Arts Reporting: Wimberley Players' Heiress Links to 1947 New York Production

Received directly via Wimberley Players' "Curtain Call" newsletter:

Perhaps the name Finklehoffe rings a bell?

Carolyn’s husband Fred F. Finklehoffe wrote, directed, and produced many plays, television shows, and films during his lifetime. One of the plays he produced was The Heiress at The Biltmore Theater on Broadway. Carolyn said that when Fred was producing The Heiress, he and director Jed Harris went to London to talk to Wendy Hiller about performing the leading role. Fred had told Carolyn that they would not have done the show if they could not have Wendy.

Carolyn Finklehoffe resides with her daughter Casey and son-in-law Don Marinucci on their Texas Hill Country ranch. Don has shown and won in Western Pleasure for years, often competing in Texas, which is what spurred the big move for him and Casey. Four years ago, Carolyn said farewell to her home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and joined Casey & Don on the ranch.

Carolyn and Fred met at a private screening party given by Mickey Rooney in New York City. Rooney and Fred were good friends and frequently worked together on films. Carolyn worked as a fashion model, so an invitation from Rooney was run of the mill for the young woman who spent evenings out with the likes of Frank Sinatra. Carolyn said that when she arrived at the party, she saw Fred. At first sight, she knew that Fred would be the man she would marry.

Carolyn and Fred’s wedding was held at the home of Judy Garland. Her daughter, Liza Minnelli, was Carolyn’s flower girl. Judy Garland later became Casey’s godmother. Many of the shows Fred wrote were specifically for Miss Garland, and she was a dear friend of the Finklehoffe’s. Carolyn and Fred’s wedding was covered by Louella Parsons of the Associated Press, thus their wedding picture and write up appeared in papers nationwide.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Heiress, Wimberley Players, February 18 -March 13

Received directly:

present

THE HEIRESS

by Ruth Ann and August Goetz
Directed by Robert FitzGerald

February 18 – March 13, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Wimberly Players Theatre, 450 Old Kyle Rd., Wimberley (click for map)

Tickets are $18 each ($20 each for opening night including a pre-show reception at 7 p.m.) available at www.wimberleyplayers.org. Box Office at 847-0575 is open Wednesdays & Thursdays, 2 - 5 p.m., Fridays 2 - 6 p.m.

The Heiress by Ruth and Augustus Goetz is an adaptation of Henry James's novel Washington Square. The play launches the Wimberley Players 2011 season and will run for four consecutive weekends.

This Tony Award winning drama is set in the drawing room of a mansion in an affluent residential square in New York City during the 1850’s. It immerses us in the life of Catherine Sloper, a wealthy, yet commonplace, young woman of a retiring and reserved disposition. Unexpectedly, she meets and is wooed by an attractive young man, Morris Townsend, and ultimately falls desperately in love.

We witness Catherine’s anguish, and feel her pain as she is torn between her wealthy father, Dr. Austin Sloper, who has dominated her life since birth, and the promise of a bright future with a man she dared not dream could be hers. Add to this mix a foolish, meddlesome aunt, with other members of two intertwined families and you have a story of love, selfishness, hope and plot-turning surprises. T he Heiress has humor that lightly taps you on the shoulder and brutal reality that slaps you in the heart.