, and decides he is going to steal her away.  This story gives readers the typical soap opera drama one would come to expect from a daily serial about a theater actress.  A young country girl comes to the big city to meet her actor boyfriend, only to be enticed away by a famous actor.  She loses her boyfriend, only to discover the famous actor has tossed her aside once has has driven a wedge between the two.  The question remains - has the damage Rod done driven the young couple apart for good?

Starr provides a pretty good lead up for the next story, as Mary notices a shifting mood in her husband, and sees numerous phone messages from his boss that have not been returned.  Something is up, but she can't figure out what - until he fails to show up after her opening night of the play, and she rushes home to learn Pete has left for an assignment, one that will keep him away for some time.  And it is at this point readers get a real change of pace, for the story leaves Mary in New York and turns all focus and attention on Pete Fletcher and the danger he faces in Vietnam.  Pete has been called to assist in getting a Chinese actor smuggled out of the country and safely to America - but the story has plenty of twists and turns, as he finds out the actor is one who plays females on the stage and is quite defensive about his art form.  Soon enough, though, Pete is given a shock to discover the person he is helping escape is not the actor, but rather, the actor's daughter - the actor refused to leave unless his daughter was taken safely out first!  Pete spends a number of weeks trekking through the jungles, avoiding armed natives, and having to seek first aid for the young girl after she is poisoned in a trap set in the reeds. I was actually surprised to see how many weeks go by without even one panel of Mary anywhere in the strip - I mean, after all, this is HER strip, and yet Starr keeps the entire focus on Pete and the girl he is rescuing (and her growing love for Pete!).  Of course, Pete eventually makes it home and has to face his wife, who is concerned that all the time spent with the girl may have changed his feelings for her...

This volume ends with a few hints of the next story to come, as Mary runs into an old friend, and while eating dinner together, they spot a famous producer who has just gotten divorced and begin to dish on the gossip about the divorced couple...

Starr's art is superb, as usual, with amazingly detailed backgrounds and the most accurate expressions I've ever seen in any comic art.  There were a couple of strips in this collection that were not quite as crisp and clear as 99% of the strips usually are, making me wonder if Classic Comics Press was unable to find really good scans of those particularly daily strips (ex., page 240, the 3-26 strip or page 237, the 3-19 strip).  Yes, both strips use a lot of shadows and shading, but they still seem a bit fuzzy to me, almost a bit grainy as of they are copies of copies.  Nevertheless, they are clear enough to read and do not truly take away from the enjoyment of the story.

I'm sure I've said it before, and I'll gladly say it again - I am so glad to be reading these strips in these collected editions, because I don't know if I would have had the patience to wait day after day after day to read these full stories when they were original published back in the 1960s!  

RATING:  10 stand-in hat racks out of 10 for keeping the strip fresh and interesting with a variety of stories and characters that leave the reader feeling like you never know what's going to happen next!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #3 - Devil Mask Mystery

Now, right off the bat, I will say that this book instantly intrigued me based on the title alone.  It is of the same style and nature as the titles to the classic Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books from back in the day.  You remember those days - "The [adjective] [noun] Mystery" or "The Mystery of the [adjective] [noun]" and the like.  From the title alone, you had a pretty good idea of what the mystery was going to be about.  Well, author Josephine Kains, in the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler starring her TV newswoman, Terry Spring, offers up a tale that centers around the very thing mentioned in the title - and also happens to be set in a small community theater!

Devil Mask Mystery (I keep wanting to type the word "The" in front of that title!) attempts to be a spooky murder mystery that hints at involvement of witches and Satan worshipers!  Set in the fictional town of Grimshaw at Halloween, the story finds Boston TV newswoman Terry Spring, along with her assistant Jess Berkeley and her cameraman Janeiro Chavez, heading to the New England town to film a story about the town's latest play - a melodrama about the nineteenth century witch hunts that made the town famous.  Terry is less than thrilled with the assignment, but she and her crew head over to Grimshaw to see what they can put together.  Little do they know they are going to have to solve a murder in which all of the suspects are known for acting - whether on the stage or in real life.

