Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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Lending a hand senior Beth Howard helps se- nior Dennis Sekharan with his lines. It was the first production for Dennis. Freshman Lou Sofianos deftly works the sound board. He worked with senior Bruce Riceman. L 4 When I discovered I was to play the female lead, I was thrilled, but I didn’t realize that my height was going to be a problem. In one of my favorite scenes, I slapped Greg Mueller, which was fun, EX- CEPT that I practically had to get on my toes to do it! y y Sophia Thomas Technical assistant Jack Wilson daydreams while director Dave Watson makes some last minute script changes. Stage Manager senior Scott McCleary using a lot of energy hangs a modern art work on the set Prior to auditioning, sophomore Greg Mueller carefully studies the script. Eventually he played the role of David Matthews. Fall play 27

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AAental exercises require total concentration. Sophomore Mary Smith and freshman Ann Zeckser worked hard at mastering specific ges- tures. Suspenseful, surprising, and utterly successful “Rehearsal for Murder required the efforts of both cast and crew. Freshmen worked alongside seniors to provide lighting, sound, props, make-up, tickets, sets, and publicity. Who done it? What would one call a play within a play about a play, Rehearsal for Murder, of course. The curtain opened a little after 7:30 p.m. October 16 and 17, to Alex Dennison (Dennis Sekharan) who talked about his lost love, Monica Wells (Sophia Thomas), a very pretty actress who supposedly committed suicide. Alex, who did not believe Monica could kill herself, wrote a play about the last days of her life, in order to find out what really hap- pened. Scene two opened exactly one year after Monica's death. Alex gath- ered anyone who might have had any reason to kill her, including; Bella Lamb (Beth Howard) — a successful producer who had money on the line for the play; Karen Daniels (Mary Smith) — an understudy for Monica; Lloyd Andrews (Tony Rothert) — the director ; Leo Gibbs (Tony Verdon) — an actor and Karen’s ex-husband; and David Matthews (Greg Mueller) — another actor. Before everyone else arrived, an unnamed killer impersonating the de- tective who was there the night of Monica's death arrived, walking up the aisle. Alex started the meeting,’’ actu- ally a rehearsal for his play. All of a sudden the lights went out — a scream, a struggle, gunshots, and finally someone found a flashlight. Lights , yelled Alex, because he then knew the killer's identity. Only the murderer could have known where Monica kept the flashlight which was in her study the night of the murder. The audience was quite surprised with the revelation of the murderer, the imper- sonating detective. Director Dave Watson, who was as- sisted by Student Director Jim Koenig- saecker, commented, A funny prob- lem occured in the slap scene between Sophia and Greg because Sophia kept missing his face because he was so much taller. Make-up crew member, Margo Hammes, stated, Don't ever try to put make-up on guys because they won't sit still long enough. Fall play

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rying to get a better look at the present Will (Dave Gillette) got for Ado Annie s Pa, the boys gather around T A musical spectacle about confused Cowboys, Cowgirls, and relationships that relied on countless hours of dedication from the cast, crew, orchestra, and advisers to make it work. Love in Oklahoma! Of the many famous musicals pro- duced by Rodgers and Hammerstein, one of the best known is Oklahoma, and who better to put on such a great show than the Assumption drama de- partment. Advised by director Mr. Dave Wat- son, the curtain opened on Assump- tion's version February 26 and 27. Both shows came off without a hitch thanks to weeks of rehearsals that began after school and lasted long into the night. The musical told the story of mixed up relationships in the Old West in which everyone loved everyone else and no one married who they wanted to at first. Curly (Dennis Sekharan) began Spring musical the play in love with Gertie (Andria Rei- land), while he was loved by Laurey (Ann Zeckser), and Laurey was loved by Jud (Dave Heinrichs). These were not the only confused relationships. Will (Dave Gillette) wanted to win Ado An- nie's (Mary Smith) hand in marriage while she liked Ali Hakim (Bob Grady) and Ali liked Ado Annie. These love trianlges set up an interesting, comical, and sometimes tragic plot for the two act musical. After Curly had given up on Gertie he started whooing Laurey, who was al- ready in love with him. However, Jud who also liked Laurey became jealous causing many confrontations between the two main characters, and in the end resulted in a fight during which Jud tried to stab Curly, but instead fell on his own knife. After pleading self defense to Judge Carnes (Bob Burr), Curly was excused for Jud's death and free to marry Laurey. The play ended with Curly and Laurey in a buggy being pulled by all of Curly’s friends heading to the train station to leave for their honeymoon. The rest of the mixed up relationships also had happy endings. Ali Hakim married Gertie, and Ado An- nie married Will. The rest of the cast and crew led by student director Meg Schwirtz helped to keep the musical rolling along while the orchestra, directed by Mr. James Logue, provided the music.