Oral Histories
Interview of Peggy Ebright
Actress, artist, and president of Pasadena Playhouse, Inc.
- Subtitle:
- Curtain Up! The Revival of the Pasadena Playhouse
- Series:
- Pasadena Playhouse Oral History Series
- Topic:
- Theater
- Biographical Note:
- Actress, artist, and president of Pasadena Playhouse, Inc.
- Interviewee:
- Ebright, Peggy
- Persons Present:
- Session One: Ebright and Galm; Session Two: Ebright, Bertonneau, and freelance journalist Diana Alexander.
- Place Conducted:
- Session One: Ebright's home in Pasadena, California. Session Two: Ebright's home in San Marino, California.
- Supporting Documents:
- Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
- Interviewer Background and Preparation:
- Session one was conducted by Bernard Galm, acting director, Oral History Program; B.A., English, St. John's University, Minnesota. Fulbright Scholar, Free University, Berlin, Germany, 1957-58. Graduate study, School of Drama, Yale University, and Department of Theater Arts, UCLA. Session two was conducted by Thomas Bertonneau, assistant editor and interviewer,Oral History Program; B.A., Scandinavian languages, UCLA. Galm and Bertonneau prepared for the interview by consulting prior oral history interviews with Maudie Prickett Cooper and Oliver Prickett which were especially helpful in providing background. Newspaper accounts of the ever changing state of the theater in what appeared to be its last days were also consulted. The interviewer (Galm) prompted Ebright to chronicle these events.
- Processing of Interview:
- Editing of the first session's transcript was done by Susan Tamayo, assistant editor, Oral History Program; editing of the second session's transcript was done by Mitch Tuchman, senior editor. Both checked the verbatim transcripts against the original taped material and edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper nouns. The final manuscript remains in the same order as the original taped material. Words and phrases inserted by the editors have been bracketed.Ebright reviewed and approved the edited transcript of the first session and by telephone affirmed or corrected the spellings of proper nouns in the second.The introduction was written by Tuchman. Other front matter and the index were prepared by Program staff.
- Length:
- 3 hrs.
- Language:
- English
- Copyright:
- Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
- Series Statement:
- This series documents the founding and early history of the Pasadena Playhouse.
- Abstract:
- Community vice president of Junior League on board of Pasadena Playhouse, 1965; work with Children's Theatre; move to Pasadena from Ohio, 1960; Lowell Lees; resident company at Playhouse; Internal Revenue Service padlock on Playhouse doors; Albert McCleery; theater people on Playhouse board; Raymond Burr; plans to save Playhouse; bankruptcy; William Jones; David Ghent; Pasadena City College; Plumstead Players; Pasadena votes to buy Playhouse; state and national landmark status; Milt Larsen; $1.3 million Economic Development Administration grant; Auditorium Management Company; community interest; director of community development; plans for star vehicles, readers theater, children's theater; attracting Los Angeles audience; Diane Alexander's anecdotal history of Playhouse.