P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
|
P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
 |
Vivian Cowell - Actress, Producer, and Makeup Artist By: Roy Riedy |
Vivian was associated with 40 plays at Highlands Little Theatre, the first one taking place during HLT's Seventh Season's production of the 1919 musical Irene, directed by Janelou Buck and Carol Gose, in November, 1980. Vivian played Mrs. O'Dare, the mother of the eponymous Irene. Three months later she was the Producer of Frank Oberhausen's second musical, My Fair Lady. In May, 1981, Vivian starred in Judy Sutter's comedy Subject to Change and was able to claim that she had participated in all of the Seventh Season's production, which in early 1980 consisted of just three plays.
The Eighth Season brought four shows to the public and Vivian was associated with all of them. In October, 1981, Frank Oberhausen directed The Sound of Music with Vivian as his Producer. In February, 1982, Jim McCollum directed the melodrama, No Mother to Guide Her and Vivian was his Makeup person. In April, Janelou Buck directed Cole Porter's Anything Goes in which Vivian sang the lead role of Reno Sweeney; and in August, Marian Dunham directed the first show to be presented in HLT's permanent home, The Teahouse of the August Moon and Vivian was on her Makeup Team.
The new home inaugurated the custom of five plays a year which has prevailed since at the Lakeside Playhouse. Mrs. Cowell worked with three plays during the Ninth Season. In November, she and Judy Sutter were Frank Oberhausen's Production Managers for his musical Camelot; in January, 1983, Vivian and Marcia Marsella did the Makeup for Peter Pollard's comedy, Auntie Mame, and in July, she was a member of the Advertising Team for Janelou Buck's mystery thriller Deathtrap.
The Tenth Season opened with Marian Dunham's Oliver! and Vivian and Becky Clark were the musical's Production Managers. Frank Oberhausen directed his first Annie Get Your Gun in February, 1984, with Vivian doing his cast's Makeup. During Janelou Buck's March production of Born Yesterday, Vivian concerned herself with the Beverages Section of the Gourmet Staff.
The Eleventh Season opened with Frank Oberhausen directing the historical drama, The Lion in Winter, with Vivian and Judy Sutter as his Makeup Team. Janelou Buck directed the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman comedy, The Man Who Came To Dinner in April with Vivian and Judy Sutter as her Makeup Team also. The last play of the season was Once Upon A Mattress, directed by Peter Pollard for which Vivian and Colleen Carigan did the Coiffure.
Frank Oberhausen opened the Twelfth Season with the Broadway sensation, Annie, and Vivian was his Production Coordinator. In April, Vivian did the Coiffure and Makeup for Peter Pollard's comedy Arsenic and Old Lace; and in June she did the Makeup for Janelou Buck's musical I Do, I Do. At the First Annual Zenon Awards Ceremony in October, Vivian won her first Zenon for The Best Producer of the Season for her work on Frank Oberhausen's Annie.
Marian Dunham opened the Thirteenth Season with her celebrated musical, A Funny Thing Happen on the Way to the Forum, for which Vivian was part of the Choreography Team, and also acted as a Seamstress. Richard Farnsworth and Karen Cardozo Rosa co-directed The Fantasticks in June, and Mrs. Cowell worked on Makeup and Coiffure. At the Second Annual Zenon Awards Ceremony in October, 1987, Vivian won her second Best Producer of the Season Zenon for her work with Marian Dunham's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Vivian was not active at the theater in the Fourteenth Season but at the end of the Fifteenth Season she worked with the Beverages Section of the Gourmet Staff during Janelou Buck's reprise of the comedy Mister Roberts.
The Sixteenth Season saw Vivian back in full swing and participating in all five shows of that season. In November she was the Producer for Marian Dunham's musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown; in January she worked in Beverages during Peter Pollard's On Golden Pond and also through the last three shows of the season: Frank Oberhausen's reprise of My Fair Lady; Janelou Buck's Hello Dolly; and Tena Conyer's reprise of Don't Drink the Water. Vivian was nominated for a Best Producer Zenon at the Fifth Annual Zenon Awards.
Vivian worked with Beverages during the Seventeenth Season's opening show, Oklahoma!,directed by Jet Hansen. She was Peter Pollard's Makeup and Coiffure Consultant for his January comedy, Steel Magnolias, and a member of the new Anthony's Lounge Staff during Frank Oberhausen's March presentation of The Music Man. Vivian also worked with the Anthony's Lounge Staff during the last two shows of the season.
Vivian worked in Anthony's Lounge the first two shows of the Eighteenth Season. In April, she worked in Frank Oberhausen's Funny Girl, the season's third show on Makeup with Leslie Mercure. She returned to Anthony's Lounge during Janelou Buck's June, Inherit The Wind, and was part of Marian Dunham's Makeup Team for the reprise of Teahouse of the August Moon in August, 1992, the tenth anniversary of the show and also HLT's residence in the Lakeside Playhouse.
The Nineteenth Season was Vivian's last season with Highlands Little Theatre, she worked with the first three shows by being a member of the Staff of Anthony's Lounge. After that third play, Mrs. Cowell was no longer active at the Lakeside Playhouse.
During Vivian Cowell's fourteen seasons with Highlands Little Theatre she worked with forty plays, won two Zenons, and was nominated for another, and cited in four Zenon Programs. She attended three First Nighter Galas and was mentioned in thirty-one HLT newsletters and forty-three local news articles for a grand total of one hundred and twenty-one citations. She is still remembered for her wit and unique personality, but most of all for her long and faithful service to Highlands Little Theatre.
