The following passage was extracted from Mr. Princes written Memoirs dated December 12, 2006. This exhibits his various contributions as a patron of the Theatre in Corsicana, Texas to becoming an innovator of creativity and new direction for the Houston Little Theatre in Houston, Texas. Ending with his Theatrical experiences in New York City when his Architectural Designing for the Hospitality Industry career began.


-“My full name is Neal Adair Prince and I was born on January 10, l921, (You do the math), in Corsicana, Texas. I was about two years old when I realized that I was a Person and could think without anyone know what I was thinking about. So, I immediately became an “Actor”, and I’ve continued my “acting” career with more or less success since that day. My mother was Opal Prince and my father was Fred D. Prince. Mother always encouraged my “acting” aspirations, but, unfortunately my Father was not impressed. My maternal great grandfather, Wiley P. Lowery, who lived with us, had a very exploring mind and was enthusiastic about any endeavor I attempted.

I became interested in theatre at an early age sitting on my great grandfather’s lap in one of the local theatres. There was the Ideal which had a large stage that could accommodate stage shows as well as movies; the Palace which I remember mostly for movies although I discovered recently that it had a stage and enough “fly space” for theatrical presentations and the Grand which was used for second tier movies or re-runs. The Ideal ran a movie and a stage show, such as “Lassies White Minstrel” or a myriad of vaudeville acts, on the same day. Vaudeville was big then and all the major acts traveled.

My grandfather’s lap held me for “The Phantom of the Opera”, except for the times that I hid under the seat. My father had heard that “The Phantom” was a horror film not suited for children, but my grandfather had more advanced ideas. I loved Lon Chaney and all the glamorous stars of the Silent Era and tried to imitate them even at an early age. The Palace Theatre had sound equipment early. I saw the first all talking movie, “The Streets of New York” but was not very impressed…too much Talk; not enough Action.

Kindergarten was fun as I recall and grade school was an easy challenge. With my girl-friend we started a school paper, and I reported various “theatrical” events that took my notice.

Road Shows came to Dallas quite often, and my mother would take me the sixty miles to the Majestic theatre on Elm Street…that is, if it wasn’t raining. The road to Dallas was a one-lane affair that was treacherous when muddy. Mother always took me to Dallas where she did much of our shopping and while she shopped I went from one movie house to another.

I vividly remember the road company of “George White Scandals” with Helen Morgan in the cast which also included a teen-age Ann Miller. Helen Morgan sang “My Bill” which always seems related to “Show Boat” although there’s no character called “Bill” in the musical. Ann Miller even at that age had her black bouffant hair-do that never moved except for a little curl that flopped down on her forehead to show us she was tapping her heart out.

Other Road Shows in Dallas were “Boy Meets Girl”, and starring the Lunts and Sydney Greenstreet: “Amphitryon 38”, “Idiot’s Delight”, “O Mistress Mine”, “Taming of the Shrew”, and others. Alfred Lunt never impressed me much as an actor. I guess at that age I didn’t understand “laid-back”, but Lynn Fontanne was my idea of sophisticated chic. She seemed always to wear flowing, full length Valentino gowns that helped her dominate the stage. (Except, of course, where period costumes were called for, and then she still commanded attention.) I really enjoyed “Leave It to Me” with Sophie Tucker, Victor Moore, William Gaxton and Mary Martin who sang“ My Heart Belongs to Daddy” while wearing a short fur coat and “flashing” four men in parkas behind her. One of the men I learned much later was Gene Kelley. (Miss Martin wore a bathing suit under the coat). Sophie Tucker sang “Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love”.

We also had a large radio console in the living room that was a major source of entertainment. Fibber McGee and Molly, Fred Allen and Portland, Jack Benny and Mary Livingston, Joe Penner (“I wanna duck”). My neighborhood friends would come over in the evening and we sat close to the radio in the dark and get really scared listening to “Lights Out”.

By the time I got to Corsicana High School, I was taking piano lessons (nine years with negligible results) and I studied Speech Training from Mrs. Cook’s Studio which also included tap dancing. (Mr. and Mrs. Cook later became instrumental in starting the Drama Department at Navarro College.) These activities were presented to an audience in the form of Recitals. My first real Acting job was in the High School Senior Class play, “One Mad Night”, in which I played the lead. My most difficult piece of business was smoking a cigarette.

Then on to Rice Institute in Houston, Texas. I wanted desperately to go to New York and study acting with Florence Robinson Duff. Miss Duff, a grand looking silver haired lady had ads in the theatre magazines of the day. I didn’t know about her “Delsarte” school of acting. The Method was not known in those days. I also lobbied for theatre courses in other colleges, but my father had his head set on Rice and said if I went there for two years I could then go where I wanted. So, off to Rice I went.

