World Premiere of a New Screwball Comedy by Harley Erdman
Directed by Sheila Siragusa
Commissioned by the Academy of Music Theatre, Nobody’s Girl is a new screwball comedy inspired by real events that took place at the Academy in the early 1940s.
In the spring of 2012, a dusty filing box containing dozens of
letters, memos and other documents, dealing with a long-forgotten
controversy from the early 1940s, was discovered at the Academy of
Music. The incident revolved around a strong-willed, spirited woman:
Mildred E. Walker, a longtime employee at the Academy who was suddenly
promoted to run the theatre when manager Frank Shaughnessy was called to
military service during WWII. The Academy’s lessees attempted to oust
Walker on the grounds that a woman should not be in a managerial
position. The case went to court and became a front-page news story.
Mildred Walker herself was a lightning rod for controversy – a member
of the city’s arts community, which was looked on askance by more
conservative elements in town, a determined woman who demanded a salary
commensurate with Shaughnessy’s when she was appointed in his stead, an
unconventional character that carried on an affair with a married man.
Her story is a fertile slice of history that sheds a revealing light on
Northampton’s and the country’s past, a time when impending war was
changing economic priorities and social roles. It also points to issues
of basic equality for women, which many take for granted today, but
which still persist, particularly in the workplace.
The Academy of Music Theatre commissioned local playwright Harley
Erdman to develop a new play addressing the themes of Walker’s story. Nobody’s Girl is
written in the classic style of a 1940s screwball comedy, featuring a
strong female lead and abuzz with witty, rapid-fire dialogue.
Nobody’s Girl will re-open the Academy after our late-summer auditorium renovations. Tickets will go on sale in July.