The Arcadia Historical Society brought royalty back to Arcadia at it’s quarterly member program Oct. 23, 2014.
City Clerk Gene Glasco played Prince Erik of Denmark in a program written by Society VP Carol Libby and performed in front of about 60 dinner guests at the one-time home of the Prince on Santa Anita Avenue just north of Live Oak Avenue. Among the guests were Mayor John Wuo, City Council Members Sho Tay and Tom Beck, and former Mayors Floretta Lauber, Gail Marshall, and Peter Amundson.
Gene Glasco as Prince Erik chats with visitor Gordon Eberly (Scott Hettrick)
The depiction of history through performances by Society board members has become a popular form of informing and entertaining audiences with the Society’s first dramatization of the Lucky Baldwin era in May receiving warm reviews.
Prince Erik and his wife moved to Arcadia from Canada in 1024, had a daughter here in 1927, and returned to London in 1928. Libby’s script had the Prince (Glasco) painting the fence outside his home while various notables of Arcadia of the time passed by to chat and provide a sense of the era to attendees. Among the visitors were Rudy Schwarzkopf, played by Lee Shimmin; Mayor John G. Granville portrayed by Gil Stromsoe; hardware store owner Gordon Eberly played by Scott Hettrick; Woman’s Club President Alice Billings portrayed by Beverly Street; Elsie Porri depicted by Char Wong; Flora McCoy played by Karen Hou; and Anita Baldwin dramatized by Gail Mashall.
Carol Libby
Libby also narrated the program and arranged for the set pieces and some of the costuming. The next Society program will be in winter 2015, likely January or February.
Glasco was emcee of the program, which also included an abbreviated regular board meeting agenda, followed by a delicious dinner.
— By Scott Hettrick
