A Herbert Gold story in the March 1970 issue of Holiday magazine features a portrait of a rare Scott Beach-directed Committee cast.
“So far [The Committee’s] great achievement – due partly to talent and partly to San Francisco tolerance – has been to survive without silicone for nearly a decade in its handsome cabaret in the topless playground.”
Pictured: Dan Barrows, Kertia Thomas, Bruce Mackey, Julie Payne, Scott Beach, David Ogden Stiers, Ruth Silveira, and Jim Cranna.
“I was Del’s student in Chicago in 1970, then he cast me in Second City Touring Co, then he directed me in two shows in Minneapolis in an improv theatre there in ’72 and ’73.. Then after 5 years in L.A. ’75-80 (where I worked in a comedy troupe with Julie Payne among others) I returned to Chicago, where I reconnected with him. When he left Second City in the early 70’s to return to The Committee, my boyfriend and I at the time moved into his apartment in Chicago that he shared with his girlfriend George Kingson. Then he stayed with me in Minneapolis for awhile. I caught him in the early 70’s at Second City in a brief moment of wildly incandescent lucidity and from the moment I stepped on stage in his workshops we understood one another. It was a joy for me.” – Rochelle Richelieu Winter
Ruth Silveira came to The Committee through a production of “America Hurrah!” at The Committee Theater at 836 Montgomery. Ruth’s scene with Julie Payne, entitled “Cold Tea”, depicted the friendship of two women as it progresses from youth to old age, and is thought of by many as one of the best scenes performed on The Committee’s stage.
There are two separate strands of inquiry that lead us to this trunk.
The first was inspired by Larry Hankin’s reference to a Tarot Card deck that featured members of The Committee. He couldn’t remember the name of the photographer. We chased this around for a while, but hit dead-ends and abandoned the search.
Our second, more direct, route was revealed via the tapes that we received from John Brent’s son Jeremy Paz. These tapes consisted of recorded interviews conducted by Peter Elbling in 1985 with members of The Committee, in remembrance of John Brent, who died that year.
Elbling’s interview with Howard Hesseman shed light on a production company that Howard ran with photographer Jerry Wainwright in 1970-71. Dubbed “Narcissistic Purposes Productions”, the company’s output included a series of theatrical still-lifes, featuring Committee members, that were used as artwork for the theater lobby. (We already had an example of this work on-hand: an 8×10 image of John Brent as mad scientist Dr. Servo de la Lune which was provided to us by Ruth Silveira. For some time we mistakenly took this image as an ad for a John Brent solo performance. This link from a year ago also shows how off the mark we were.)
Jerry Wainwright (1926-1997) was a prolific photographer who documented The Committee extensively. Wainwright later helped to bring to life the ethnic/hippie fashions trends of the day with his and Alexandra Jacopetti Hart’s book Native Funk and Flash.
To make a long story short, after a great visit with Jerry’s widow Ann, we left with the trunk pictured above.
Ann has entrusted us with a significant piece of history.
The trunk holds an overwhelming amount of negatives, a few printed photographs, a few contact sheets here and there. All are from the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Most of the negatives are 35mm, in paper sleeves. A few negatives are 4×5, and one appears to by 7×9. After crudely separating Committee-related material from his other work, here are some highlights.
We took the Narcissistic Purposes negatives to the lab to be scanned immediately.
For the archive, our priority to make sure the material is safely stored (smaller boxes, new sleeves). We are determining the cost of developing the Committee-related negatives to contact sheets, but will soon start developing the material that intrigues most.
We intend to work closely with Ann and Wainwrights’ estate as we move forward to make use of the treasures in this trunk. If you have question or tips email samshaw@sfimprovfestival.com.
Sent to us by Julie Payne, this pic is of the back of The Committee’s first album, inscribed by Del Close to actress Rochelle Richelieu. It is in fact, a collector’s item these days – copies of The Committee’s first album are exceedingly hard to find on the open market.
Note: Rochelle Richelieu appeared on Laverne & Shirley in the 1976 episode “A Nun’s Story”, directed by Committee founding director Alan Myerson (he directed a dozen of the series’ episodes). According to IMDB, her only other film or TV appearance was in 2008 – credited as Rochelle Winter in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.
Ruth Silveira: She trained in theater at Stanford and Cal, came to The Committee via “America Hurrah” at the Montgomery Street theater. Her scene with Julie Payne – “Cold Tea” – is widely heralded as one of The Committee’s best scenes. We had a great visit with her this summer, with amazing stories and a nice scrapbook encounter. Thanks Ruth!
