Crowd waiting outside Fabyan Villa Museum for "At Home with Nelle and George Fabyan" event, March 24, 1996.
A huge crowd showed up for our first portrayal of the occupants of the Fabyan Villa including Nelle and George Fabyan, played by Sherri Weitl and Mark Wissing respectively, other employees of the Fabyans and their house staff. Visitors experienced what it would have been like to be guests of the Fabyans in 1920. Dedicated volunteers were dressed in period clothing and acted out what we imagined would have been a typical day in the Villa when the Fabyans were there.
We continued to offer this program to kick off the opening of the Villa Museum for the season for several years.
Cast of "At Home with Nelle and George Fabyan," May 3, 1998, by Darlene Larson. Pictured left to right: Liz Haythorne (as Nelle Fabyan), Dianne McCarty, Amy Hiler, Mark Wissing (as Colonel George Fabyan), Diana Malaker, Christy Kell, Jennifer Kerr, Roy Kell (as Frank Lloyd Wright), Aaron Sanford, and Karin Dorrin.
Mark Wissing (as Colonel George Fabyan) and Roy Kell (as Frank Lloyd Wright) having a "disagreement" about the Villa's design. Photo by Darlene Larson, May 3, 1998.
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SOURCES: "Mob Scene at Fabyan Villa!" Advocate (Spring 1996): 3; Renee Tomell, "Bringing the Past to Life," Kane County Chronicle, March 21, 1996.