Augsburg College - Augsburgian Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Right: Fighting for the affections of Tom Thumb (Vicki Buoen) are Prin- cess Huntamanca (lackie Knight) and giant Queen Glumdalca (Paul Walthour). Below: Jeff Nelson as Lord Grizzle contemplates his love af- fair with Princess Huncamanca. Left: Queen Dollallolla (Sue Thorkelson) hastily gulps down a bottle of whiskey to regain her composure. Above: King Arthur (Dave Brisbin) addresses the royal court.

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Fall Play Tom Thumb by Dr. David C. Wood When Director Michael Arndt casually asked me if I would take the part of Scriblerus Secundus in the Little Theatre's November production of THE TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES; OR, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOM THUMB, I cast aside all reserve and said Golly, gee! Wow! YES! I’d been a sucker for THUMB since the first time I'd read it as a beginning graduate student. I was so enthusiastic, in fact, that I wrote my dissertation on Hen- ry Fielding, author of this hilarious three-act farce. Between my chance meeting with Arndt and the first rehearsal, however, doubts flooded over me. I knew I couldn't act; but hadn't Mike assured me that I didn't have to act? I only had to play myself, my part being that of a boring old pedant who misunderstands the play he teaches and obnoxiously intrudes wherever and whenev- er he isn't wanted. I was typecast! So far,so good. Then I began to worry about how well the play would go over before a twentieth century, relevance-keyed au- dience. Who, I asked myself, on God's Green Earth (read Augsburg College), would appreciate an eighteenth century comedy which satirizes conventions of the seven- teenth century theatre? Furthermore, where is Arndt going to find student actors talented enough to pull off eighteenth century acting mannerisms so necessary to the success of a play like THUMB? And then how about Arndt himself, an unknown quantity. If he gets the ac- tors, will he have them out there in torn T-shirts, A LA Stanley Kowalski, and 'method' the audience to death? My worries were misplaced. I should have been wor- Above: Lord Grizzle (Jeff Nelson) and his comic servants, David Larson and Korstcn Roduik, prepare for an attack. Right: Dr. Wood, comical narrator of TOM THUMB, sweeps up rubbish before the onset of the three-act farce. ried about my stamina. The rehearsal schedule was crush- ing for a dissipated old futz like me. I'd always thought The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd (or something like that) was what The Theatah was all about. Not so. The theatre is a demanding mistress, especially so when the director wants more than a so-so production. Rehearsals lasted from seven to one, night after night. No Pheasant under Glass, just a Big Mac wolfed down back- stage during set changes. Then individual rehearsals to smooth out the rough edges, while the rest of the cast sleeps fitfully, dreams about tomorrows Biology exam — or that stack of sophomore term papers that haven't been graded yet. I'm still not certain that I survived. Even if I haven't. I'm proud to have been part of a suc- cessful theatrical production. After several rehearsals I cast my earlier worries aside. For Arndt understood the play and never did violence to it. Sure, there's a scene with torn T-shirts, but many more scenes in which seventeenth, eighteenth, nine- teenth, and early twentieth century costumes provide a new dimension to the play. The actors? Aside from this humble recorder, they were masterful, running the stylistic gamut from Thomas Bet- terton through John Barrymore to Lee Strasburg's latest chesthair-pulling prodigy. The audience did its share, too. We performed to full houses every night and even had to trod the boards for an extra show — the frosting on the cake. Rather stunned at first, the audiences soon caught on to the fun we were obviously having and joined in. What an intimate theatre! It's so small that one can distinguish between which friend is laughing when. At the last performance, my knees stopped knocking when Richard Sargent let got with his first guffaw. Strokes in the night. No, I'm no actor, but I wouldn't trade my experience working with Arndt and Company for anything — except, perhaps, a conversation with old Henry Fielding himself. If

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Student Council Striving All for One and One for All Interview with President Mary Olson and Vice-President Tom Danger of Student Council. Q. What are some of the things that Student Council has worked on this year to meet the students' wants and needs? Mary: The Program Commission has been getting more day-time entertainment going. This year a new thing has been the Friday afternoon open stage. Different enter- tainers, bands, and singers are booked up every week. Students really seem to enjoy this. Another proposal in Student Council this year was to fund buses for students going to off-campus games. There was an average of 85% of the students going on buses to football games. We had two buses going to the soccer games with an average of 52 people. Buses also went to hockey games and to other sports throughout the different seasons. Tom: Out of that came the possibility for either leasing or buying a bus — which a standing committee looked into. It seems as though we'd save more money in the long run, considering all the money Student Government has funnelled into rent for transportation. Mary: This year we also set up a special committee to investigate Smiley's Point. The reason why Council's look- ing into Smiley's Point is because this has been an area of student concern. We want to make sure that if students have complaints something can be done about it. Smiley's Point should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, also. We want to work on a grievance channel in Student Government. Tom: Student Government is getting into more of the college finances — at least we're trying to. Right now I'm looking into a breakdown of the student and general fees. People are curious to see where their money is going to. They don't know why they're paying it or what's happen- ing to their money. Q: Do you feel that the Program Commission has been successful this year? Mary: I do. Tom: I do. I think Nancy Brown has done a fantastic job. One thing about Nancy is she's really had a variety. Movies almost every week, all different kinds of concerts . Mary: She tries to have a concert every month. Open Road, Freeborn, Michael Johnson Q: How has participation in Student Government been this year? Mary: Sometimes it's a little lax. In program commis- sion events it's hard to get crowds. I think students are becoming more active — more are working for the AUGSBURGIAN, ECHO, and the Program Commission. We've had people come and volunteer to work for Stu- dent Government.This year's homecoming co-chairmen volunteered for the job, which is usually an arm-twister. SOS has been getting a lot of volunteers. So I can't really say that student apathy is big around Augsburg. Q: What were some of the changes in Student Govern- ment this year? Tom: One change that I'd like to mention is that each of the commissions — the Program Commission, the ECHO, the AUGSBURGIAN, and other organizations — are a lot more financially responsible this year not only to the treasurer but to the budget screening committee. We're checking up to make sure that people are keeping Below: One of the many tasks performed by our Student Council is to listen closely to ideas or opinions voiced from the Augsburg community.