Wayne Lamb
Encyclopedia
Michael 'Wayne' Lamb was a Broadway
dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and dance
professor
.
, Kansas
and left the University of Wichita to tour with Earl Carroll
's Vanities, playing five shows a day on the movie circuit for 3 months. "They said if I was interested in joining them, I had to be in Kansas City the next morning. So I quickly quit school and joined the show." The movie circuit consisted of performing between movie screenings at theatres across the country. His fledgling career was interrupted by the World War II
draft
. He spent the next three years in an Army
uniform, chauffering officers and the occasional entertainer - such as Marlene Dietrich
and Dinah Shore
- around Europe
. He received five Battle Stars and The Bronze Star.
After his discharge and the GI bill, he went to New York City
, where he immediately enrolled at the former Alviene School for the Dramatic Arts, where Fred Astaire
studied. He was also a student at the American Theatre Wing
from 1947–50, studying dance
with Russian ballet
teachers Helena Platova and Edward Caton, English ballet teachers Antony Tudor
and Margaret Craske, Modern dance
pioneers Martha Graham
and Doris Humphrey
, Japanese modern teacher Yeichi Nimura, and African-American modern dance innovator Katherine Dunham
.
, which closed three days after its debut in Chicago
during a crippling coal strike. A month later, he would receive his Broadway debut.
operetta
Yours is My Heart at the Shubert Theatre
, lasting two months, and the musical revue Make Mine Manhattan (1948-1949) at the Broadhurst Theatre
with Sid Caesar
, which ran for 429 performances. Other Broadway shows included The Day Before Spring
, which opened on November 22, 1945 at the National Theatre
, where it ran for 167 performances, and Call Me Mister
, which included Bob Fosse
, Carl Reiner
, and Buddy Hackett
in the cast. This show ran 15 months in venues all over the country. He also worked with actress Vivian Blaine
, writer Mel Brooks
, dancer Gwen Verdon
, director George S. Kaufman
, and comediennes Imogene Coca
and Martha Raye
.
dances created by Imaz, who was originally from Argentina
. They also appeared in the Carnegie Hall
Summer Concerts. A picture of Lamb with the trio is featured in the January 10, 1951 edition of the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
in 1950, working with Buddy Hackett
, Nancy Walker
and Imogene Coca
. From 1952-55, he also appeared on The Martha Raye Show
, Toast of the Town (later called The Ed Sullivan Show
), Stop the Music, The Tony Martin
Show, The Ezio Pinza
Show, and The Bob Hope Show, also called The Colgate Comedy Hour
. Wayne himself declared that he was the first one to wear a dancebelt on television in an early version of 'The Burl Ives
Show.' Lamb elaborated for the Kalamazoo Gazette: "They wouldn't allow me to stand up straight for fear the American public would see my crotch!"
theatre in Augusta, Michigan
where he began directing musicals and plays alongside his companion, Angelo Mango, who was also an actor
. His first show for the Barn was South Pacific
. A 1978 Barn Theatre program bio states that Lamb had been with the Barn for 23 years and shares "top artistic and managerial decisions with Jack Ragotzy" (artistic director). Lamb was Associate Producer at that time.
Classes for the New Dance Group
in New York City
and director of the ballet department for seven years, from 1950–57, 'teaching whenever I was in town.' In 1958, he was Director of the School of Dance and Fine Arts in Hastings, Michigan
. In 1967, he taught dance classes for Diamond Head Theatre
in Hawaii
.
(Illinois) in 1959, Williams College
in 1962, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
from 1964-66.
His teaching relationship with Purdue University
began in 1960 and lasted until 1986. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1971, and is listed as an Associate Professor in a 1978 Barn Theatre program bio. He taught ballet
, broadway jazz dance
, ballroom
, and tap dance
, his specialty. He also provided choreography
and direction for Marat/Sade
, The Music Man
(1983) and Carousel
(1985) among others, including a 1974 USO Show touring the United States Pacific Command
, playing 52 shows to approximately 10,678 troops. Geographical area concerned: Alaska
, Korea
, Japan
, Okinawa, Taiwan
, the Philippines
, Guam
and Hawaii
.
, Actor's Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
and the American Association of Community Theatre
.
At the new Pao Hall for the Performing Arts on the Purdue University campus, the Wayne Lamb Lobby was dedicated soon after the center's opening.
