The 28 Inch Mill A Dramatic Memoir of Life "Down the Steel" Written by Robert D. Frantz – A Solo Performance by Stanley R. Frantz The Ice House, Bethlehem, PA Presented by the Steelworkers' Archives and the PA Federation of Injured Workers

Articles

Press coverage in local newspapers for the 2004 Bethlehem production.

From The Express-Times - Monday, July 05, 2004

A fuller house for drama's finale

By Josh Pontrelli

BETHLEHEM -- The final performance of "The 28 Inch Mill" drew a standing ovation Sunday from the crowd of about 125 at the Icehouse on Sand Island.

Stan Frantz, who played Karl Yoder, the play's main character, said he canceled 10 other performances due to poor ticket sales. At previous shows, attendance was in the single digits.

"There were either a lot of things going on at this time of year or it may be still too painful to think about the Steel," he said. "Once word was out and people knew they had a limited chance, I think they decided to check it out."

Frantz, who dedicated Sunday's show to former steelworkers and their families, reduced prices for them in an effort to attract more people.

During the one-man act, Yoder tries to hold a reunion of fellow workers from the 28-inch mill but discovers many have died or moved away. Instead, he invites one that he keeps in contact with, Janos, to his mother's home. Yoder drinks Wild Turkey while he shares on- and off-the-job stories with his former co-worker. Janos is never seen on stage during the play.

Leonard Hornberger, who worked at Bethlehem Steel for 40 of his 84 years, called the play "incredibly accurate and enjoyable."

"The play shows how everybody got along no matter what nationality they were," he said. "It's bringing back memories."

During the one-man show, the crowd acknowledged Frantz with laughter and agreement as they reminisced about Bethlehem Steel.

Frantz's father, Robert, who worked in the mill for 30 years, wrote the play in 1992.

"All of the stories are true," he said. "We felt as if we had a winner with this play."

Besides memories, the play rekindled lingering controversies over development on the land originally used by Bethlehem Steel.

"Steel made America; it's very important," Hornberger said. "I don't know what I want to see, but I want to see something."

Amey Senape, co-founder of Save Our Steel, a group dedicated to preserving some vestiges of the former manufacturing behemoth, said people are concerned with what develops at the land and said ticket sales shouldn't be an indication of locals' feelings.

"We're at the end of the Industrial Revolution and I don't think people notice," she said. "This is the last integrated steel mill in the country. If we keep the buildings and the pervasiveness, people can come and see the evolution over 100 years."

Frantz said the community needs to become active and fight to preserve parts of Bethlehem Steel.

"I'm pretty sure the feeling is almost universal that they want to keep it preserved one way," he said. "I told Save Our Steel if they need somebody to chain themselves to the blast furnaces, call me up. That's how strongly I feel."

Senape said the play "gave a feeling of what working there was like" and hoped former steelworkers would become more active in saving the steel mills.

"Bethlehem Steel is something we should value," Senape said. "We have something so great in our back yard, we sometimes overlook it."

Copyright © 2004, The Express-Times

From The Express-Times - Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Actor can't manufacture audience for steel drama

By Renata Gagnon

BETHLEHEM -- The steel mill is closing again.

Actor Stanley Frantz has decided to cancel all performances of his father's play, "The 28-Inch Mill," except for the July Fourth performance.

Frantz was forced to cancel the play due to a lack of ticket sales, and he is both disappointed and surprised that more people didn't buy tickets for the performance.

"People were calling me and asking if there were any tickets left," Frantz said. "Everyone thought it would be a success. It was completely shocking."

Frantz has spoken to various former employees of the mills and knows that there's still a large interest in the Independence Day performance, which is the only reason he has decided to keep it scheduled.

Frantz originally premiered the play during the Bethlehem Cultural and Historic Festival June 11-13 and had planned to continue performances at 8 p.m. every Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. every Sunday through July 11.

But opening night drew only 20 or 21 people at the Ice House, which holds 240 people, he said. The next few performances each drew only about a dozen. Finally, he got to a point where no one bought tickets.

