Forster Secondary School - Spartalogue Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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Page Twenty- Four “THE SPARTALOGUE — 1954 I O L ANT HE” The nights of March 10, 11 and 12 were important ones in the lives of Forster students. After months of preparation and excitement, the stage took on all the ethereal charm and enchanted glow and magic of fairy¬ land; for under the capable direction of Miss Scanlan, the operetta “Iolanthe . one of Gilbert and Sullivan ' s most fantastic and fanciful, came to life through the students who were no longer our classmates but stately English peers and breath-taking fairies. The cast of the operetta follows: The Lord Chancellor BILL KERR Earl of Mountararat RICHARD DUNGY Earl of Tolloller DAVID MARSDEN Private Willis (of the Grenadier Guards) BOB ORD Strephon .an Arcad.an Shepherd Queen of the Fairies SANDRA MANDZUK Celia (Wed. and Fri.) (Thurs) Fleta Leila . Phyllis (an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery) MARY SIBLEY Chorus of Dukes, Marquisses. Earls, Viscounts, Barons and Fairies. PAT DOBSON CAROL LEVIS ELIZABETH McLISTER JUDY KIDD as the queen of all the faries. Bob Ord provoked many chuckles as Private Willis. Dick Dungy and David Mars- den together with Carol Levis, Pat Dobson and Judy Kidd rounded out the well-chosen and very talented cast of soloists. Enhancing the beautiful voices of the chorus and soloists was the piano accompaniment. The sympathetic and forceful playing of Miss Strong and Dawn Campbell is deserving of great praise. Without all the glitter of the costumes, the operetta, of course, would have lacked much of its lustre. Miss Grant, and the students who helped her. performed the seemingly impossible task of changing bolts of cheesecloth into gossamer gowns for forty graceful fairies. Mr. Ellis and his manual training classes were responsible for the glittering crowns and wands. Stage properties and backstage work were handled very efficiently by Miss Weller and her committee. The excellent backstage work helped make the timing the success it was. And while we speak of Miss Weller ' s work, we must mention the wings worn by all the fairies — Mr. and Mrs. Weller’s contribution to the school ' s effort. All in all. the operetta was a great success and the Spartalogue editors would like to congratulate Miss Scanlan and every other individual connected with it. DRAMA The story of the operetta revolves about Iolanthe, a favourite among the fairies, who has been sent into penal servitude by the queen for marrying a mortal, an act barred by fairy laws. However, the queen pardons Iolanthe and she confesses that she has a son, Strephon. a young shepherd, who is fairy only down to the waist. Strephon is in love with Phyllis, who is a ward of the Chancellor; he cannot marry her without the Chancellor ' s consent. They decide to marry in spite of him but are interrupted by the peers and the Lord Chancellor who themselves are in love with Phyllis. Thus Strephon is rejected as a suitor. An hour and half and several choral selections and solos later, the audience is very happy to find that all the peers and fairies as well as Phyllis, Strephon and Iolanthe are overjoyed with the happy outcome of their difficulties. The listeners ' pleasure was evident in the loud applause they accorded every member of the cast. Especially praiseworthy in his performance as the Lord Chancellor was Bill Kerr, who sang the role very con¬ vincingly. Also worthy of note were Gordon Kirk as Strephon, Mary Sibley as the lovely Phyllis, Marilyn Hughes as her very young mother, and Sandra Mandzuk Under the direction of Miss Weller and several studert directors, five one-act plays were presented during the 1953-54 school year, one at commencement and the other four during assemblies. The play “Elmer and the Love Bug provided a very- amusing opening for the commencement exercises. With Jerome DeLaurier as the centre of all the difficulties encountered by big sisters Ann Johnstone and Margaret Carson, the story was unfolded at a very fast pace. Adding their talents to thi. cast were Diane Yates, Doug Paton, John Sperling. Rosabelle Veighey, Ian Hamilton and Lois Bowen. Miss Weller would like o thank student director Phyllis Klein and all those who helped backstage for their fine efforts. Grade 12C presented two plays, “Never Trust A Man and “Counting the Calories , .while Twelve B presented Pot Luck” and 11B. “What’K We Give Dad . The plays weie well received by the students who enjoyed the occasional excursions into the field of drama. Barbara Vo ' .t and Mavis McCuaig showed fine leader¬ ship in acting as student directors.

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