Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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But No Suitable Theater tion of Synge's Playhoy of the Wertern World in the spring of 1944, and in the fall Owen Wingrave, rearranged by Professor F. O. Matthiessen from Henry james' Saloon, and presented together with Alfred de Musset's short play A Door Mart he Either Open or Shut. With the invaluable co-operation of the Radcliffe Idler, the HDC achieved financial as well as artistic success in all three productions. The year 1945 was notable for HDC's first Shake- spearian venture in some time, Mach Ado Ahout Nothing, adapted by Club Advisor Professor Theodore Spencer, di- rected by Dr. Fritz jessner, and starring William Sullivan. Another classical play, Moliere's The Miranthrope, followed in the fall, and both were well received by the Boston critics. The acting of Robert A. Loeb stood out in both plays, and able supporting casts included Robert E. Miller, Hibbard james, and Seabury Quinn. The HDC began a tradition of student direction in 1946, as William A. West produced Maxwell Anderson's Winterret, with supervision by Club President Charles Mans- field '46, and capable acting on the part of Loeb, Theodore P. Allegretti, Ted Benedict, Edward Franklin, Andrew McCul- lough, and john Simon '46. McCullough acted as student director for the forthcoming HDC productions, the Capeks' Adam the Creator, Odets' Waiting for Lej5'y, Saroyan's short sketch The Ping-Pong Playeri, and O'Casey's jano and the Payeoch. A consistent star, Ted Allegretti '47, was elected Dramatic Club, 1947. Bath Row: Austryn Wainhouse '48,john P. Boland '48, David H. Kelly '49, Ed Davis '46, William D. Watters '49, Emery H. Niles,Jr. '49, Johhn M. Linley '48, Robert L. Wechsler '49, Paul A. Mayer '49, Richard S. Milsrern '48, Second Row: David W. Self '48, Clinton G. Heiner '48, Ralph P. Katz '48 Martin Schwartz '44, Robert M. Cipes '50, Alvin Kahn '49, Francis L. Kafka '49, Richard H. Kimball, jr. '50, Christopher M. Martin '49, J. Bradley jerry Kilty '48 is hoisted on his horse as Falstaff in the Theater Workshop production of Henry IV. president of the Club, and directed the 1947 HDC production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy ofthe People. Saint joan Wins Fame for HTW Nineteen hundred and forty-six also saw the birth of the Harvard Theatre Workshop and its first production, Ger- hardi's I War a King in Bahylon. Finding Harvard audiences somewhat apathetic, the Workshop polled College playgoers' tastes, and in response to popular demand presented in spring, 1947 Bernard Shaw's Saint joan. Undaunted by the formid- Cumings, Ill '46, Front Row: Warren C. Ingersoll '48, Robert A. Loeb '48, Robert S. Miller '48 Q Vire Preridentj, Andrew McCullough '45 fExeeutizfe Boardl, Theodore P. Allegretti '47 fPre.fidentj, Robert C. Kingston '48 QE.vemtizfe Boardl, Yardley D. Buckman '49 fSetre1aryD, Theodore L. Rowland '48, Pau! S. Burggraf '48, Alfred M. Weisberg '47. 12731-

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,sp . ,-. X LQJ, 'f l f., .P ' 'vi 'L ' T' .1 1' NLIKE most activities, which folded up under the exigencies of wartime or barely limped along with a skeleton membership, dramatics at Harvard grew and flourished while Dramatic Club, 1945. Burk Rozosjulian H. Ellner '45, George H.jantzen '45, Virgil Gore '46, Martin Shwartz '44, Adams H. Nickerson '46, William F. Di Pesa '45. Frou: Row: Earl M. Wedrow '45, Nicholas C. Gilles '45 U'rear1n'crJ, Charles R. Dean, Ill '46fPre1irlw1fD, Donald S. Gair '45 fVirc' Prerirlenlj, Gerald E. Maslon '45 Q5'vcretm'yj. Harvard Has Three Major Drama Groups '46 was in College. Not only did the Harvard Dramatic Club score impressive successes with new and original plays, not only did the Hasty Pudding Club's annual hilarious musicals, after a short wartime interim, play to packed houses and pop- ping flash bulbs, but a new dramatic organization, the Harvard Theatre Workshop, was formed by returning war veterans and staged productions of Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw which won acclaim from some of the nation's foremost dramatic critics. Plaudits For a Rough Translation For forty