Best of Broadway: Li'l Abner program, 1985

Springfield College · March 1985

The program for the Springfield College's Best of Broadway performance of Li'l Abner. Li'l Abner was performed March 7, 8, and 8 in 1985 in Fuller Fine Arts Center. This was the first year that the Fuller Arts Center was open. Best of Broadway is a student club that presents two high-quality musicals yearly. The shows are run by Springfield College students and presented for the entire Springfield College community and the public. The program grew into a more professional theatre organization when the Fuller Arts Center was constructed and opened in May 1984. Art Linkletter hosted the dedication performance for the Fuller Arts Center, where Best of Broadway performed “Summer Nights” and “We Go Together” from “Grease.” Other groups who performed at the ceremony were the SC Dance Troupes, SC Singers, the Stage Band, and the American Theatre Academy. The idea first came about in 1973 when undergraduate Dennis St. Jean and his friends, who produced and directed Springfield’s first “Best of Broadway” in Moses Hall, collected a handful of money and proposed an offer to the college’s president. They wrote, “Dr. Mr. President: We know you are busy building other things like the Babson Library now, but one day we hope you’ll build us a little theatre. Without exerting any pressure, we want you to have this collection as a down payment on that building. Please save it for that and, when you can build one, use our dollars.” The fund grew to $10,000 by the late 70s. In 1978 these student’s dreams became a reality as a Theatre Task Force was appointed and its building was incorporated into the Capital Campaign.