Frantz wants to bring "The 28-Inch Mill" back to Bethlehem during the Bethlehem Cultural and Historic Festival next year, and is even considering bringing it back during the school year.

"I'm not giving up," Frantz said. "I want to bring it back, maybe during the school year so college and high school kids can see it, because there's a lot of historical background."

Frantz insisted that the steel culture of Bethlehem hasn't been lost, even though Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and sold its assets, including most of its land, to International Steel Group last year.

Frantz said a "small core of people" is keeping the culture of the steel mills alive.

"I think there's a lot of pain and hurt still, especially after pension and benefit losses. It's bringing back memories that people don't want to address," he said.

Frantz insists that there are happy memories of the mills as well, and he hopes that those are what will bring people to the July Fourth performance and performances over the next year as well.

Frantz's father, Robert, wrote the play partly based on his experiences at Steel in the 1950s. The younger Frantz first performed the play in California in 1992.

The play is presented by The Steelworkers' Archives and the Pennsylvania Federation of Injured Workers.

General admission for the Fourth of July performance is $15 but veterans and steelworkers, who the performance is dedicated to, can see the play for the reduced price of $5.

The performance is scheduled for 2 p.m. on July Fourth at the Ice House at Sand Island. For ticket information call 610-261-4088 or visit www.the28inchmill.com.

Reporter Gregg W. Bortz contributed to this story.

Copyright © 2004, The Express-Times

From The Morning Call - Thursday, June 10, 2004

A Shaper of History

Stan Frantz rolls through steelworkers' heyday with 'The 28 Inch Mill'

By Marguerite Smolen, Special to The Morning Call

The biggest present Bethlehem native Robert D. Frantz ever got from his son, Stanley, was a color TV, but this Father's Day he is getting something even bigger, although it still involves entertainment.

Stan is producing and acting in "The 28 Inch Mill, A Solo Performance of a Dramatic Memoir," a one-man play about the glory days of Bethlehem Steel. The play's author is none other than Stanley's father.

Robert Frantz was the last of four generations of his family to work at the Steel. He started in the 1950s at the 28-inch rolling mill at Bethlehem Steel's Saucon Plant (the mill's name refers to the largest shape it was capable of producing). He rose from steelworker to foreman and, later, salesman before retiring in 1982.

Of those three decades of employment, it was the early years as a steelworker that made an indelible impression on him. A decade into retirement, he decided to do something to help further his son Stan's acting career and wrote "The 28 Inch Mill," a play based on the life and loves of the colorful characters who kept the Steel running through good times and bad.

"When I first started working there, I was captivated by the stories about the old days the older people told, about life at the mill 20 or 30 years before," the playwright recalls. "I had a feeling everything was going to change, and although I didn't realize how rapidly it was going to change, I had a feeling that it was an anachronism, and I was right in the middle of it," he says.

So vivid were the memories, it took him just one month to write the play and mail it off to his son. Stan, who was working in theater in Santa Barbara, Calif., was surprised at the gift, although perhaps he shouldn't have been. The two come from a family with a theatrical bent — they are the son and grandson of locally famous Pearl Schuler Frantz, a Bethlehem "grande dame" known for performing one-person plays well into her 80s.

"One dark weekend, the outfit I was working with let me produce the play," says Stan. "Audiences were ebullient, and the reviews were good. The show played well to everyone from the president of a steel company to children of blue-collar workers from other industries."

After he moved back to Bethlehem to take care of Pearl in her last years, Stan began to think about producing the play locally. His chance came when he connected with The Steelworkers' Archives and Save Our Steel, two organizations that were planning a steelworkers celebration, which will take place this weekend.

"It's all about sharing the community history with the community," says Stan. "I knew my father as a keen observer of human nature and a history buff with an almost photographic memory. What struck me about the play was not just the nostalgia, but the insight into humanity that comes through the writing. It really is a gesture of love in more than one sense.

