The History of the Summer Mummers
"Location! Location! Location!" Everyone knows that's the key to any successful venture. But not necessarily. The Midland Summer Mummers played to packed houses in three diverse locations for 32 years before finally making the Yucca Theatre its permanent home.
While the Mummers never performed there, the location that deserves credit for the Mummers' creation is the old Midland County Public Health Center, popularly called the "quonset hut", although it was only that familiar shape, not the World War II metal building. Located on the present site of the Midland County Library, the building served as the first Midland Community Theatre.
One spring evening in 1949, during a cast party, Art Cole, Bill Pennebaker, Bill Pomeroy and Norris Creath were sitting around the auditorium, relaxing and pondering how they might garner additional income to make improvements to the theatre. Norris Creath suggested, "Why don't we do 'The Drunkard'? They've been doing it in L.A. for years."
And thus, Midland Community Theatre's Summer Mummers began its life as the longest-running summer theatre in Texas.
So, what exactly is the "Summer Mummers"?
Turn-of-the-century melodrama, once so familiar to early American stages and films, still thrives in Midland's annual Summer Mummers. Celebrating it's 59th season this year, it is the longest-running summer theatre in Texas.
In 1949, some Midland Community Theatre supporters were puzzling how to enhance their makeshift theatre through additional funds. One remembered that melodramas were popular in California. "Mummers", the name for 1800's English street performers, popped out of someone's mouth, and "The Summer Mummers" was born. A different, original script by a local author is performed each year with occasional repetitions. Including the actors, almost 200 volunteers work on each season's production.
The Mummers' trademark is boisterous audience participation with ongoing cheers for the hero and his uprighteous comrades and boos and popcorn hurled at the villain. Popcorn sales last year totaled $50,000.00.
At several intervals during the performance, a movie screen drops down, advancing the melodrama plot along with an original filmed chase between the villain and the hero through Midland streets. A new "movieola" is shot each year.
The old Yucca Theatre, built in 1929 in downtown Midland, became the permanent home of the Mummers in 1981 when dozens of volunteers undertook the restoration of the movie/vaudeville house. Except for the addition by professionals of technical features and a tiered floor for cabaret seating, crews of volunteers polished the original, gilded Assyrian bulls, repainted the winged monsters on the walls, stenciled lotus flower lamps, and cleaned the faded lobby tiles.
The melodrama is followed by a colorful olio of dance numbers, a singalong, and various comedy routines, ending with the Mummers Band backing the can-can dancer's finale. Mary Frances Beverly
The YUCCA
We could try, however feebly, to describe our beautiful theatre to you.
Instead, we invite you to visit Texas Monthly magazine online, and see how they've honored the Yucca Theatre:
Summer Mummer Archive Listing of Shows
| Year | Title | Author | Director | Location |
| 1949 | The Drunkard | Art Cole | ||
| 1950 | Ten Nights in a Bar-Room | E.J. Elliott | ||
| 1951 | Gold in the Hills | E.J. Elliott | ||
| 1952 | Dirty Work at the Crossroads | Walter Beardsley | ||
| 1953 | The Drunkard | W.H. Pomeroy Jr. | ||
| 1954 | Perils of Pamona | W.H. Pomeroy Jr. | ||
| 1955 | Love Rides the Rail | Art Cole | ||
| 1956 | The Rebels Revenge | M. Samuelson, S.J. Aronson | Mrs. R. Dancy Fitting | |
| 1957 | Rascality on the Rig | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Mrs. Thomas Beatty King | |
| 1958 | Peril on the Pecos | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Mrs. R. Dancy Fitting | |
| 1959 | Desire Under the Dates | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Mrs. R. Dancy Fitting | |
| 1960 | Rascality on the Rig | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Mrs. Thomas Beatty King | |