I chose Architectural Engineering as my major because I liked to draw, although the “Engineering” aspect seemed a little daunting. Anyway, I joined the Rice Dramatic Club and met the Club President, Irl Mowery. Irl and I clicked immediately and became life-long friends. We took over the Dramatic Club and started producing whatever we liked. The productions were presented in Autrey House which had a small stage which we utilized until “in-the-round” became popular.

My first appearance was in “She Stoops to Conquer” directed by Jimmy Terflinger. Irl and I starred in “Too Many Husbands”, an Americanized version of the English comedy “Home and Beauty”. One of our productions was “Kiss the Boys Goodbye” by Claire Booth. I remember going totally blank on stage as my cast members gave their exit lines and finally left me alone on stage. There is no prompter help for theatre-in-the-round. Fortunately our leading lady entered gaily asking “Did you call for me?” I learned then that “blowing up” is the most terrifying experiences on the stage.

My second role was the lead in “Hotel Universe”, directed by Zelda Keeper. It was a mystical play, as I recall. At least it was certainly “mystical” to our audience. Among other Autrey House shows were “Personal Appearance”, starring our campus starlet, Rita Gay, “Yes, My Darling Daughter”, “Our Town”, “Private Lives” (with me and my best British accent opposite Zylla Swartz with her best Texas drawl). Also, I remember “Glamour Preferred”, “See My Lawyer” and “Here Today”, directed by Joe Smith who was Dinnie Smith’s brother. (Dinnie later became Mrs. Irl Mowery). The Houston Little Theatre was operating during that time, as was Margo Jones’s Houston Theatre and a little later the Alley Theatre, created by Nina Vance. I think Nina Vance was one of the first Directors that used “Method” Acting without realizing it.

All during my childhood and into college years, my mother and I often escaped the Texas summers by visiting my mother’s sister in Long Beach, California. (My father joined us twice). A friend of my Aunt’s worked in the Costume Department of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and I had the opportunity to visit the Studio and mingle with the Stars. I learned that appropriate costumes contributed to the telling of a story, and the big-studio era was a time of glamour, when stars were expected to look like stars. Actresses wore real jewelry because it made them feel better, even though it meant paying insurance and having an armed guard on the set. MGM had a huge store of costly fabrics from Switzerland, Paris, and Rome—rich brocades, cut velvets, and hammered satins. There were women who sat at looms, and beaders who made jeweled dresses, often working six to eight months on a single garment.

The Summer of 1940 was especially memorable. I drove alone from Long Beach to Hollywood and the El Capitan Theatre on three different nights for all nine of the Noel Coward’s plays, “Tonight at 8:30”. Each play had an “All Star in Person” cast. The following listing gives an idea of the extraordinary (to me) experience for an aspiring actor.

“WE WERE DANCING”
Eugene Francis, Henry Wilcoxon, June Dupree, Constance Bennett, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Reginald Owen, Frieda Inescort, Nigel Bruce
“THE ASTONISHED HEART”
Gladys Cooper, Morton Lowry, Lillian Kemble Cooper, Ernest Cossart, Henry Stephenson, Muriel Hutchison, Basil Rathbone
“RED PEPPERS”
Reginald Gardiner, Binnie Barnes, Freddie Bartholomew, Claud Allister, Ernest Cossart, Blanche Yurka

“FUMED OAK”
Roland Young, Doris Lloyd, Dame May Whitty, Nydia Westman
“FAMILY ALBUM”
Claire Trevor, Philip Merivale, Joan Fontaine, C. Aubrey Smith, Ralph Forbes, Sydney Fox, Margot Stevenson, John Halloran
“HANDS ACROSS THE SEA”
Zasu Pitts, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce, Isabel Jeans, Melville Cooper, Ian Hunter, Paul Cavanaugh, Ellis Irving, Walter Williams

“STILL LIFE”
Herbert Marshall, Rosalind Russell, Heather Angel, Una O’Connor, Doris Lloyd, Freddie Bartholomew, Edmund Gwenn, Edmund Stevens, Leslie Dennison, Sophie Stewart, Roy Parry
“SHADOW PLAY”
George Mataxa, Dorothy Stone, Walter Kingsford, Marion Curtis, Vera Haai
“WAYS AND MEANS”
Brian Aherne, Greer Garson, Elsa Maxwell, Montague Love, John Loder, Cissie Loftus, Philip Winter

The Directors were Edmund Goulding, George Cukor, Gladys Cooper, Dudley Murphy, Robert Sinclair, Margaret Webster, Peter Godfrey and the productions were designed by Robert Edmond Jones

Those were three thrilling nights!