"The play really is about that place in time and history when men took care of each other, and that sense of brotherhood and connections. It's all vanishing now," adds Stan.

"We had people working there who were in their 20s, 30s and all the way up to people in their 70s," says Robert. "There was no 'me generation' back then. The younger people protected the older ones; when the older people came to a difficult or dangerous part of their job, a younger worker would just take over for them. Nothing was said. They took care of each other."

"The play pretty much epitomizes the mission of the Steelworkers' Archives," says former steelworker Bruce Ward, president of The Steelworkers' Archives, which is co-hosting the Lehigh Valley premiere with The Pennsylvania Federation of Injured Workers (PFIW). "Through the memories of a retired steelworker, you come to know the heart of the Steel, its people.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," he notes. "You had this horrific job. You could die on any given day and never go home again. More than 600 people died during the course of the Steel's history.

"But on the other hand, there were these men, the salt of the earth. All different kinds, types, sizes, shapes, religions, cultures, ethnicities and histories. The bond between them was forged in that they were all immigrants who came here and worked in the Steel for a better way of life.

"As steelworkers are losing retirement benefits, health benefits and struggling, it's important to remember what we have accomplished and to celebrate our accomplishment."

But the play, according to the people who have seen excerpts, is more than just a nostalgic look at times past.

"We were just blown away," says Amey Senape, the daughter of a steelworker and co-founder with Mike Kramer of Save Our Steel (S.O.S.), an organization dedicated to promoting the preservation and reuse of the Bethlehem Steel site. "The stories are so relevant today. What's fascinating about the Steel was that the world worked there, and got together. What a wonderful thing, especially today, when we've re-segregated ourselves."

"We're gradually becoming a country of $6 an hour wage earners working at discount stores," adds Kramer. "The play shows what a difference it makes when you're producing real goods that are needed, and not just providing services."

Marguerite Smolen is a freelance writer.

Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call

From the Morning Call, Thursday, April 1, 2004

Steelworkers aim to expand their archives

They hope festival in Bethlehem will help preserve history.

By Kathy Lauer-Williams of the Morning Call

Retired steelworker Dennis Pearson wants to have thousands of steelworkers registered on a database through the Steelworkers’ Archives one day, and he’s hoping the group’s Historic and Cultural Festival on June 11 to 13 in Bethlehem will help get one step closer to that goal.

Since 2001, Pearson and other archivists have been registering and videotaping steelworkers and collecting memorabilia to preserve the history of a way of life that once shaped Bethlehem.

Pearson said the festival, which will be held under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge, will "pick up the ball to honor the history and culture of Bethlehem."

Steelworkers will be able to register with the archives at a booth during the festival

The nonprofit archives were founded to create a place to showcase the lives, stories and memorabilia of steelworkers. The group hopes to eventually build a headquarters in south Bethlehem.

Pete De Pietro, another retired steelworker, said he hopes the festival will spread word of the grassroots archives.

"Nobody knows who or what we are," De Pietro said. "We hope by doing the festival it will put us on the map."

Pearson said the archivists expanded from their original mission to register workers from Bethlehem Steel to include all steelworkers after the group was approached by several U.S. Steel retirees.

"We want to promote the memory of all steelworkers countrywide," Pearson said.

He said the archivists also are looking for an Internet server that could host a web site allowing steelworkers to register online.

Joining the archivists is local actor Stanley Frantz, who will perform in a one-man play written by his father, a former steelworker.

"It seemed like a perfect marriage," Frantz said of his play, "The 28 Inch Mill," and the archives.

"I really support what they’re doing," he said. "I want to activate public energy to preserve the Steel’s history and honor those men for what they gave to their families and the country."

Frantz said his father, Robert Frantz, was the last of four generations in his family to work at Bethlehem Steel. In 1992, the elder Frantz wrote his play based on his memories of working in the steel mill that made 28-inch beams.

The Ice House will host the first local performance of the play.

"This play is what the archives is trying to do,"

Stanley Frantz said. "Take those stories from the steel-worker and record the memories.

