Horace Mann Lincoln High School - Lincolnian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 122 text:

J s. Dramatic Review HE 1929-30 SEASON has been a most successful one for the Horace Mann Dramatic Club. Two excellent productions have already been QP S , R5 fl 5 .....-'si ...a-x..,., .4-x., .-f-s...., ...f-x...- ....f L, ,.,,-QM.. Qf-QL.- R.. -sr.- ....r-X..- staged and plans are made to present another show in late April. The fall production was given upon the platform of the school audito- rium and the play acted was Robert Emmet Sherwood's The Queen's Husband. ' It is safe to say that The Queen's Husband was one of the best-cast, and well-acted plays that the Dramatic Club has ever undertaken to present. The players seemed to have their- parts cut out for them and fit perfectly into the atmosphere. Moreover, the choice of play was most wise and fortunate as Sherwood's drama is a fast-moving, concrete, well written piece, favorably adapted to a high school repertoire. y The leading role was played by William Kilcullen, the Dramatic Club president. As the docile husband and king who finally asserts his divine right during a revolution, he held the center of interest throughout. His ability to move the audience, his finesse, and general dramatic skill were of the highest order. And what more can one ask of a good actor? William Bijur gave a competent performance in the part of the domineer- ing, self-willed queen who visits America for the money. Although he may be criticized for over-acting he did get his part over. In the role of Prin- cess Anne, Stuart Barden acted in a very pleasing and enlightening manner. Both of these players naturally encountered the difficulties involved in por- traying feminine characters and succeeded in overcoming them surprisingly well. Richard Levy successfully blustered through three acts to give a very efii- cient performance as the swaggering, loud-spoken General Northrupp. His ally in the affairs of the court, the Prime Minister, was superbly played by Nathan Michaelis whose perfect suavity of manner, and ease upon the stage were outstanding throughout the performance. ' Alfred Compton handled the part of the snobbish but likeable butler, Phipps, in a capable fashion. Eric Staal was fairly good as the young lover, although his manner was a bit stilted. Robert Wolf as the dissolute Prince William performed his short role in a very amusing manner. The Dramatic Club did its best with the inadequate facilities that the school stage offers. The setting, although none too palatial, was satisfactory and the sound effects fsuch as the noise of the crowdj were rendered to the best advantage. In fact, during the shelling of the palace and subsequent battle a truly wartime atmosphere was produced. The costumes of the actors were in all cases most excellent. After its previous outstanding success, the Dramatic Club entered upon the Winter Show with confidence and perhaps too much ambition. The result was that it chose a play which was a little more than it could handle. Not that Beau Brurnmel was not a success, for it certainly was, but the One hundred ten' .1 X l V Y , QM... . ,... Yea-ND.. v.4?ii.l1 ,. .- W ..-- g . W.. ..., A----Y----W f -- --'-4 ll - -A---if ff' --ff f .X I i .--fx --fx ...f's,.. 14'-5,- - tif ,.-,,.-.. VT' l I ,J ....l.l.. .xx i ,E..-....,.ii......,,. . . YYY. -W-L ,. ...J, ... , , . A .,... sfnafn, Y... .. t.i?ffi Y ?-.?gY Y A --4--4 -f X' ,lf r- r. r -.af l ...fr-N..

Page 121 text:

3 Dramatic Club WILLIAM KILCULLEN ROBERT WOLF ALAN PARSON GREGG FRY MR. HAROLD C. CLAUSEN MR. ROBERT B. Robert Sanborn Alfred Compton J. Clarence Davies Nathan Michaelis William Bijur Stanley Keyes Nicholas Jacobson George Harris John Frank james Wolff james Anathan William Wallstein Victor Sack Robert Jarrett One hundred nine CUNNINGHAM ..... .... . . . .Premient , ....... Secretrzry Bzzfirzesy lVIrzmzge1' .........T1'u5tee ifirzrzzlty Azivixory Richard Levy Eugene Goldsmith Stuart Barden Morris Mossler Richard Renshaw Benjamin Farber Amos Dublin Cyrus Sulzberger Gail Raphael Richard Hirschland William Hartman Sidney Shloss Robert Weill Walter Pforzheimer .-fx ,...f' ..,,f--.. -..,f'f -.,.f- ..f- -.-f I L G jfgiaf Q1 M 'Z A 1

Page 123 text:

2 4 success was not so decided as its forerunner. Clyde Fitch's play of the rise and fall of Beau Brummel is well known and calls for a number of difficult scenes entailing mature acting in more than one part. As Beau Brummel is practically a one-man drama a good deal of its fix C ,...,-xwa .,,x.,- fx., Mg... -.f-X... -.. tx.- ..,-sh., ,.. X.- .-,. -N. i,-,- successful performance would seem to depend upon the actions of its main character. William Kilcullen, as the Beau, repeated his former polished performance and easily demonstrated that he is one of the most accomplished actors yet seen upon a Horace Mann stage. Nevertheless, he lacked that fin- ishing deftness that only an older and more experienced man could have given to the role. His remarkable portrayal of the final scene had quite an affect upon the audience and assured the success of the presentation. With two or three exceptions, however, the rest of the acting did not live up to the high standard set by Kilcullen. Many of the performances were amateurish. The role of Mortimer, the faithful butler, was sympathetically enacted by Alfred Compton, who seems to have a fancy for butlerian parts. He ably seconded Kilcullen throughout the play and most of the success is due to these two actors. Perhaps the most difficult part in the entire cast was that of the adven- turess, Mrs. St. Aubyn. Stuart Barden did as well as could be expected with the role but it was a little too much for him. Richard Levy again bowed and bustled his way through as the rich bourgeoise merchant and may be said to have done a good job. The rest of the cast acted under par and it is need- less to run through the long list of characters one by one, suffice it to say that they were only mediocre. In this production, as in the previous one, the Dramatic Club was handi- capped by lack of stage space. The Roerich Art Theatre, where the show was produced, although it provided an excellent theatre for acoustics, size and location, did not furnish much of a stage to work with. The theatre was built with the idea of sound pictures in mind, not dramas. However, the Club did the best it could and, in the last scene particularly, constructed an excellent stage set. The plot, occurring in the late eighteenth century, de- manded much lavish and expensive costuming and this was well attended to. A great deal of credit for the Dramatic Club's two achievements is due to their coach, Mr. Harold Clausen. He devoted much of his time to the pro- ductions and evidence of his instructive direction was everywhere apparent. For its Spring Show the Dramatic Club intends to present one of A. A. Milne's whimsicalities, The Dover Road. The cast, headed by William Kilcullen, is rather small, consisting of only six major characters. The pro- duction will be more or less of an experiment, as it will be staged, as was the fall show, upon the school platform. However, there will be no dance fol- lowing, contrary to custom. At this point it is not possible to predict the our- come, but if one were to judge by the two previous performances the show will be very enjoyable. One hundred eleven -..f-N.. ,.-f'x... ......f's,-- ...,....f'-..- ,,-,4.,... ..,.f'44.. H-,..gs4 ...p---...., ,mar-N.-, ,,...,-g,- 1 ' 1 . Y' f' 1 1 , ' : t - + f--- . . , tr ---. . . ..-...m,,,C1 l,-,--.-M K, . im, ,fx rm. . , , , ui --. -..g.-f-- M - M.-. . ,..,.u .X 5 b