Dedham High School - Reflections Yearbook (Dedham, MA)

Page 31 text:

Ngofc! in fine i 77 SENIOR PLAY CAST A. McDonough. J. Raftery, M. Bromley, L. Downing, R. Aspell, P. Kipp. J. 0'Bx'ien, M. Eremitzi, R. Hugzhvy. G. Couper, J. Milroy, A. Leonard, H. Siakotos, K. Nihart, I.. .Johnson J. Capella, M. MacDonald, M. Nolan, J. Ness. J. Cleary, J. Iadonisi, T. O'ConnelI. T.York, L. Mulholland, J. Zinni, H. Senning, J. Kohut, H. Hit-kt-ox It was a whopping success. Top credit, of course, goes to Miss Grant, who worked endless hours with the cast. Then come the big three: Holly Hickcox, as the villainous Richard Murga- troyd g Kathryn Nihart, as lovely Nell, and Len- nie johnson, as brave jack Dalton. They had the longest parts, and they handled them superbly. As for the rest of the cast, 1et's talk about them in the order in which they appeared. First came Chassy Donelan, very elegant in a tux, who spoke l27l the prologue. Then we saw Mary MacDonald, as Lizzie jones, the housekeeper. Mary made it very clear that she, at least, was not fooled by the villain's city ways. Rona Hughey was Barbara Stanley, Nell's younger sister. Her sweet singing voice was par- ticularly valuable in this part. jack Milroy was Hiram Stanley, Nell's stern father. In spite of a badly inflamed throat, Whitey played his part in true melodramatic style.

Page 30 text:

effin on 0lfUCUf'0!6 .giakin The activities of the Dramatic Club tapered off a bit. The club, under the direction of Miss Doris M. Grant, met once a month during the s-hool year. lts membership was large and en- thusiastic, and its projects were many. At the beginning of the year the club watched a demonstration of the art of make-up, as prac- ticed by Mr. Clifford Gustafson, art director. Two of the club's members were used as models. Next on the program was a one-act play, The Pearls. This was put on at a private performance for club members. The cast included Elsa Basilici, planet Smith. Charles Mulholland, and Lennart johnson. The club got considerable enjoyment out of the fact that one of its members, I-larry Mahoney, was an amateur magician who frequently entertained at its meetings. Club members, accompanied by Miss Grant, attended Boston performances of -lulius Caesar and Pygmalion during the course of the year. Along in March, however, the club coasted for a while, as Miss Grants attention was needed elsewhere. lt all begin with the senior class' play- reading committee, composed of .Ianice Heiferman, Marie Motte, and John Tuck. For weeks they met with Miss Grant, trying to find something not too young nor too old, funny but not foolish, dramatic but not too clillictllt. l26l DRAMATIC CLUB OFFICERS SITTING-Jane Downey, Richard Andrews. STANDING-Thomas Walsh. Joan Gapello. Then there was a solid week of try-outs in the auditorium, with Mr. Ryan getting girls to drag Mike Eremita up on the stage, with everyone try- ing to read Miss Grants mind, with dentist ap- pointments missed, and the same lines spoken over and over again. Finally there was the list posted on the bulletin board. Then there were two months of rehearsals- and epidemics! Measles, strep throats, colds, aches, and assorted miseries. Was the cast ever all there at one time before the opening night? Somehow or other, Miss Grant went through it all and still stayed sane. Somehow the lines got learned. We began selling tickets and painting scenery and hunting for old hats. Half the class was in a fog and everyone was excited. QC0llfl6Q fitere wad . . .

Page 32 text:

Sam Slade, the villains shadow who later turned out to be Hawkshaw, was played with the proper sinister notes by Hillyer Senning, and Lionel Mulholland was a perfect Constable Jenkins. In the Bowery scene, Aloe Zinni, joan Capello, Arlene Leonard and Peggy Nolan earned loud applause with their song and dance acts, while Bob Aspell, joan Cleary, George Couper, joan Seale, Helen Siakotos, jack Raftery, Tom York, Peter Kipp, John Kohut, Joe ladonisi and Tom O'Connell-in costumes out of this world-gave the proper atmosphere. Mike Eremita starred as the bartender, Leo Downing, Marilyn Bromley, Anne McDonough and jack O'Brien were excel- lent up-town swells Jennie Ness, as Little Billy, wrung tears from all who weren't roaring with laughter. A special note of credit should be given to Nancy Carson, who had the important part of understudy to Kay Nihart. Miss Mary Sweeneys sales classes sold ads for a whopping 48-page program book-financially more successful even than the play itself. The scenery, the properties, and the costume commit- tees, the ushers, the ticket sellers - all combined to make Gold in the Hills one of 1949's greatest achievements. Over at the right we see some of the scenes from the play and pictures of those who made it a success. Beginning in the upper left-hand corner and reading down, we have in column one .lean Geldert and Francis O'Brien, ace salesmen and program managers. The picture below this shows John Milroy as Honest Hiram Stanley. Third shows Slick Steve, portrayed by joe Zinni, with Katherine Nihart as Nell Stanley and Rona Hughey as Barbara Stanley in the back- l2Sl ground. In the bottom picture we see Tom York as Chuck Connors and Lionel Mulholland as the sheriff. At the top of column two we see the ace sales- men: john O'Brien, Lillian Charland, Teresa Fitz- henry, Russell Jenks, Ruth Waldman, Marilyn Dietzel, and Kathryn Cudmore. Second, we see Hollington Hickcox, as Richard Murgatroydf' plotting some evil scheme with his shadow, Sam Slade, played by Hillyer Senning. Third, Rich- ard Murgatroydu tries to frame john Dalton, played by Lennart Johnson, as Lizzie jonesf' played by Mary MacDonald, looks helplessly on. Fourth, John Dalton sings Paradise Alley in a Bowery Barroom. Fifth, we see joan Cleary as Old Kate, while the derelict played by Tom O'Connell catches a few winks and Michael Ete- mita as Big Mike polishes bar glasses in the background. At the bottom of column two we have Joan Capello as Rose Robinson singing the Bowery version of Bird in a Gilded Cage. At the top of column three we have the ushers, left to right, Lucy Nichols, Carolyn Reid, Ruth Waldinan, jean Hurley, Beverly Stuck, Betty Dowd, Natalie Dobson, and Jean Geldert. Next we see Lennart johnson presenting Miss Grant, the coach, with the gift from the play cast. The third picture shows john Dalton making love to Nell Stanley, his bride-to-be. In the fourth picture we see the bicycle boys, jack Raftery, joe Zinni, john Kohut, and Joe ladonisi singing Bicycle Built for Two, In the fifth picture Lizzie jones, the housekeeper, played by Mary MacDonald, bawls out Hiram Stanley for letting his daughter run off to the city. In the last picture in column three Slick Steve, played by joe Zinni, and Maggie, played by Peggy Nolan, do some fancy steps to While Strolling Through the Park.