The story does not open with our protagonist; rather, the author opens this mystery with a young woman (Elizabeth Tanner) facing down the fear of a devil-faced creature.  But by the second page, the reader learns that this is merely a hypnotic vision she is being coerced to see by a self-proclaimed witch by the name of Annabelle Winn.  Also present are Laura Cross and Julius Wigransky, who both happen to be part of the play that Terry and her crew are coming to town to spotlight.  Quickly enough, on the fourth page, the story shifts to a scene where an unidentified man is taking  heavy metal box and hiding it behind a sliding panel in the wall.  Oddly enough, this is a scene the publisher decided to provide an illustration of, so while we get an image of the man, the reader has no idea who he is. The scene this shifts again on the sixth page to a mysterious person who is painting a wooden mask of Satan!  All of that in the first chapter alone.  It's not until the second chapter do we get to meet the pretty, young television reporter, Terry Spring, who is described as slender and having "long auburn hair" (p. 10).  And isn't it funny how Max, the Hollywood gossip columnist from the first book in this series also had red hair?  Makes me wonder how many more sleuths in these Puzzlers will have red/auburn/titian hair - maybe it's a nod to a certain teen detective who has become such a huge pop culture icon when it comes to female sleuths?

Anyway, we get introduced to even more of the ever-growing cast of characters in chapter four - Alan Roderick, yet another actor in the play, and Claudia Merritt, an older woman in a wheelchair who is assisting with the play.  In addition, there is Garrett Brooks, a stodgy actor who is not only playing a major role in the production, but he also seems to have made quite a number of enemies among the cast and crew - meaning ... yes, you guessed it!  Mr. Brooks becomes the victim when someone dressed up in a cloak and devil mask comes onto stage during a dress rehearsal, literally stabs him in the back, and runs out, disappearing backstage...and thus, the stage is set (yes, pun fully intended) for a murder mystery that only Terry Spring can solve.

The killer's identity is not really hidden, and in fact, there is one scene a little over half-way through the book in which Terry (as well as the reader) figures out who the killer is - which kind of spoils the whole "last chapter sealed" gimmick, since, if we already know who the killer is, why bother sealing up that final chapter?  While the overall story is okay, and I like Terry and her crew (Chavez is a hoot, always eating candy and making snarky remarks), the opening chapters are somewhat clunky as the author tries to bring in all of the characters as quickly as possible without allowing the reader an opportunity to really get a feel for who any of them are before moving on to the next ones.  It took me until I was about one-third of the way through the book before I finally was able to sort through all of the names and figure out who was who. And I do like the added "abandoned mansion on the hill" aspect of the story, with hidden passages and secret tunnels under the house.  Between that and the occult aspects to the story, one could almost think of this as a mild gothic tale of suspense.

 

Something I thought was rather interesting is that this is not Terry Spring's first time solving a murder (at least, according to her crew).  Several times throughout the story, Jess mentions the fact that Terry is rather well known for solving murders, and even Terry herself raises the point.  Sadly, there are not specific mentions of her prior cases, just the general statements that she is known to be an amateur sleuth, and that she has excellent detecting skills.  Makes me wonder if any of the other Zebra Mystery Puzzlers featuring Terry will give us the back story on these adventures, or if they will forever remain an unsolved mystery!

The author, Josephine Kains, as so many of these Zebra books, is a pseudonym.  It seems many a male author hid behind female pseudonyms when writing books with female leads.  In this instance, the real author is Ronald Joseph Goulart, who apparently wrote under quite a few pseudonyms back in the day - Kenneth Robeson, Chad Calhoun, Ian R. Jamieson, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Frank Shawn, and others.  He also ghosted books starring pulp characters such as Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Vampirella, and the Avenger, as well as two books in Marvel Comics' series of novels back in the late '70s.  And based upon what I could find, the author used the pseudonym "Josephine Kains" only for the books he wrote in this Zebra Mystery Puzzler series - that name was not used for any other books he wrote.

As far as the art in this book goes, there is no credit given to either the cover artist or the interior artist, and none of the internal drawings are signed.  However, comparing the art with that in the first book in the series, and it appears to be the same artist - it's the same style, the same type of shading, and the same appearance in the people drawn.  And, like in the first book, the way the internals are drawn, there is really no way to discern any clues from the illustrations.  Further, the internals do not necessarily match the description on the story, which is the issue I had with the illustrations in the first book.  However, there were sufficient clues in the story itself to help me identify the murderer, so while the illustrations were nice to look at, they were not really needed to solve the mystery.

I would have to say of the three Zebra Mystery Puzzlers I've read thus far, this one probably comes in last.  That is not to say I did not enjoy it; rather, I just think the second book was definitely the most well-written, while the first one definitely provided stronger characterization than this one.  We will have to see what Kains next book (#7 - The Curse of the Golden Skull) holds in store before I make any definite judgment calls on whether this is just a one-off, or whether it's truly the author's writing style.

RATING:  7 spilled cans of green paint out of 10 for providing a few somewhat surprising twists to the story and the characters to keep the solution from being too easy to solve!