Windrows University series has featured resident and guest experts sharing their knowledge and stories on a wide variety of cultural and educational topics. On Tuesday, February 21, “Symposium on the Performing Arts” includes a lineup of celebrity artists and residents of Windrows, who will share insights into the theater, dance, and concert performance.
“A Theatrical Life, in Three Acts” will be presented by Peggy Henning, who had a stage name of Peggy Menefee. After extensive training and performing during her years at Syracuse University and in summer stock, she arrived in Manhattan in 1950 to look for work on Broadway. It was the early days of live television and plays on Broadway. She appeared with Charles Lawton, Charles Coburn, Paul Newman, Jackie Cooper, and her good friend from Syracuse, Jerry Stiller. Henning will tell about her adventures on Broadway and live television. Her years as a “Romper Room” teacher influenced her second career in education.
“Dancing the Gamut” presented by Gene Bayliss focuses on his involvement with the original Broadway production of “Bye Bye Birdie,” and his work with Bob Fosse, Chita Rivera, Ray Charles, Paul Lynde, and Marge and Gower Champion.
“A Concert-ed Effort” presented by Bob and Lynn Bicclecone talk about their days at Lincoln Center, where he was a bass trombonist for the New York City Ballet, the American Symphony, and others; and she was a singer with the Metropolitan and New York City operas and a teacher of musical theater.
Henning was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. At Syracuse University she caught the eye of the head of the drama department when she was in a small play. He invited her to major in drama. It was at Syracuse that she became friends with Jerry Stiller. Still friends, they recently dined together at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
She performed at Oneida, New York, for six years. “We did one play a week, while rehearsing during the day for the next one.” The group did five to six plays every summer. “We did everything on and off stage,” she says. “It was the greatest training. We especially learned how to play the audience.”
She later worked at the Gulf Theater doing live television — in an small room above Grand Central Station. It was not air-conditioned — and it was summer. She worked with Paul Newman. “He was a hard-working person,” she says. “We met years later when he was in the Princeton area visiting his daughter at the Hun School. He remembered me and reminded me about our days at Grand Central Station — with a twinkle in his eyes,” she says.
She worked on several shows that were headed to Broadway but most closed during the out of town runs. “In those days we went to New Haven, Boston, Philadelphia, and then Broadway,” she says. One show, “The Long Watch,” did make it to Broadway in 1952 — and had 12 performances before closing.
“I loved the theater and it was something very special to me,” she says. “I get so upset with Broadway today. There are too many movie stars and microphones.”
“In the early 1950s Broadway was wealthy with playwrights, including Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller,” she says. As a young actress, Henning also worked as the cigarette girl at the Plaza Hotel and hat check girl at the Russian Tea Room.
A few years later, she returned to Baltimore and saw a small ad, “teacher for TV wanted.” She applied and go the job. She worked with Miss Nancy, the first Romper Room teacher. Her main job was to teach the teacher how to do the show.
She became fascinated with teaching and returned to school for advanced degrees. Henning received a master’s in creative arts and education from Rutgers. She worked on her doctorate and completed it — except for the thesis. Henning taught at John Witherspoon School in Princeton for 25 years.
A Princeton resident for many years, she lived in Lawrenceville for several years and Palm Beach, Florida, in the winter. After an injury in Florida, she had to give up ballroom dancing and now walks with a cane. “Windrows is like a cruise ship that doesn’t move,” she says. “The food is great and there are always activities to do.”
“I feel like Betty White,” she says, referring to White’s continuing presence on television and movies and the recent interviews she has given, including one to Actors’ Equity about how she got her union card. “She and Jerry Stiller are still getting all this work.”
“I was in two noble professions — acting and teaching,” she says. “I did the things I wanted to do, and I am very content.
Symposium on the Performing Arts, Windrows, 2000 Windrow Drive, Plainsboro. Tuesday, February 21, 11 a.m. “A Theatrical Life, in Three Acts” presented by Peggy Henning, Gene Bayliss, and Bob and Lynn Biddlecome, a Windrows couple. Lunch with the presenters included. Register. Free. 800-708-7007 or www.princetonwindrows.net.