Pearson said the festival also will include entertainment, food and displays of classic cars, motorcycles, old tractors and possibly a Vietnam-era helicopter.

He said the archivists are in discussions with a New York City gallery to hold a show next year on steelworkers’ contributions to New York City.

The Bethlehem festival will be held from 4-10 p.m. June 11 and noon to 10 p.m. June 12-13.

Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call

Reviews

The following reviews are of the premiere workshop performance of The 28 Inch Mill in February, 1995 at Westmont College's Porter Hall in Santa Barbara, California.

The Independent, February 16, 1995

Man of Steel

This one-man play unfolds like a novel, with the narrator present, facing the audience and speaking in the first person. Like a good novel, there is a story moved along by a string of entertaining anecdotes, which tell very well what it is like to work for a living in a steel mill. The lone actor is Stanley R. Frantz, in a play written by his father, Robert D. Frantz, who is now retired from the Bethlehem Steel mill of the story.

This is a very masculine play. It has its finest moments in stories about young, middle-aged and older men experiencing life's adventures. And this is also an intensely American play. It tells of a time when heavy industry ruled towns and whole regions, and of the people who built this country. It should find an appreciative audience in working people. The play was tried out for a limited engagement, but Frantz plans to bring it back in the future.

The one-person play is a difficult format, as the actor cannot see himself or the play. Stanley Frantz is an excellent actor, and once he faces the audience and begins to speak to them through his imaginary friend, Janos, he holds their attention very well.

The play needs a stronger opening and this can be achieved by moving it closer to the action, closer to the time the actor connects with the audience. The closing also needs to be reworked so that there is a satisfactory ending to the story and a smooth transition to the curtain call. But that's what tryouts are for, and when this play returns you will be able to appreciate the well-written and well-acted results of this father and son collaboration

— Paul Froemming

The 28 Inch Mill

Westmont College Student Newspaper, February 17, 1995

In a society filled with high-paced, glitzy entertainment that screams through computer graphics and expensive special effects, it is refreshing to see a one-man theatrical piece that holds your attention through honesty, wry humor, and a large dose of reality.

Stanley R. Frantz's performance of The 28 Inch Mill, a dramatic memoir written by his father Robert D. Frantz, is a nostalgic look at a lifestyle that is vanishing from the American landscape.

The play is a revealing window into the hearts of blue collar workers everywhere, showing a picture of men who sacrificed the best years of their lives to support the families that they loved.

The play is soundly masculine, and surprisingly sensitive. Beneath the pride, the careless bantering and insults of the workers, Robert Frantz paints a picture of men who valued friendship, hard work, and communication on any level that they were able to afford.

Robert Frantz reveals a workplace that is sharply in contrast to the stereotypical view of industrial discrimination that is usually thought of a taking advantage of minorities.

Although racial epithets and teasing were counted as a way of life in the steel mill, Frantz recollects that it was the lack of insults (and of communication in general), not the voicing of them, that was the source of pain.

To be ignored, in the workplace, was far more damaging than to be hailed with a friendly, if slightly derogatory, nickname.

It was in working as a team that the men of the steel mill were able to make it through each day, and the writing of Robert Frantz clearly illustrates that the work you did was more important to the team than where you came from or what language you spoke.

The performance of Stanley Frantz was surprisingly captivating. Partially due the the constant flow of alternating amusing and serious topics, the character of Karl Yoder easily captivated and held the audience, which is commendable for any one-person show, let alone one of this length.

The interdependence of the workers to each other and their concern for the other workers flowed out of the script easily, as did the celebration of the clear priorities of the men who worked together. The audience could not help but admire the tenacity of the men as they fought for their rights, their friendships, and risked their jobs and their lives in a well-reflected pursuit of their ideals.

From McCarthyism to pride, from race relations to simple friendships that meant more than financial security, The 28 Inch Mill offers an educational and emotional glimpse into a seemingly lost work ethic.

— Jonathan Garrigues, Arts Editor

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