He was honored posthumously at Purdue University Theatre's October 2010 Legacy weekend. Purdue University Theatre's website explains: (This is an honor) 'recognizing and honoring professionals and professors who have had a profound impact upon Purdue Theatre and the professional theatre.' It was also a way for our current and future students – and the faculty and staff of Purdue Theatre – to know of our history, know about the careers of these individuals and the ways in which their contributions have shaped the lives and careers of so many others.' In an evening of memories, former students Dr. Anne Fliotsos and Donald Stikeleather offered dance steps and memories of Wayne. A plaque with his name will be placed adjacent to a theatre on campus.
until his death on June 5, 2001.
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
.
Study and military service
Lamb was born in CentervilleCenterville, Kansas
Centerville is an unincorporated community in Linn County, Kansas, United States. Centerville is west-northwest of Pleasanton. Centerville has a post office with ZIP code 66014. Centerville is the birthplace of the dancer and choreographer Wayne Lamb....
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and left the University of Wichita to tour with Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll
Earl Carroll was an American theatrical producer, director, songwriter and composer born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
's Vanities, playing five shows a day on the movie circuit for 3 months. "They said if I was interested in joining them, I had to be in Kansas City the next morning. So I quickly quit school and joined the show." The movie circuit consisted of performing between movie screenings at theatres across the country. His fledgling career was interrupted by the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
draft
Draft
Draft or draught may mean:* Draught beer or other beverage, served from a bulk keg or cask rather than a bottle or can-Watercraft dimensions:* Draft , distance from waterline to keel* Draft , degree of curvature in a sail...
. He spent the next three years in an Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
uniform, chauffering officers and the occasional entertainer - such as Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
- around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He received five Battle Stars and The Bronze Star.
After his discharge and the GI bill, he went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he immediately enrolled at the former Alviene School for the Dramatic Arts, where Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
studied. He was also a student at the American Theatre Wing
American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
from 1947–50, studying dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
with Russian ballet
Russian ballet
Russian ballet is a form of ballet characteristic of or originating from Russia. In the early 19th century, the theaters were opened up to anyone who could afford a ticket. There was a seating section called a rayok, or 'paradise gallery', that consisted of simple wooden benches...
teachers Helena Platova and Edward Caton, English ballet teachers Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
and Margaret Craske, Modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
pioneers Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
and Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...
, Japanese modern teacher Yeichi Nimura, and African-American modern dance innovator Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
.
Professional Beginnings
Lamb joined the national touring company of The Day Before SpringThe Day Before Spring
The Day Before Spring is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.-Productions:The 1945 touring production closed in Chicago after three days due to a crippling coal strike...
, which closed three days after its debut in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
during a crippling coal strike. A month later, he would receive his Broadway debut.
Broadway
Lamb appeared in six Broadway musicals. He first appeared as a solo dancer in the 1946 revival of the Franz LeharFranz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
Yours is My Heart at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
, lasting two months, and the musical revue Make Mine Manhattan (1948-1949) at the Broadhurst Theatre
Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...
with Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...
, which ran for 429 performances. Other Broadway shows included The Day Before Spring
The Day Before Spring
The Day Before Spring is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.-Productions:The 1945 touring production closed in Chicago after three days due to a crippling coal strike...
, which opened on November 22, 1945 at the National Theatre
Nederlander Theatre
David T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
, where it ran for 167 performances, and Call Me Mister
Call Me Mister
Call Me Mister is a revue with sketches by Arnold Auerbach and words and music by Harold Rome. The title refers to returning soldiers who expected to be addressed as civilians instead of by their military rank....
, which included Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, and Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
in the cast. This show ran 15 months in venues all over the country. He also worked with actress Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine was an American actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.-Life and career:...
, writer Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, dancer Gwen Verdon
Gwen Verdon
Gwenyth Evelyn “Gwen” Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s...
, director George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
, and comediennes Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
and Martha Raye
Martha Raye
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television....
.
International tour
Lamb toured internationally from 1948-50 as a concert dancer with the Elena Imaz International Dance Trio, presenting SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
dances created by Imaz, who was originally from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. They also appeared in the Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
Summer Concerts. A picture of Lamb with the trio is featured in the January 10, 1951 edition of the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Television
Lamb performed as a regular dancer on The Admiral Broadway Review which became Your Show of ShowsYour Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
in 1950, working with Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
, Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director...
and Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
. From 1952-55, he also appeared on The Martha Raye Show
The Martha Raye Show
The Martha Raye Show is an hour-long comedy/variety show which aired live on NBC from January 23, 1954, to May 29, 1956. The series was hosted by the late Martha Raye, a Montana native, who often called herself "The Big Mouth." Her boyfriend on the program and a foil for her humor was portrayed by...
