Tableaux painting

This black-and-white photograph shows a Springfield College gymnast helping to paint another gymnast in preparation for Tableaux.From 1948-1958, the annual Home Show was performed at Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield. The Tableaux make-up was applied in the showers of the police station across the street. The gymnasts had to run back and forth across the street toward the end of the exhibition to apply the paint and shower. The Tableaux as used in gymnastics performances was created by Springfield College alumnus Leslie J. Judd (class of 1920), who went on to become a famous gymnastics coach at his alma mater (1921-1956). Tableaux, essentially, means living picture, and it is performed by costumed actors who remain silent and motionless. Tableaux have been used throughout theatrical history, but Judd transformed the idea. Coach Judd and Coach Frank Wolcott, his successor, created Tableaux that expressed ideals and commemorated moments in history. Tableaux are still performed by Springfield College gymnasts. For biographical information on Frank Wolcott, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/54