Life Upon the Little Stage…
Memories of Sister Leonilla Barlage, OP
By Jennifer Hamlin Church
Life upon the wicked stage ain’t nothin’ for a girl,” according to the Broadway musical Showboat. But Siena’s Little Theater stage? Now that was something else!
Students at Siena Heights from the 1940s through the ‘60s found inspiration, encouragement, hard work, even careers
in The Little Theater in the basement of Sacred Heart Hall. And also in the classroom, in the radio and later TV studio, and on the Walsh Hall (now Sage) stage—all under the direction of speech and drama teacher Leonilla Barlage, OP.
The late Betty Theisen ’44, a pillar of the SW Michigan arts community as the St. Joseph High School drama teacher for 40 years, found her life’s work on Sister Leonilla’s stage.
Virginia Robertson Buckle ’53 did, too. Under Leonilla’s demanding direction, she appeared in almost every Siena production including the annual Passion Plays (right). As seniors, she and fellow thespian Phyllis Coscarelly ’53 co-starred in “Their Hearts Were Young and Gay” and in the senior drama recital. But even the stars shared in the hard work of theater; Sister Leonilla made sure of that. “We would sit in a circle with the huge, black velour theater curtain on our laps re-hemming or repairing rips in the heavy fabric—then lug it back to Walsh Hall to rehang it,” Virginia remembers. With Leonilla’s recommendation, Virginia received a scholarship to the University of Michigan, where she earned a master’s in radio and television. Almost six decades later, she continues to act on stages near her home in Ventura, Calif.
