The Cleveland Play House 1954-1955 Season

CPH Curtain Pullers Production of "Hamlet"

Cleveland is the best legitimate theatre town west of New York. Last season saw 82 professional and semi-professional productions, 23 of which were musicals ... The Play House had the highest record of productions with 19 shows, the Hanna had 16 touring attractions, Karamu 13 shpws, Chagrin Falls Summer Theatre 12 plays, Musicarnival 9 musicals, Rabbit Run 9 plays, and Cain Park 4 musicals. - Omar Ranney, The Cleveland Press

The Cleveland Play House 1954-1955 Season

Point of No Return (Osborn) The Fourposter (De Hartog) The Crucible (Miller) The Girl on the Via Flamina (Hayes) My Three Angels (Spewack) The Winner (Rice) Material Witness (Kantor) Best Foot Forward (Holm, Martin & Blane) Sabrina Fair (Taylor) The Emperor Jones (O'Neill) Mrs. McThing (Chase) Burning Bright (Steinbeck) Dail M For Murder (Knott) Time Out For Ginger (Alexander) A Bear In The Attic (Kanzell-Riley - World Premiere) Hamlet (Shakespeare) King of Hearts (Kerr-Brooke) Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (Wouk) Night Must Fall (E. Williams)

Source: Leaps of Faith (Oldenberg)

McDermott's end

"He was a pale, round-faced, little man, with a skyscraper forehead, small hands, thin fingers, and an unexercised body, who kept puffing cigars as if he were laying down a barrage. But he had a cherub's bright smile, eyes bright as searchlights, and a giant's courage." - John Mason Brown, New York Evening Post critic

McDermott retired from the Plain Dealer in 1957, as he approached his 67th birthday. He was ill for most of the 1950s, once famously treated to a private performance of Katherine Cornell's production of Captain Carvello in his Bratenahl apartment in 1951 when he was too sickly to make the trip downtown.

William F. McDermott died in 1958.

Sources:
Leaps of faith (Chloe Warner Oldenberg)
Showtime in Cleveland