ALDEN, PRISCILLA

Actress, San Francisco, 1939 - 2007

            Our very own Fairy Godmother, Tinkerbelle, Big Bertha, the terrible Doctor Brona of Mars, and so much more.

            One of the original Nickelettes, she was featured as Miss "October" in the San Francisco Magazine calendar of 1974, below.

As Tinkerbelle, in "Peter Pan," below.

            Below, in the Nickelette production of "It's Vicious Out There," at the Mabuhay Gardens, North Beach, 1975.

         Poor "eunuch" Dan Woodworth had plenty to fear from Dr. Brona in "Rocket to Mars," below, 1975.

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            Publicity material for her role as Big Bertha in “Cat House Killer,” AAA Productions’ living tableau, Intersection Theater, October 31, 1977.

Bertha:  "The world's oldest profession is ALIVE AND WELL!"

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            Below, in the Lunchtime Theater production of Noel Coward’s “Fumed Oak,” One Act Theater, Mason Street, San Francisco, 1981.

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In August of 1994, I wrote:

(My friend, the actress Priscilla Alden from San Francisco, had come to Oaxaca for visit, and one day ...) I was walking by the old Teatro Alcalá, where I’ve worked a lot and always loved, and I remembered that Priscilla said she would like to visit some time.  I had told her about working there and loving it so and the old counterweight systems of flies and drops and sandbags.  So I stepped up to the stage door on the side and halloed into the dark.  There were some workmen standing around (the theater is undergoing restoration) and I introduced myself and said I was with the Teatro Vivo and gave them some stuff about a famous actress who is in town and how the Teatro Vivo would really like to show her a good time and could we bring her by the theater?  OK.  Tomorrow?  OK, tomorrow.  OK, tomorrow at ten?  OK, but no photos!  Great, no problem!  (No photos?)

            So the next morning I had some final stuff to do at the printer's and then met Priscilla in a cab in front of the theater at 10:00 sharp.  She paid the cab and together we tottered off to the stage door which was open and up into the dark bowels of the building, me halloing on ahead.  We paused for a minute or two but nobody showed up and so I said, well come on let's just go.  So here we are in the dark on a steep ramp and Priscilla can't walk and neither of us can see but I said, here we are back stage, Priscilla.  No, she said, this isn't back stage.  I don't know where she thought we were but having been in the theater a lot I assured her I was right and just then we stepped into the dim light of the great auditorium and she gasped.  A tall scaffolding had been erected up one side of the boxes from the stage to almost half way around the side but the rest of the theater was visible and of course, just stunning.

Taking her arm and looking around for a chair or something for her to sit on and thinking, brother I bet we get thrown out of here, when a young guy emerges from the shadows.  I greet him and it turns out he's one of the guys I had met yesterday and we introduce ourselves around and he smiles real nice, of course, at Priscilla.  And he brings out a couple of chairs and we sit down.

            Well, we had a great time, Priscilla and I swapping old theater stories and looking up into the dark flies overhead.  After awhile we began slowly making our way around to the front of the theater and finally out the front doors and much thanking of the guy and complimenting him on his beautiful theater.  I don't know what he was thinking of all this but Priscilla and I went off happily to have a coffee in the zócalo where of course, Mauro welcomed us to his table and made a big to do over us saying how he hopes Priscilla is enjoying herself and such. 

            It was a nice day.

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IN LOVING MEMORY ...

PRISCILLA ALDEN

June 27, 1939 - August 24, 2007

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