Irl Mowery was in California during one of my vacations and the two of us went to the glamorous “EARL CARROLL” theatre-restaurant for a revue, “The World of Pleasure” featuring “60 Most Beautiful Girls”. The theatre was stunning with a black patent leather ceiling with vertical bars of light in a sweeping pattern. The cost was $2.50 with de luxe dinner. The stage was circular with an outer circular section that revolved. I was there on opening night and the outer section revolved a little too fast, and the show girls in their beaded costumes and feathered headdresses had to cling to each other to keep from being thrown off the stage.

My education continued at Rice Institute (now Rice University), and my off-campus activities proved detrimental. I had breezed through High School and knew little about serious studying. But I got a shock. My first semester at Rice, I was put on probation, but I soon learned to study and continue my outside activities and soon gained a listing on the school’s Honor Roll.

At that time, World War II, became apparent and I enlisted in the Reserves. That allowed me to continue my education, but the semesters were truncated and I graduated in absentia.

I was called to Active Duty in the Spring of 1942 and reported to Fort Sam Houston. Then came the War Years.

I struggled through Basic Training. During a dismal bivouac when I was sleeping on the wet ground in a pup-tent, a snake crawled across my body. That woke me, and as soon as possible I signed up to apply for Officer’s Training (applicants were released from the bivouac). I was successful in being sent to Officer’s Training School.

I should have mentioned that before this time I had become engaged to my college sweetheart, Frances Wooters Denman, and immediately after receiving my commission, I married Frances. The decision was so immediate that I missed the wedding rehearsal but made it just in time for the wedding ceremony on October 7, l944.

I was sent overseas for combat duty in the 39th Engineer Combat Headquarters…but that is another story...

On returning to Houston, I tried various business ventures before becoming gainfully employed by Ernest L. Shultz, Architect. But theatre still remained on my mind. I learned of a Playwriting Contest from Irl and Dinnie, and decided to enter the contest. The result was “Cry Out, Cassandra” which won the contest and was produced by the Houston Little Theatre and directed by Ralph Mead. I, modestly, played the lead.

My architectural endeavors included a semi-Gothic church, a football stadium and a large ranch house

At the Houston Little Theatre I played an effeminate royal in “The Yellow Jacket”. Hubert Rousell, critic for the Houston Post wrote that my performance must have made my parents “squirm”. Hubert was rather arrogant in his position as a critic. My parents saw the show and didn’t “squirm”. They realized that I was doing what the Director, Henning Nelms told me to do. The Houston Chronicle had a more intellectual approach to Theatre. (The Houston Chronicle still exists). I got luckier with a positive review for my performance as the Husband in “The Warrior’s Husband” at the Alley Theatre. I also appeared at The Houston Little Theatre as the Solicitor in “The Millionairess”.

My marriage history is rather unfortunate. France and I were very happy together and we had two beautiful and wondrous children (Neal, born June 21, l946 and Peyton, born September 19, l949), but there was an increasingly troublesome “In-law” problem that clouded our relationship

Although continuing my Architectural career, I had become President of the Houston Little Theatre and in 1948; I left my position with the architectural firm to become Business Manager of the Houston Little Theatre as a full-time job.

I hired Irl Mowery as the new Director and Dinnie as head of the Children’s group. At that time I headed a fund-raising effort and succeeded in obtaining enough monies to enlarge and air-condition the Theatre. The Houston Little Theatre board, headed by Dewey Roussel (Hubert’s wife) became more and more difficult to work with and Irl and Dinnie decided to try their luck elsewhere. I was offered a job as Director of the Wyndham Playhouse in New Hampshire and decided to take it. I suppose, in a way that was really the end of my marriage although Frances and I (at that time) had definite plans to reunite in New York when I returned. I forgot to mention that after remodeling the Houston Little Theatre, Irl and I along with Frances Wrightsman as composer wrote a “twenties” musical comedy called “Razzamatazz” to open the revamped theatre. (Dewey Roussel objected to the title of the musical by deeming it obscene). Irl directed several successful productions namely “Strange Bedfellows”,” Ethan Frome”, “Voice of the Turtle”, “Born Yesterday” and “Dark of the Moon”. The Board, headed by Mrs. Roussel, had a rather negative rather than positive reaction to the continual success of these endeavors, and, finally Irl and Dinnie decided to depart, and I got the directing job in New Hampshire.

The Wyndham Playhouse was a great experience for me. I got my Actor’s Equity Card and enjoyed the participation of a good group of resident actors.
We produced “Hedda Gabler”, “Light Up the Sky”, “The Respectful Prostitute” and “Three Men on a Horse”.

