Visitors to this site know that we are big fans of television and musical theater.
And we are especially big fans of the TV and Broadway-related collections that we get to care for here at the WCFTR. These include the collections of Faye Emerson, Wendy Clarke, Alvin Boretz, Daniel Wilson Productions, Ziv Productions, André De Shields, and the Overture Center for the Arts, among many others.
I blogged back in November about the WCFTR’s big season of collabs with Overture Center. And I got to thinking that it would be fun to try a different sort of collab: online screenings that bring together the strengths of our audiovisual archives with some of Overture’s upcoming shows. Overture’s curtain fell last week on a two-week stand of what is probably the most celebrated musical of all time (i.e., Hamilton). So, this seems like a good moment to highlight the next show: Kimberly Akimbo, which runs from February 10-15 at Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts.
Like Hamilton, Kimberly Akimbo won the Tony Award for Musical. While it lacks Ham’s household name, Akimbo is another reminder of how the most satisfying contemporary musicals blend together a range of elements, influences, and styles that ordinarily would not seem to fit within the same show. On paper, Kimberly Akimbo is the story of teenager living with a condition that causes her to rapidly age while still enduring the highs and lows of high school and a dysfunctional family. Tonally, it’s a roller coaster — at times hilarious, touching, weird, poignant, thought provoking, and exhilarating. (Speaking of roller coasters, they feature prominently in the story.)
So here it is… TELEVISION ARCHIVES AKIMBO! A curated online program of historic TV programs that have narrative, thematic, and/or tonal connections to Kimberly Akimbo. All of these screenings have been digitized from the WCFTR’s archives, and we thank the collection donors for their generosity in allowing us to preserve and share these works. We hope you enjoy the shows.
THE WCFTR PRESENTS: TELEVISION ARCHIVES AKIMBO!
1. “ROCKING CHAIR REBELLION” (1979) — From a narrative perspective, Kimberly Akimbo has a lot in common with a 1970s afterschool special. These are stories that promote empathy and inclusivity. They center the lives of young people, frequently as they move as outsiders within a new environment while simultaneously navigating changes in family life. Here is a terrific example — the 1979 special, Rocking Chair Rebellion, from award-winning producer Danny Wilson. Whereas many of Kimberly Akimbo’s scenes place an older actor among younger performers, Rocking Chair Rebellion inverts that dynamic, with our teen protagonist spending time in a retirement facility and calling out rampant elder abuse.
2. FAYE EMERSON SHOW – “HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS” (1950) — As media scholar Maureen Mauk has chronicled, Faye Emerson hosted the first late night TV show in U.S. history, from 1949 to 1951. Emerson also had the foresight to preserve these broadcasts using a technology called kinescoping — essentially, using a 16mm camera to create a film print from a special monitor showing the live feed. At the WCFTR, we scanned these kinescopes a few years ago with the support of Kelly Kahl, and we developed a website that shares examples of Faye’s work and more about her history. For TELEVISION ARCHIVES AKIMBO, we selected an episode that showcases teenagers from New York’s High School for the Performing Arts (aka “the FAME school”). Among the featured students is a young actor named Dominick DeLuise. When he steals the improv comedy scene from his fellow actors, it makes you think — this guy might have a future in television. 😉
3. LOVE TAPES – SANTA MONICA PLACE MALL BOOTH (1989) — Thousands of people, from a wide range of backgrounds and identities, take turns walking into a booth and — for exactly three minutes — describe what love means to them. They then watch the tape, and, if they feel comfortable sharing it, the tape gets added to the collection and shown on public television. This is a simplified description of Wendy Clarke’s long-running “Love Tapes” project. More detailed analyses and thousands of examples can be found within the WCFTR’s website, “Love, Links, Archives: Saving and Sharing the Wendy Clarke Collection.” In an exhibit for the site titled “A Love for the Ages,” WCFTR processing archivist Ashton Leach reflects on the power and poignancy of hearing how young and old people talk about love in different ways. Below is a three minute video in which a father and daughter share a booth and together create a love tape.
4. WORLD OF GIANTS – EPISODE ONE (1958) — The syndicated Ziv series, World of Giants, stars Marshall Thompson as Mel Hunter, a secret agent who was exposed to dangerous rocket fuel in a mission behind the Iron Curtain, shrinking him to a mere six inches tall. However, his diminutive stature provides new opportunities for his work as a secret agent, allowing him to sneak unseen into gambling dens, carrier pigeon coops, and the purses of nefarious lady agents. With the help of his “normal” sized partner, Bill Winters, and their kind-hearted secretary, Miss Brown, Mel must combat foreign powers and ferocious possums alike in the World of Giants. Yes, it’s Cold War camp. But it’s also more than that. As media scholar Olivia Riley has insightfully argued, World of Giants is the rare 1950s TV series that centers the experience of living with a disability and having to navigate a world that was not designed with your body in mind.
5. “HENRY WINKLER MEETS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE” (1977) — The title says it all! Another gem from Daniel Wilson Productions. Hope you enjoy this meet-up between the Fonz and the Bard, and hope to see you next month at Overture Center!