Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

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■i Mr amu S ■k S ' y • s i A 9.! ' Lord and Lady of the Manor, Dr, Robert Luehrs and his wife Christianne, toast the Christmas season to the music of the Madrigal Players. MADRIGAL DINNER 23

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Maclrigal DINNER by Jill Grant by Larry Dreiling Waiting for the feaet to be served, the Lord and Lody of the Manor vitit with their guests at the head table. Hear ye, hear ye, sub jects of this realm; you shall be witnesses of the toast to the Christmas season by his excellency, the Lord of this manor. Let no man come into this hall: groom page, nor yet marshall, but that some sport he bring withal. For now is the time of Christmas ! ' 1 And with these words spoken, the Madrigal din ner began. Presented annually by members of the music and theatre departments and several faculty members, the Madrigal dinner seeks to relive the days of feudalism. Lord of the Manor, Dr. Robert Luehrs, professor of history, acted as host for the evening. Following his welcome, the Madrigal Singers broke out in song while special guests of the Lord and Lady were toasted and escorted to the feast. When the guests were seated, servants entered with trays of food and drink. Two of them ignited the yule log as tenants gorged themselves on fruit and cheese. Castle musicians enter- tained with the recorder and harpsichord while a barefooted maiden served a tender, broiled rainbow trout with its eyes still intact, A roast pig was brought before the Lord for his approval and served as the traditional Boar s Head Carol ' ' was sung. Bod spirits filled the Great Hall as two men, obviously at odds with one another and carrying swords, met each other. 1 Weapons were drawn and o fencing bout ensued until the scoundrel fell to the ground, injured by the champion ' s sword. A pheasant pie proces- sion followed and guests of the house feasted on cornish gome hens. Baked applie pie was served after the plum pudding was enflamed and the guests waited for entertainment. They were favored with a concert of the Royal Consort of Strings, the Renaissance Instrumental Ensemble and the Madrigal Singers, The Royal Consort per- formed a sonata, and the ensemble offered music with their recorders — an almost extinct instrumental art. The singers executed three Elizabethan dances and several madrigal melodies. At evening ' s end, the Lord of the Manor bid his guests farewell and all participated in a chorus of the traditional Wassoil Song. 22 MADRIGAL DINNER

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by Jill Grant Kan Richters becomes Mark Twain over 200 times very year when he takes his one-man show on the road. Dressed in a crumpled white linen suit and equipped with a shot of whiskey and a cigar, Mark Twain shuffled on to the stage and sat down stiffly in his grey rocking chair. I wouldn’t want to offend Hays, Kansas by telling you this is the end of the world ' the white- haired old man declared, staring at the After-Dinner Theatre audience seriously, but you can see it from here. This town is pretty nice, though. H ' s the only town for 2,000 miles. You never have to worry about unexpected visitors, do you? Of course, the real Samuel Langhorne Clemens never would have joked about Hays, or Fort Hays State, Univer sity. Back in 1894, when Mark Twain was under- taking a world lecture tour to pull himself out of bankruptcy. Hays existed merely os a fort and saloon town. But the actor who por- trayed Twain did. Ken Richters entertained a lively dinner theatre crowd on Oct. 8, with his one-man show Mark Twain On Tour. His transformation into the elderly Twain took him three full hours to com- plete. The make-up ses- sion — a performance in itself — was open to the public. At 5 p.m. Richter sat in the Stouffer Lounge and painted lines and shadows on his face, while answering questions from reporters and theatre majors. I ' ve developed this make-up routine on my own, Richters said, os he drew brown lines under his eyes and puffed on a cigarette . Plenty of practice has enabled Richters to field questions from reporters, tell stories, and even joke while concentrating on the make-up that will age him 50 years. Mark Twain On Tour has been touring univer- sities and theatres throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad since 1978. Richters does his show over 200 times a year. In his impersonation, he draws from nearly six hours worth of material obtained from over two years of research into the life and works of the famous author. Every night ' s perfor- mance is different, depending on the audience. he said. When Richters was in high school, he did o reading from Tom Sawyer for extra credit in an English class. During his acting career, Richters has been featured on several televi- sion series, but he grew tired of television. I wanted to be an actor, not a personality, Richters said. His original plan was to return to Broadway and do some plays. On a return trip from Los Angeles to Connecticut in 1976, Richters ' car broke down in Hannibal, Missouri, the hometown of Mark Twain. I was stuck in the land of Mark Twain for two days, he said. I stayed in a Mark Twain hotel, with Mark Twain bathrooms, and shopped at the Mark Twain drugstore. I’m no idiot. It took me 48 hours to figure out that I should do Mark Twain. 24 MARK TWAIN