, Toast of the Town (later called The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
), Stop the Music, The Tony Martin
Tony Martin (entertainer)
Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
Show, The Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
Show, and The Bob Hope Show, also called The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
. Wayne himself declared that he was the first one to wear a dancebelt on television in an early version of 'The Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
Show.' Lamb elaborated for the Kalamazoo Gazette: "They wouldn't allow me to stand up straight for fear the American public would see my crotch!"
Barn Theatre
In 1955, Lamb's interest in choreography led him to the Barn Theatre, a summer stockSummer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
theatre in Augusta, Michigan
Augusta, Michigan
Augusta is a village in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 899 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Ross Township, though a small portion extends south into Charleston Township....
where he began directing musicals and plays alongside his companion, Angelo Mango, who was also an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. His first show for the Barn was South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
. A 1978 Barn Theatre program bio states that Lamb had been with the Barn for 23 years and shares "top artistic and managerial decisions with Jack Ragotzy" (artistic director). Lamb was Associate Producer at that time.
Professional teaching
Lamb was instructor of BalletBallet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
Classes for the New Dance Group
New Dance Group
New Dance Group, or more casually NDG, is a performing arts organization in New York City, USA.-History:New Dance Group was established in 1932 by a group of artists and choreographers dedicated to social change through dance and movement...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and director of the ballet department for seven years, from 1950–57, 'teaching whenever I was in town.' In 1958, he was Director of the School of Dance and Fine Arts in Hastings, Michigan
Hastings, Michigan
Hastings is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the county seat of Barry County as well as the county's only city. The population was 7,095 at the 2000 census. The city borders Hastings Charter Township on the north, east, and south, and Rutland Charter Township on the west...
. In 1967, he taught dance classes for Diamond Head Theatre
Diamond Head Theatre
The Diamond Head Theatre is a cultural institution in the United States. Calling itself the Broadway of the Pacific, it is located on the slopes of Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii. Opened in 1915, it is Hawaii's oldest performing arts center.-History:...
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
University teaching
Lamb taught dance for Eureka CollegeEureka College
Eureka College is a liberal arts college in Eureka, Illinois related by covenant to the Christian Church and founded in 1855. It has a strong focus on the mutual development of intellect and character. Stated core values are learning, service and leadership...
(Illinois) in 1959, Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in 1962, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
from 1964-66.
His teaching relationship with Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
began in 1960 and lasted until 1986. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1971, and is listed as an Associate Professor in a 1978 Barn Theatre program bio. He taught ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, broadway jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
, ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
, and tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
, his specialty. He also provided choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
and direction for Marat/Sade
Marat/Sade
The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade , almost invariably shortened to Marat/Sade, is a 1963 play by Peter Weiss...
, The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
(1983) and Carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
(1985) among others, including a 1974 USO Show touring the United States Pacific Command
United States Pacific Command
The United States Pacific Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Pacific Ocean area. It is led by the Commander, Pacific Command , who is the supreme military authority for the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States serving...
, playing 52 shows to approximately 10,678 troops. Geographical area concerned: Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Okinawa, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Affiliations
Lamb was a member of the Society of Stage Directors and ChoreographersSociety of Stage Directors and Choreographers
The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society , formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers , is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographers, working on Broadway and on National tours, Off-Broadway, and in...
, Actor's Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists , promo and voice-over announcers and other...
and the American Association of Community Theatre
American Association of Community Theatre
The American Association of Community Theatre is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1986 to be the voice of community theater in the United States. Located in Fort Worth, Texas, the AACT represents over 7,000 theaters and 1 million volunteers...
.
Honors
He received the title of Professor Emeritus of Theatre in 1987.At the new Pao Hall for the Performing Arts on the Purdue University campus, the Wayne Lamb Lobby was dedicated soon after the center's opening.
He was honored posthumously at Purdue University Theatre's October 2010 Legacy weekend. Purdue University Theatre's website explains: (This is an honor) 'recognizing and honoring professionals and professors who have had a profound impact upon Purdue Theatre and the professional theatre.' It was also a way for our current and future students – and the faculty and staff of Purdue Theatre – to know of our history, know about the careers of these individuals and the ways in which their contributions have shaped the lives and careers of so many others.' In an evening of memories, former students Dr. Anne Fliotsos and Donald Stikeleather offered dance steps and memories of Wayne. A plaque with his name will be placed adjacent to a theatre on campus.
Death
After his retirement from Purdue, Lamb and Mango continued to live part time in Augusta and New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
until his death on June 5, 2001.