Michael Miller was listening, too, covered with scene paint as usual, and wearing his carpenter’s apron stuffed with tools. “I’ll bet anything that when they hear about this, we’ll be hearing from them again! Those boys don’t give up so easily!”
“Oh, now, Michael,” his father remonstrated, “they’re not as bad as all that—”
“I want to hear what happened!” Rita urged Richard. “We don’t know how you wangled this or what the commissioner said—”
“Well, I explained our problem to him,” Richard began. “That someone had questioned the legality of operating a profit-making business in a school, and that we were threatened with court proceedings if we continued. I told him who was behind it and why—the brothers Slade and their movie house—and I also explained that we were helping the school by our rent. Of course, he couldn’t have agreed more with that, knowing as much as he does about educational funds! And I ranted—really ranted—about what the Kenabeek Summer Theater could do for this town—and the whole area—and the school.” Richard was declaiming now as he walked back and forth in front of the stage, and the cast was highly amused.
“So, the commissioner promised to look into the matter some time soon.” Richard stopped dramatically. “Some time soon,” he repeated, obviously enjoying the effect on the cast.
“Why, he’s a regular ham!” Peggy thought, grinning.
“Well, you should have seen me,” Richard continued, laughing himself. “I got up from my seat, leaned over the desk, stared him straight in the eye, and said, as if this was the biggest thing since the end of the Ice Age, ‘The Kenabeek Summer Theater opens on Thursday. This Thursday!’”
“What did he do? What happened?” Mary Hopkins asked breathlessly.
“He decided that he’d better do something about it!” Richard laughed. “He was galvanized! He told his secretary to drop everything, and together we went through a list of all the companies operating in the state. We found that two other companies were playing in high schools! If we couldn’t go ahead here, those theaters would have to fold, too!
“Well, it didn’t seem fair, and yet, since no one had ever before questioned the legality of playing in a school, there was no precedent to go by. And no time to get a court decision!” Richard was very serious now, and the cast listened interestedly, hanging on every word. “So, the commissioner decided that the only thing he could do legally was to postpone a decision until Labor Day! If anyone raises the question again, they will be informed that nothing can be done about it until after Labor Day—and by that time, of course, all the theaters will have finished their seasons!”