| 1961 | The Rebels Revenge | M. Samuelson, S.J. Aronson | Bill Adam | |
| 1962 | Roguery on th River | Bill Adam | Mrs. Thomas Beatty King | now at VFW Hall |
| 1963 | Mayhem on Mars | Wm. Smythe-Davis | W.H. Pomeroy Jr. & Bill Davis | |
| 1964 | Peril on the Pecos | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Bill Shaner | |
| 1965 | Banditry on The Border | Wm. Smythe-Davis | A. Fuller Brush | back at American Legion Hall |
| 1966 | Panic on the Pedernales | P. McRae Jones | H. Lee Harrison II | |
| 1967 | Pathos on the Potomac | P. McRae Jones | H. Lee Harrison II | |
| 1968 | Skullduggery in the Skies | Wm. Smythe-Davis | H. Lee Harrison II | |
| 1969 | Bungling on the Brazos | P. McRae Jones | Madame E. Whiting-Pennebaker | |
| 1970 | Discombobulated on the Delaware | P. McRae Jones | Madame E. Whiting-Pennebaker | |
| 1971 | Tribulation on the Tiber | P. McRae Jones | W. Toler Shaner | |
| 1972 | Peril on the Pecos | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Madame E. Whiting-Pennebaker | |
| 1973 | Plotting on the Planets | Wm. Smythe-Davis | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1974 | Rascality on the Rig | Wm. Smythe-Davis | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1975 | Calamity on the Colorado | P. McRae Jones | A. Weller Cole & J. Alcorn | |
| 1976 | Discombobulated on the Delaware | P. McRae Jones | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1977 | Skullduggery in the Skies | Wm. Smythe-Davis | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1978 | Titillation on the Tigris | Wm. Smythe-Davis | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1979 | Bamboozled on the Bounding Main | Randall Hicks | A. Weller Cole | at Summer Mummer Hall |
| 1980 | Pettifoggery in the Pines | Randall Hicks | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1981 | Treachery on the Thames | Randall Hicks | A. Weller Cole | at the Yucca Theatre now |
| 1982 | Poltroonery on the Pacific | Randall Hicks | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1983 | Ripsnorting on the Roaring Fork | P. McRae Jones | A. Weller Cole | |
| 1984 | Rascality on the Rig | Wm. Smythe-Davis | D. Matthew Bachmann | |
| 1985 | Catawamped Among the Cacti | Randall Hicks | D. Matthew Bachmann | |
| 1986 | Peril on the Pecos | Wm. Smythe-Davis | R. Blanks Hughes | |
| 1987 | Tribulation on the Tiber | P. McRae Jones | R. Blanks Hughes | |
| 1988 | Banditry on The Border | Wm. Smythe-Davis | R. Blanks Hughes | |
| 1989 | Buffaloed on the Bayou | Harry Harrison | Harry Harrison | |
| 1990 | Mayhem at the Moviola | Mark Eells | Harry Harrison | |
| 1991 | Misled Down the Mississippi | Harry Harrison | R. Ford "Coppola" Tilley | |
| 1992 | Machinations over Midland | Nancy Calhoun, Hugh White | R. Ford "Coppola" Tilley | |
| 1993 | Roguery on th River | Bill Adam | J. Edward Meyer | |
| 1994 | Debauchery on the Drawbridge | Randall Hicks | D. Matthew Bachmann | |
| 1995 | Catawamped Among the Cacti | Randall Hicks | D. Byrom Pike | |
| 1996 | Pettifoggery in the Pines | Randall Hicks | R. Ford "Coppola" Tilley | |
| 1997 | Circumvented in the Center Ring | Linda Bond. Bruce Partain | Ronnie Williams | |
| 1998 | Rascality on the Rig | Wm. Smythe-Davis | Harry Harrison | |
| 1999 | Meteor Crater Madness | Linda Bond. Bruce Partain | Michael B. Trost | |
| 2000 | Rebel's Revenge | M. Samuelson, S.J. Aronson | Timothy Jebson | |
| 2001 | 2001 : A Space Oddity | Linda Bond. Bruce Partain | Scooter Tilley | |
| 2002 | Dastardly Doings at the Diamond | Linda Bond. Bruce Partain | Tracy Alexander | |
| 2003 | Mayhem at the Moviola | Mark Eells | Tracy Alexander | |
| 2004 | Banditry on The Border | Wm. Smythe-Davis | ||
| 2005 | Beach Blanket Buckaroo | Tracy and Greg Alexander | ||
| 2006 | Debauchery on the Drawbridge | Randall Hicks | ||
| 2007 | Curse of the Burnt Kernel | Glenn Duggan | Tracy Alexander | |
| 2008 | Felonious Follies on the Fairway | Stacy LaPlante | Tracy Alexander | |
| 2009 | Bodyslammed among the Bovines | Justin Tate |
Vaudeville and Melodrama History Links
American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920American Museum of Vaudeville
