It
would be facetious to suggest that William and Vivian were any
sort of supergroup, boasting members of "Unrest, Jungle George,
Clarence, Jeff [Zitofsky], The Thirsty Guys, Fred & Ginger".
In the liner notes to Wakefield/Vol. 4./February 23rd 1985
(TB 171), Andrew Beaujon (Jungle George / Eggs / Tha Cheeky Bastid)
states that he'd give his "eye teeth" for a CD copy,
though it's difficult to understand why.
The cassette, of which only about 20 were made, is a mish mash
of samples, covers (most notably The Seeker's "Georgy Girl"),
instrumentals and a few (very few) short originals. One of them
is "Kim Nguyen Says"*. I'm afraid that I know very little
about Kim Nguyen, herself other than she was the subject of another
Teen Beat release: a "Kim Says" Poster (TB 08).
 |
"Kim Says" Poster.
(TB 08)
Ten xerox copies made 12/30/85
Click on image to enlarge printable copy.
|
However, the artwork holds a few answers
(and questions of it's own). Though the cover looks like it is
lifted from an old film magazine, and the artwork declares it's
cover stars "Jan Nessler [sic] & Rolf Hanson (1966)"
along with "1st page star: Mora Shell ('68)". The dates
are, in fact, wrong.
|
Detail of artwork
to
William and Vivian CS .
Photo of Mora Shell (inset) |
The pictures are taken from A Wakefield
High School performance of Kaufman & Hart's play, The
Man who Came to Dinner. The play was performed "on the
Wakefield Stage Thursday 17 November and Friday 18 November 1966",
and was a joint production between Thespian Troupe 1214 and Wakefield
High School's Drama Department, and was directed by a Mrs. Mora
D. Shell.
 |
Program to the Wakefield
High School performance of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" |
According to an article by fellow student Sally
Schumacher in the North Virginia Sun (1966), "Mora Shell,
a drama teacher, has been directing the productions at Wakefield
for the past four years. She is a gradute of San Jose State College
in San Jose, Calif."
 |
The original
photo of the stage crew, from which Mora Shell (far right)
was taken. Click image above for larger version. |
Rolf Hansen played the part of Sheridan Whiteside,
a boorish, but witty, man who trips on the front steps of Mr.
and Mrs. Ernest Stanley as he is coming to dinner and after threatening
to sue is kept there for six weeks until his broken bones heal.
Playing the part of Lorraine Sheldon, a sexpot actress who Whiteside
convinces to help break up a romance is Jan Nesseler.
 |
Detail
of artwork to
William and Vivian CS
Photo of Sally Schumaker |
The other photo in the cassette's artwork, is uncredited, and
thanks to the Nobody's in Particular, she has been identified
as Sally Schumaker (or Shoemacher) who worked with the drama productions
at Wakefield 1965 - 1968 and also was part of the school newspaper
journalism team.
Mora Shell as she moved to California sometime in late '66 early
'67.
According to Don Smith (Teenage Gang Debs), "There were
a few yearbook images from the 1960s used in early Teenbeat
releases besides the one mentioned. One flyer I had on my wall
for
years and years." and Mark Robinson (Unrest, etc.) confessed
to working on the yearbook staff, which gave him access to all
of the photographs. which were used on a few of the early cassettes.
Information on the plays gathered from the website of The
Nobodys in Particular.
* the first track "(Oliver & Felix &)" is a
sample from the television show The
Odd Couple starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
|
