Boston College High School - Forbian Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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1945 - 1946 As Sophomores on November 9, 1945, we undertook the presentation of two one- act plays for our parents. After Philip Sul- livan welcomed the audience with his sin- cere and friendly tunes, Bernard Malone took the spotlight for his piano solo. Then came Preliminary, a glimpse behind the scenes of a theater. The exceptional per- formances of George Burke and Matt But- ler resulted in hilarious contagious laughter. Lawrence Silverson, a new-comer to our ranks, joined in the fun also. When the curtain descended and Alfred Walsh had completed his saxophone number, John Ma- honey starred as Rufus Sharp in the second play of the evening entitled, The Seventh Doctor. This work, a comedy in one act, featured Francis O'Leary, Robert Repetto, Daniel McElaney and Timothy Delaney. Paul Lynch, another new performer, ap- peared as Dr. John Rubb and our old friend, Dick Cunningham, was wonderful as Dr. Samuel Vetlcr. This ended our major entertainment that year. Father Murphy, SJ., and Mr. Draper, SJ., helped us immensely by coaching our plays. 1946 - 1947 Under the superb direction of Father joseph P. Curran, SJ., the Loyola Players of Boston College High School presented Shakespeare's comedy Henry IV at New England Mutual Hall on December 15, 17, and 22, 1946. This production merited high praise for all concerned. Our star, Arthur Gobron, was outstanding as Prince Hal. Kevin Doherty still has audiences discussing his top-notch appearance as Vernon, John Mahoney proved to be a hateful villain in his role as Worcester. Louis Gaglini,s Douglas is a character we'll always re- member. Larry Silverson did another fine job in his dual role of Westmoreland and the narrator. Matt Butler with his Peto l 104 characterization lived up to his established reputation. The fat comedy part of Justice Shallow was handled commendably by George Burke. Dick Cunningham's Moul- dy was excellent as was John O'Neil's Sheriff. Robert Stephens as Sir Walter Blunt and Paul Hickey as John were equally fine. Parents' Night on March 28, 1947, saw our presentation of Achilles, a play writ- ten by Father Krim, SJ., and directed once again by Father Murphy, SJ. In this drama John Mahoney ascended the throne on right stage to play Homer, the blind poet. Louis Gaglini donned a gray wig -o become Priam. john Keohan made a 1 .e and un- forgettable Paris. Fierce Ajax was real- istically portrayed by Dan McElaney. Thomas Donahue did Diomede and our own George Burke turned prophet as Cal- chas. Lastly, Bernard Malone appeared as Aeneas. On the same program William Ball provided outstanding entertainment with his musical keyboard and Frank Whelan delighted the audience with a recitation. William O'Neil played the violin and Dick Cunningham put on his own act as a magi- cian. A vocal solo was given by Peter Walsh. These talents blended together made an en- joyable evening of superior entertainment. Thus came to a close our third-year pro- grams. What a wealth of experience and knowledge we had accumulated! 1947 - 1948 A surprise which proved to be extremely pleasant awaited us in September of our Senior Year. Father John J. Mulchay, SJ., was the new moderator of the Dramatic Society. At the first meeting of the new year Father Mulchay, SJ., introduced him- self fthough to most of us his Geometry Classes were always to be remembered Classicsj and after we had become ac- quainted with the new assistant moderator, Mr. McGovern, SJ., John Mahoney was elected president of the society. 1

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When we became members of the Junior Class, we were welcomed into the Bapst. This year our moderator was Father Lau- rence McCarthy, S.J. The elected officers were all of the class of '47. During the course of this year we engaged in many outside debates. One of our group, Kevin Doherty, took part in a debate on the ques- tion of the Socialized Medicine and even though they lost the decision to the negative team of Cheverus High of Maine, three others of our society balanced this defeat with a victory against the affirmative team representing Fairfield Prep on the same question. The year's work was concluded with the Bapst Prize Debate in which one 7-Tift' of our group took part. The subject was the Loan to Greece and the decision was captured by the affirmative. As our last year came upon us we found our society now headed by Father John J. Murphy, S.J., a newcomer to B. C. High. Again this year we were taught more on the art of debating and we held many heated discussions on various issues of the day. After the elections we found Mr. Vincent McCarthy, President, Mr. Louis Gaglini, Vice-President, Mr. Philip Sullivan, Secretary, and Mr. Shine, Treasurer, all of the class of '48. T. PHILIP SULLIVAN 'fir THE DRAMATIC SOCIETY uThe Play's the Thing 1944 -1945 Our first appearance on the B. C. High stage was on November 30, 1944. On this occasion we had the great privilege to work before Archbishop Richard J. Cushing. What other man in Boston could give us more inspiration for our first performance? The dramatic opus Ut Cognoscent Te, writ- ten and directed by Father Mortimer J. Murphy, S.J., was a tremendous success. It provided a fine leading role for John Mahoney and an excellent supporting part for George Burke. Both boys worked hard to make their Father Malone and Eze- chiel become living individuals for the audience. Here may we mention that no other finer B. C. High alumnus can be our inspiration as far as our public speaking efforts are concerned than Archbishop Cushing. Richard Cunningham joined the society in time to give an unforgettable perform- ance as Private Bigby in the closing production of our Freshman Year on Under- graduate Night, June 15, 1945. The Un- expected, a one-acter, also under the direction of Father Murphy, S.J., whom, by this time, all of us had grown to ad- mire as our local genius, saw John Mahoney and George Burke return to the footlights, this time as Gerald Gordon and Samuel Simpson, respectively. Iiosj

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lmmediately plans were formulated for our annual school play. This time it was a modern three-act comedy called Career Angel, the story of an angel who has im- portant dealings with a group of religious brothers who run a boys' orphanage. After long hours of rehearsals and preparation the lights dimmed in the Public Latin School Auditorium on December ll and 12, 1947, -and we were on! The play was gratifying to every one concerned. The leading roles were brilliantly handled by john Mahoney as the understanding Superior of the insti- tution, B other Gregoryf' Lawrence Sil- verson as ie ever witty, yet surprisingly sensible Angel Guardianf' Louis Gaglini as the old, nature-loving founder of the orphanage, Brother Seraphimf' and Kevin Doherty as the stern, careful guard of the orpl1anage's meager funds, Brother Fidelisf' john Doherty's and Edward Scanlon's assist- ance back stage was much needed and help- ful. We wish to extend our sincere thanks to all who attended our performance and to all who helped to make it a success. Now that we have seen our four years in a brief summary, we say again that all of us who graduate this year who have participated in the various entertainments planned by the Dramatic Society have come to develop a deep appreciation of the long and laborious work required to make the smallest production a success. Our associa- tions with Father Murphy, SRI., Father Cur- ran, S.J., and Father Mulchay, SJ., have proved to be invaluable assets to our future enjoyment of the theater. JOHN J. MAHONEN' lVllfMl'nlfRS Ol: ilillll llllAMA'l'lC SOCll'i'l'Y liirst row, left to right: Doherty, liaglini, Mahoney fl,I'CSlllCl1lJ, l:Qlll1L'l' Mulclmay, Burke, Cunningham, Butler. Second row: Marley, Desrosiers, Croake, Mckioniglc, Mahoney, llogan, Lewis, Smith. Third row: Donahue. Scanlon, Stevens, Marr. Mcllartliy, Mellonald, McCauley. XY'helan. 11051