I became very attached to the resident ingénue (warning!), who shall be called “Mary” for the sake of anonymity. We remained close friends for a while after returning to New York. I decided to remain in New York to continue my theatrical career and planned for Frances and the children to join me there.

As always when I got hungry, I returned to my architectural background and was lucky to find a friend in the New York Architectural League who always seemed able to find me a job.

At first I got the chance to direct “Man and Superman” for the Equity Library Theatre. It was very successful and even played in Brooklyn. That led to directing a “student original” musical at Rutgers College. I hired a friend as choreographer who turned out to be more popular than I with the students. All the cast turned out for the dance sessions, but I seldom saw the entire cast for the “line” rehearsals. However, everyone showed up for the opening performance, and the students loved the results.

By this time, I was able to become a member of Actor’s Studio as a producer/playwright and at the same time work as an architect for the firm of York and Sawyer. The Studio had meetings at noontime and I was able to attend and not miss work. I became a member of the Studio audition board.

York and Sawyer specialized in hospital design, and I became an “expert” in designing Emergency Wards…so much an expert that became all I did. When I got the chance to join the firm as a “Principal”, I decided that the rest of my life could not be spent designing hospitals. Fortunately, I got a “patron” that provided enough money for me to take a job as Stage Manager for the Fishkill Playhouse in New York. This was an extension of the Actors Studio under the direction of Fred Stewart.

Intermission! Mary the Ingénue helped me in the long process of auditioning actors for the production of “Man and Superman”, but when I didn’t cast her in the lead our relationship was over. I cast Shirley Grayson instead. Shirley eventually became Grayson Hall for the movies and had a prominent role in the movie version of Tennessee William’s “Night of the Iguana.

Unfortunately, my wife heard gossip about Mary the Ingénue and a few other rumors and we had a “break-up” over the telephone. Frances asked me if I wanted a divorce, and I waited too long to answer. After that a divorce by mail followed. A few months later Frances remarried and a few months after that she got another divorce, and we lost contact.

The Fishkill Theatre was a full Equity operation with a close tie to Actors Studio. The resident group included Darren McGavin, Jean Stapleton, Jane Hoffman and others that later became either well-known or gave up the profession.

As Stage Manager, I was also the Prompter and filled in as actor in minor roles. In a scene on stage with Lou Frizell, I went “blank” again and being the Prompter I had no help, but Lou was a seasoned actor and smoothed over the issue by reinterpreting my lines and the scene continued. I managed rather well with other small parts: Quartermaster Bates in “Rain”, a featured spot in “The Male Animal”. Another production was a version of “The Farmer’s Hotel” by John O’Hara. The book adapted by Fred Stewart was followed closely and O’Hara, himself, came to Fishkill to see the production. I was still driving my old Ford convertible and, being the only one with a car, I was the designated driver for O’Hara and spent some interesting time driving and talking with him.

Another incident at Fishkill was during the run of “The Cocktail Party”, the entire cast broke up after the line describing Sybil being buried near an ant-hill. The cast tried in vain to hide their laughter. Jean Stapleton had a singing solo in a musical devised by Mr. Stewart.

I guess Fred Stewart was instrumental in my foregoing aspirations as an actor. One afternoon I asked him if I should enlarge my participation in Actors Studio by auditioning as an Actor, and Fred replied: “I can’t imagine why”!!

Anyway, I returned to New York, and, being hungry, I resumed my career as an Architect. I didn’t give up writing. I had met Herbert Hemphill, Jr. (who later became well-known as the Father of American Folk Art) and we began a relationship that lasted for seventeen years. During that time, I spent long nights writing a comedy I named “Shake the Peach Tree”. The William Morris Agency was impressed enough to contract me as a writer. That play was intended as a vehicle for Betty White, but negotiations for that and plays I wrote for the emerging popularity of television never bore much fruit.

I had another “fling” with theatre by working with Irl Mowery who, with Harris Masterson, had become a fledgling producer. I was given the title of Production Assistant and my beginning assignment was reading the stacks of plays sent to the Producer. Finally a play was selected, “Lullaby” by Don Appell. Actually I didn’t care for it very much, but my opinion didn’t carry much weight.

The play was produced starring Mary Boland (“returning” to the stage), Jack Warden and Kaye Medford. We tried out first in New Haven, then in Philadelphia. On the train to Philadelphia, I took notes as Don Appell changed and added dialogue. He asked me why I didn’t laugh at his “funny” lines, but my excuse was that I was too busy writing them down. The play was a modest success in New York and deserved to run longer than it did. But it closed and so did my theatrical career.”
-December, 2006