years, in the absence of a drama department at Harvard, the Dramatic Club provided the only opportunity for serious dramatic training and expression, and has included among its members such famous names as Robert Benchley and john Mason Brown. But none of its productions achieved greater success than Murbcnko, the first major HDC effort in which '46 participated. A rough translation from the Russian play by Alexander Afinegenov, Marlaenka played to standees and drew Hollywood offers for ingenue Anne Put- nam, Radcliffe '46. In the spring of 1943, Charles R. Dean '46 was elected president of HDC, and several members of the Class helped put on Lorca's Dom: Rorim, and in the fall Barrie's Azlminzblc Crichton with the Beaver girls' school. Mrs. Mark de Wolfe Howe, a former Abbey player, directed the successful produc- Dramatic Club, 1944. Barb Row: Peter V. Poor '47, Seabury G. Quinn '47, Crai f P. Gilbert '47 Qlixemlioe Boardj, Gerald E. Maslon '45 fE.'W'Cllli1'c' Boarflj, Hibbard G.james '45, Nicholas Viek '46, Edmund R. Davis '46. Sc'comlRo1u.' William F. Di Pesa '46 fTrcarrn'erD, Martin Shwartz '44 fVire Prariflmtj, Charles R. Dean '46 QPrt'riflrwtj, William B. Dubey '46 fSccrclar-yj. Front Rozwjolmn U. Lemmon, III '47 fE.W'L'lllillL' Boarzll, Morton B. Hamilton V-12, Theodore P. Allegretti '47 fE.vefutizfe Boardj. 12721

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Gertrude Lawrence instructs Ben Gaylord '49, who was chosen prettiest chorus girl of the 100th Annual Hasty Pudding Club Show, Here'J the Pitrb. able technical difficulties of performing in Sanders Theatre, the Workshop even capitalized upon the rambling structure's architecture by using its stained glass window in the transcept as background forjoan's cathedral scene, moving the audience instead of the scenery. Donna Holabird created a spirited and moving Saint joan, and the entire production was of such high caliber that the Crimxon could truthfully acclaim it the high water mark of drama at Harvard. Sticking to the beaten paths of well-known drama and concentrating on skillful acting and effective staging, the Workshop scored another triumph in fall of 1947 with Part I of Shakespeare's Henry IV, a presentation worthy in every respect of a professional troupe. The Workshop's Managing Director, Jerome Kilty, drew high praise in his comic role as Falstaff, as did Albert Marte for his capable direction. The Pudding Goes on Tour Although the Hasty Pudding Club, oldest dramatic organization in the country, officially abandoned its theatricals for the duration in 1942, the N.R.O.T.C. smokers held in the Club beginning in 1943 proved worthy substitutes. In March 1947, the Club raised its voice in song again with Speak For Yourself a travesty on the Myles Standish-john Alden-Pris- cilla triangle, with music by Courtney Crandall '46. Among '46 supporting players were Robert Purinton, George Warren, john Munroe, jr., and Bradley Cumings, III. The show toured New York and Pennsylvania and won critical praise as gay, disarming, and one of the best College musicals ever. To celebrate the Hasty Puddings Hundredth Anniver- sary, the Club produced I-Iere'.f the Pitrla in December, 1947, with William Reed '46 in the singing lead. Courtney Cran- dall's score included the barrelhouse comedy number Little Ladybird, which stopped the show at every one of its fifteen performances, and So Well, So Soon and Extra-Currickeler Girl, which were later published by Broadcast Music, Inc. Among the cast of the show were Henry Erhard '46 and Bob Purinton, with Munroe and Warren in staff positions. After eight Cambridge performances, H0f6,.Y the Pitch toured New York, Washington, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, and De- troit, and won favorable notice from Variety, Billboard, LW, and Newyweek magazines. Pudding archives reveal that numerous governors, sena- tors, and statesmen have donned wigs and falsies in the inter- ests of undergraduate humor, and, while the Pudding shows lay no claim to being a breeding ground for genius, former members have included Owen Wister, Robert Benchley, and Robert Sherwood. Members of the NROTC take off Navy brass at a wartime Hasty Pudding smoker. l 12741-