The Melody Top

The Melody Top Theatre was a musical theatre located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and featured performances in the round. The theatre that was originally built as a circus-style tent is now defunct.

43°08′47″N 88°0′6″W

History

The Melody Top was built in 1962. It was only operational during the summers beginning in 1963.^[1] The theatre was modeled after the identical Melody Top in Chicago.^[2] The large venue lasted until 1986. The theatre was originally built in the form of a giant, circus-style tent. It was located on W Good Hope Road, just east of N 76th St in Milwaukee.^[3] Later, the architecture of the venue comprised a wooden dome.^[3] The Milwaukee Melody Top was affiliated with a second Melody Top located in Hillside, Illinois.^[4]

The Melody Top hosted "...Broadway quality presentations of big scale musical hits..."^[5] The theatre hosted celebrities such as Leonard Nimoy in Oliver!; Betty White in My Fair Lady; and Christopher Walken in West Side Story.^[3]

Productions

1963

• Guys and Dolls - starring Gordon and Sheila MacRae
• The Music Man - starring Forrest Tucker
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown - starring Jaye P. Morgan
• The Vagabond King - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• Bye Bye Birdie - starring Van Johnson
• Brigadoon - starring Dennis Day and McLean Stevenson

1964

• Kiss Me, Kate - starring Howard Keel
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - starring Betty Hutton
• Wildcat - starring Martha Raye
• Roberta - starring Edward Everett Horton
• Little Me - starring Gabriel Dell and Karen Morrow
• Mr. President - starring Bert Parks
• The Pajama Game - starring Phil Ford and Mimi Hines

1965

• West Side Story - starring Anna Maria Alberghetti and Christopher Walken
• South Pacific - starring Betty White and Gene Hollmann
• Bells Are Ringing - starring Phil Ford and Mimi Hines
• My Fair Lady - starring Michael Allinson and Barbara Williams
• Annie Get Your Gun - starring Jaye P. Morgan and Gary Mann
• The Sound of Music - starring Janet Blair and John Myhers
• Camelot - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt

1966

• The King and I - starring Gisele MacKenzie
• Can-Can - starring Monique van Vooren
• Gypsy - starring Janis Paige
• Flower Drum Song - starring Chita Rivera
• Milk and Honey - starring Molly Picon
• Call Me Madam - starring Margaret Whiting and Tommy Sands
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - starring Robert Q. Lewis and Karen Morrow

1967

• Sweet Charity - starring Gretchen Wyler
• Lady in the Dark - starring Patrice Munsel
• High Button Shoes - starring Margaret Whiting and Gabriel Dell
• Silk Stockings - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• The Boy Friend - starring Jane Powell
• On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - starring Forrest Tucker
• Carousel - starring John Raitt

1968

• Irma la Douce - starring Chita Rivera
• Fanny - starring Anna Maria Alberghetti
• Where's Charley? - starring Gabriel Dell and Eileen Brennan
• Take Me Along - starring Robert Q. Lewis
• Pal Joey - starring Margaret Whiting
• The Desert Song - starring Anne Jeffreys and Bill Hayes
• Of Thee I Sing - starring Hal March and Jack Bailey

1969

• The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd - starring Phil Ford and Mimi Hines
• Carnival! - starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Marisa Pavan
• Paint Your Wagon - starring Earl Wrightson
• Anything Goes - starring Gretchen Wyler
• The Most Happy Fella - starring Anna Maria Alberghetti and Edwin Steffe
• Song of Norway - starring Anne Jeffreys and Bill Hayes
• Oklahoma! - starring John Raitt

1970

• I Do! I Do! - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• Mame - starring Kaye Stevens
• Cabaret - starring Imogene Coca, Tommy Tune and King Donovan
• How Now, Dow Jones - starring Robert Q. Lewis and Selma Diamond
• Li'l Abner - starring Peter Palmer and Joy Garrett
• Funny Girl - starring Jaye P. Morgan
• Show Boat - starring Ann Blyth

1971

• Hello, Dolly! - starring Dorothy Lamour and Jack Bailey
• Fiddler on the Roof - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• George M! - starring Michael Callan
• Damn Yankees - starring Van Johnson
• Meet Me In St. Louis - starring Jane Powell
• Plain and Fancy - starring Margaret Whiting and Carl Betz
• Kismet - starring John Raitt

1972

• The Sound of Music - starring Ann Blyth
• Kiss Me, Kate - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• 1776 - starring John Raitt and Stubby Kaye
• Little Me - starring Arte Johnson and Karen Morrow
• Oliver! - starring Leonard Nimoy
• Company - starring Gretchen Wyler and Ed Evanko
• Man of La Mancha - starring Earl Wrightson

1973

• West Side Story - starring James Darren
• South Pacific - starring Ann Blyth
• Applause - starring Gretchen Wyler
• Wonderful Town - starring Sheila MacRae
• Promises, Promises - starring Orson Bean
• Brigadoon - starring Jane Powell
• The Music Man - starring Van Johnson

