Eileen's Apron Goes for a Grand

Can you still recite the theme song? We can. So we were thrilled to see a rare costume from the Mickey Mouse Club auctioned off on eBay. It was just an apron worn on a 1956 TV sketch, but it had belonged to former Portsmouth acting instructor and former Mouseketeer Eileen Diamon Rogosin. From 1985 –2005 Eileen and her husband Roy created and managed the Portsmouth Performing Arts program (PAPA) that replaced the ailing Theatre by the Sea on Bow Street. More recently the Rogosins formed a seasonal creative arts youth program in Kittery, Maine and direct a summer performing arts camp in New Mexico. Eileen continues her job as a talent agent.

For days the item hovered online at a starting bid of under $50. But you could almost feel the Mickey Mouse fans breathing in the background. Billed as an authentic item, the apron included a sewn-in Mickey logo and a nametag with Eileen’s name. A talented dancer, Eileen later appeared in a number of films and on stage. The item was rare, the seller noted, because Eileen appeared only on the second season of the popular children’s TV series and few such items have appeared for sale to collectors.

Wouldn’t it be interesting, we mused, to include this kitschy item among others at a local museum? The Portsmouth Historical Society already owns the shoe of a woman who rode in a carriage with George Washington. And there is the blanket of Ruth Blay, the first woman legally hanged in the state of New Hampshire. We could add the dress that Portsmouth resident Betty Hill wore during her alien abduction from the archive at UNH. Now that’s the kind of exhibit we’d pay to see.

But suddenly in the final minutes, the auction kicked into high gear. Fifty-nine bids later the dust settled on a final bid of $966, plus $6 postage. We don’t know who the winner was. Ebay doesn’t give out that information. But we hope, whomever it is, that this unique bit of Americana – and for a time of Portsmouth history too – will find a good home. And remember -- M-i-c (See you real soon), k-e-y (Why? Because we like you) – JDR

OUTSIDE LINKS:

    Read more about Eileen the Mouseketter 
    Contact Eileen at summer C-A-M-P  
    Official web site Seacoast Repertory Theatre     

REPLY FROM EILEEN ROGOSIN IN SANTA FE
January 2009

EX-MOUSEKETEER MEMO FROM SANTA FE
Thanks for the info about my apron. I have a picture of me wearing it!
How are things in the Seacoast? Santa Fe is phenomenal! Opera, Symphony, Film Festival, 200 galleries (second largest art market in the world, second only to NY), dance, lectures - and four colleges right here in Santa Fe. The film industry is burgeoning with two new major studios being built just outside of Albuquerque. I teach theatre and musical theatre at three different schools. And we are developing The  Musical Theatre Festival of Santa Fe.
 
The people are extraordinary, very cosmopolitan and from all over the world - Ali McGraw, Valerie Prime and Joe Wilson among them. Lots of intellectual curiosity and much comaraderie with new friends.
 
C-A-M-P  is going "swimmingly"! Hartford, Maine, on the shores of Little Bear Pond in a wonderful facility with a brand new stage built for us to augment the outdoor arena stage. All the teachers, except for us, are from the New York theatre. Remember Brian Knowlton? He's taking his vacation from CHORUS LINE to come back for his second year as Director of our dance program. And Jim Franklin, former Director of ballet New England is a guest artist.

Check us out at www.c-a-m-p.net. Why not plan to visit for a couple of days? Hang out and go jump in the lake...! Beautiful lakeside cabins, full amenities, great food and a chance to kick back and relax.  Want to teach a class?
Thanks, Eileen