Lowe High School - Towers Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

Page 38 text:

25th Anniversary Edition THE TOWERS Page Thirty-Five DRAMATICS By PAT SEGUIN, C2A Practice for “Iolanthe” began in the early fall- The object of Mr. Bennett and the cast was ' ‘Perfection , and nothing less would do. Weeks of hard labour were ahead of them all. but they were dauntless. Sometimes the girls didn’t show up for rehearsals, and Mr. Bennett tore his hair. As always in this case. Miss Green flew to the rescue. Miss Connerty helped the chorus, which left Mr. Bennett free to direct. But. at last it was ready, and before they knew it. the night of the opening was upon them. The first performance was given on Decem¬ ber 2. The audience was enthusiastic and everything went off beautifully. The next night was even better, and by the third night, the boys and girls were beginning to feel like real veter¬ ans of the theatre. I am sure that when they heard the ’’Public applauding them, they were all rewarded doubly for their efforts in making the opera a success. That was not all the reward they received, for on December 17, a party was given to all Mae— Queen of “ lolanthe ' concerned with “lolanthe . Songs were sung, and 1 am told that Miss Green and Mr. Bennett were crowned King and Queen of the Fairies. After all the fun was over and ,the food was gone, they -departed for their homes. “lolanthe” was over, but in years to come, it will always be remembered as one of the highlights of V. D. Lowe Vocational School. We wish to thank Mr. Bennett for directing such a successful operetta; Miss Connerty, as¬ sistant director; Miss Green, convenor; the or¬ chestra ; and the many, many others who helped so greatly. The students who performed, as well as all the other students in the school will look forward to many other such splendid oper¬ ettas. • DRAMATICS MYRA PLAW.UCKI MR. H. C0WGI1.L mae McDonald

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Page Thirty-Four THE TOWERS 25th Anniversary Edition Chapter, I.O.D.E. Second, presentation of the Canadian Bridge Company Scholarship was made by Chief Draftsman, C. H. Mitchell, to John Wolfe. Mr. Ross then presented the Scholarships awarded by the Detroit Institute of Technology. He stated that he thought that it was his privi¬ lege to make this one presentation as they could not come to an agreement and had to give the scholarship to two students, Joseph Barr and Gerald Lemon. The Valedictory was made by Mr. James Smith, former president of Vocational United. He bade farewell to the school and expressed his sincere thanks to those who were responsible for giving him the fine education which he re¬ ceived during the years he was at Lowe Voca¬ tional. Commencement Party . . . Following the commencement exercises, the grads and their escorts made their way up to the boys’ gym where a party was arranged for them. The decoration of the gym was really something. Small circular tables were placed horseshoe style around the floor. The orchestra was at the far end of the room. Tea, coffee, and cakes were served. Many members of the staff were there. Miss O’Donoghue cut the beautiful cake which the girls of the Technical Depart¬ ment (with the help of Miss Beasley and Miss Connerty) had made to commemorate the 25th Anniversary. Several of the students of the third forms helped in the serving. All in all, everyone had a grand time, and I think the Graduates of our 1946-47 class will remember it for a long time.

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Page Thirty-Six • DRAMATICS Boys in Operetta IOLANTHE BOB SANDS JOHN RATKO RUSSELL ANDREJCPX VINCENT BENETEAU FLOYD CAVANAUGH DON BAWDEN LEO BAUMGARTNER M. VanMACKLBBURG GEORGE SCHERER KEN WHITMORE ISRAEL RUDOVER BILL ELLIS RUTH ROLLETT SIDNEY HINCH JOE FAITH DRAMATICS Bv DOREEN IDLANTH Beautiful scenery, music and acting were combined to produce one of the most outstand¬ ing operettas ever presented in our school. Gil¬ bert and Sullivan ' s “Iotenlhe , directed by Mr. Bennett was staged on December 2, 3. and 4. It included a cast of eleven with a chorus of fifteen fairies and fifteen peers. To make our operetta even more wonderful, we had the added talent of Mary Hasman, John Clazie. Oswald Lewis. William Crump, and Cecil Fletcher. The first four were former students of our school. Act I is a woodland scene, lolanthe. a fairy, has been banished by the Queen for marrying a mortal. The fairy band persuades the Queen to forgive her. lolanthe returns and introduces her young son Strephon. who is half a fairy, and in love with Phyllis, a ward of the High Chan¬ cellor. Several noblemen aspire to marry Phyl¬ lis, but she cares only for Strephon. One day. Phyllis saw Strephon embracing a young girl in the park. She did not know that this beautiful girl was really SirephotTs mother, and Phyllis then turned ail her attention to Lords Tolloller and Mountararat. The Queen of the fairies in revenge proclaims that Strephon will enter Parliament, to the ruin of the House of Lords. Act 11 takes place outside Westminster Hal! in the evening. Strephon has been elected o Parliament and is having his own wav. The fairies, much to their regret, have fallen in love with the peers who just laugh at them. When lolanthe goes to plead for her son, the High Chancellor discovers that she is really his wife. She thereby incurs the wrath of the Queen and is about to face death. Other considerations, however, change the picture and the opera clo¬ ses with the Peers all deciding to become fairies, leaving the House of Lords to be recruited from men of “intelligence . 5 CAST OF CHARACTERS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE— CeUa , Leila, Fleta — Three fairies played hv Helen Lawton. Marion Potosky, and Eleanor Ogar. All are very good singers and each one caught her man. Queen of Fairies — Mae McDonald was a very good Queen. Both singing and acting were done very well. lolanthe — Myra Plawucki was well suited to this part and did the dramatic acting superbly. Strephon — John Clazie played the handsome son of lolanthe. He won the crowd with his voice and good looks. Phyllis — Mary Hasman, who sings with the Detroit Opera Company, sang and performed very well. Lord Chancellor — Oswald Lewis had the job of taking care of all the young girls in the play. He was quite good at it. Lord Mountararat — William Crump, a Lord, has a lovely tenor voice which thrilled the crowd immensely. Lord Tolloller — Cecil Fletcher, another Lord, played the comedy part very well. The same goes for his singing and acting. Sentry — Mr. H. Cowgill saved the Queen by accepting her proposal of marriage. CHORUS OF FAIRIES— Josie LaTessa, Doreen Rtddam, Katherine Franz. Hil¬ da Rainey, Joyce Richardson, Mary Pedlar, Doris Fraser. Anita Vachon, Lenore Longeuay, Dolores .Masse, Rita Van- drasco. Jaqueline Eagen, Eva Straky, Gloria Boudreau, Pauline Kubakowski. a CHORUS OF PEERS— W. Ellis, R. Andrejciw, R. Rollett, E. Cavanaugh, K. Whitmore, S. Hineh, M. VanjMackleburg. J- Faith, G. Schec’ . t J. Ratko, V. Bcneteau, G. Crawford, D. Bawden, I. Rudover, L. Baumgartner.