1974

• No, No, Nanette - starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake
• Finian's Rainbow - starring Arte Johnson
• Gigi - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• Guys and Dolls - starring George Chakiris and Rita Moreno
• Once Upon A Mattress - starring Jo Anne Worley
• Sugar - starring Orson Bean
• The King and I - starring Leonard Nimoy and Anne Jeffreys

1975

• Good News - starring Dorothy Collins and Carl Betz
• Annie Get Your Gun - starring John Raitt and Karen Morrow
• Bitter Sweet - starring Ann Blyth
• Zorba - starring Giorgio Tozzi
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown - starring Mimi Hines and Peter Palmer
• Gypsy - starring Margaret Whiting, Dave Madden and Linda Kaye Henning
• Camelot - starring Ed Ames

1976

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - starring Arte Johnson and Dave Madden
• 1776 - starring Ross Martin and Stubby Kaye
• My Fair Lady - starring Leonard Nimoy
• Bells Are Ringing - starring Rita Moreno and Tab Hunter
• A Little Night Music - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• Shenandoah - starring John Raitt
• Irene - starring Jane Powell

1977

• Bye Bye Birdie - starring Lucie Arnaz and Michael Callan
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - starring Van Johnson
• The Merry Widow - starring Richard Fredricks and Linda Michele
• Follies- starring Dorothy Collins and Anne Jeffreys
• The Wizard of Oz - starring Stubby Kaye and Nancy Kulp
• The Pajama Game - starring Ruta Lee, Don Stewart and Alan Sues
• Fiddler on the Roof - starring Giorgio Tozzi

1978

• The Sound of Music - starring Anna Maria Alberghetti
• Peter Pan - starring Nancy Dussault and Alan Sues
• High Button Shoes - starring Monty Hall and Anne Jeffreys
• On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - starring Gene Barry and Joy Garrett
• Anything Goes - starring Jo Anne Worley
• Pippin - starring Barry Williams
• Man of La Mancha - starring John Raitt

1979

• Mame - starring Gretchen Wyler
• Paint Your Wagon - starring Howard Keel
• A Connecticut Yankee - starring Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt
• The Boy Friend - starring Vivian Blaine and Don Grady
• Call Me Madam - starring Nanette Fabray
• Lullaby of Broadway - starring Johnny Desmond
• Show Boat - starring Margaret Hamilton and Ed Herlihy

1980

• The Wiz - starring Irene Cara and Ira Hawkins
• Where's Charley? - starring Eddie Mekka and Kitty Carlisle
• Chicago - starring Robert Mandan
• Hello, Dolly! - starring Jo Anne Worley
• South Pacific - starring Giorgio Tozzi
• Can-Can - starring Sue Ane Langdon and John Phillip Law
• The Student Prince - starring Jack Gilford
• Grease - starring Barry Williams

1981

• The Music Man - starring Orson Bean
• Camelot - starring Anna Maria Alberghetti
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown - starring Jane Powell
• Funny Girl - starring Mimi Hines and George Chakiris
• Oklahoma! - starring Barry Williams
• Cabaret - starring Jacqueline Schultz and Louisa Flaningam
• Shenandoah - starring Giorgio Tozzi
• The Debbie Reynolds Show - starring Debbie Reynolds

1982

• Guys and Dolls - starring Johnny Desmond, Sue Ane Langdon and Stubby Kaye
• West Side Story - starring Barry Williams
• Meet Me In St. Louis - starring Andrea McArdle
• Fiddler on the Roof - starring Tom Poston
• The Pirates of Penzance - starring Doug Sheehan
• Fanny - starring John Raitt
• Annie Get Your Gun - starring Jo Anne Worley

1983

• Barnum - starring Larry Kert
• Annie - starring Peggy Cass
• George M! - starring Eddie Mekka
• Promises, Promises - starring Desi Arnaz Jr.
• Little Me - starring Arte Johnson and Penny Singleton
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - starring Jason Kincaid
• They're Playing Our Song - starring Robert Walden

1984

• Gypsy - starring Jo Anne Worley
• Oliver! - starring Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes
• Show Boat - starring Eddie Bracken, Stephen Lehew, Marcia King and Robert Mosley
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - starring Christopher Durham
• My Fair Lady - starring Noel Harrison and Christine Ebersole
• Bye Bye Birdie - starring Barry Williams
• The Sound of Music - starring Tovah Feldshuh
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - starring Fannie Flagg

1985

• Pump Boys and Dinettes - starring Misty Rowe and Tom Nielsen
• A Chorus Line - no featured performers
• South Pacific - starring Mary Cadorette and David Holliday
• Jesus Christ Superstar - starring Peter Reckell
• The Wizard of Oz - starring Andrea McArdle
• The Desert Song - starring Stephen Lehew and Mary Ernster
• Evita - starring Christine Ebersole and Iris Lieberman (matinees)
• Amadeus - starring Bill Hayes and Christopher Durham

1986

• Babes in Arms - starring Iris Lieberman
• She Loves Me - starring Mary Ernster and Norman Moses
• The 1940's Radio Hour - no featured performers
• Two by Two - starring Lawrence McCauley
• Something's Afoot - starring Mary Jo Catlett