1952

The Playhouse began its second to last season under the direction of producer Theron Bamberger. Theron and his wife Phyllis had taken over the Playhouse in 1940 with author Kenyon Nicholson. The productions for that year were mainly plays with a few musicals in the mix. During the early years, straight plays were the fare with the Playhouse known as a pre-Broadway house.

Running for one week in July was a play entitled, Kind Lady, by Edward Chodorov. Billed as a mystery thriller, the play starred stage and screen star, Sylvia Sidney.

The comedy, Angel in the Pawnshop was the next play scheduled, running from July 14 through July 19. The 1952 playbill described the production as dealing with "a whimsical Irish pawnbroker and his treasure filled shop". The playbill also described the show's star, Ernest Truex as "one of the deftest comedians in the American theatre".

Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes was the next production in the 1952 season and was well known for the song "A Small Hotel" which was based on a wishing well at Colligan's Stockton Inn in Stockton, New Jersey. The story was that Rodgers and Hart had abandoned New York for a period while they were working on the show and journeyed down to Stockton for a stay at the Stockton Inn. While there, they were intrigued by the wishing well that inn guests would throw pennies in during their stay. Actress Yvonne Adair was known to audiences as one of the stars of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and other movies.

Later in the season, Playhouse regulars Frances Reid and Philip Bourneuf were seen in George Bernard Shaw's, Heartbreak House. Reid and Bourneuf were both residents of New Hope and Broadway stars. Today's audiences will know Frances Reid for her long running role of Alice Horton on N.B.C. television's daytime drama, Days of Our Lives.

One of America's finest actors, John Carradine appeared in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls. Carradine had previously appeared at the Playhouse in 1949 giving a magnificent performance as the tyrannical father in The Heiress.

Accent On Youth starring Grace Kelly and Jerome Cowan played from August 18 through August 23, 1952. Grace Kelly made her theatrical debut at the Bucks County Playhouse in 1949 in The Torch Bearers, a play written by her uncle, playwright George Kelly. In the short time between her Playhouse appearances, Ms. Kelly performed on Broadway in The Father, appeared on many of the early television series of the time and on the silver screen in 14 Hours and in High Noon as Gary Cooper's wife.

Legendary actress, Angela Lansbury appeared in Affairs of State, a topical comedy about love and politics in Washington. The show scored an impressive 75 week record and 611 performances on Broadway before leaving on national tour. Back in 1952, Ms. Lansbury was credited with "displaying her charm and talent in such motion pictures as Gaslight, National Velvet, Samson and Delilah as well as many television and radio programs." Today's audiences know her from her many appearances on Broadway in shows like Sweeney Todd and Mame and from her role as mystery writer, Jessica Fletcher, in the long running television series, Murder, She Wrote.

Also featured during the season was Jack Klugman in Lo and Behold!, Kay Francis in Theatre, Sam Jaffe and Zero Mostel in Blue Danube and An Evening With Beatrice Lillie. All in all it was a most impressive year.