Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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GLEE ClUB WITH one of the hardest-working mod- erators in the College at their hehn, the men of the Glee Club have come through with one of the organization ' s most produc- tive seasons. For when October, 1946 saw Manhattan ' s huge enrollment of almost 2,500 men on the campus, the energetic Brother Basilian started from scratch with- out a single man returning from the pre- vious year ' s singing group. When the enthusiastic director issued his iirst call for choristers, he was swamped by no less than two hundred applicants. From this large group, Brother Basilian chose what proved to be a finely balanced group of seventy voices. After over two months of constant practice with small groups and the weekly Wednesday evening combined re- hearsal, the group put on their first concert of the year at the annual St. Vincent de Paul Christmas show in December. This started a lont: series of concerts o throughout the city, with the programs at the College of iVlount Saint ' Vmcent and at the New York Athletic Club outstanding. The latter event included four ensemble numbers sung with the N.Y.A.C., the Kings County, and the hicarnation Holy Name Society Cilee (dubs. Following the final appearance of the group at the Ct)mmencement Exercises on June 10, jovial William Leary, president of the Cilee (dub, announced that an executive society was already busily engaged in work- ing out a schedule of events for next year. 199

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Charles Riker, ' 49, was chosen to play the lead, the amiable home-spun philosopher. Grandpa Vanderhof. Supporting roles were assigned to Dan Petix, ' 48; Phil Seltzer, ' -49; John O ' Leary, ' 48; Bill Smith, ' 48; Barny Rynn, ' 49; and Robert McFadden. ' 47. Long hours of rehearsal, gradually de- veloped the cast ' s talent. The construction crew sawed, hammered, and pasted tor many afternoons and evenings building the sets. A publicity campaign featured many stones in the Quadrangle until the long hours of work were over and the curtain went up to reveal — another hit ' That others than pre|- udiced Manhattanites enjoyed the play was soon proven in the form of many congratu- latory letters. The Oscar Serlm organization, producers of Life With Father, sent a message praising the sets and the handling of comedy lines by the cast. Another first- nighter, well accjuainted with theatrics, placed the i.]uality of the production well abo ' e collegiate standards. This year a well-knit Players group met early m October, hi the past the group was idle during the winter months until plans got under way for the yearly show. However, the surqe of interest shown at the initial meet- ings continued through the Fall because of a well-balanced activities schedule. Theatre parties were organized, and distinguished speakers from the theatrical world were in- vited to address the meetings. On one occa- sion, Dennis Guerney of the BLiLkfriars ' Guild gave a talk on the Catholic theatre group and he was so well recened that he was made an honorary member and presented with the gold key of the Manhattan Players. ■While these activities were going on, a varied group of plays was being assembled for the members ' choice of a 1947 vehicle. Serious drama bowed to comedy when Rob- ert Sherwood ' s Queen ' s Husband was ' oted the best suited for maximum enjoy- ment by audience and actors alike. Professor Carty, moderator of the Players, this year handed the task of directing over to Mr, Frederick Little, instructor in a course in Play Production at Manhattan and an in- structor 111 dramatics at (Columbia Univer- sity. The cast as it appeared on opening night consisted of: Al Coakley, ' 49, in the role o£ the mild-mannered King Eric; Frances Graff as the Queen; Ed Earley, ' 47, as the foreign minister; Jared Haines, ' 49; John McCarthy, ' -48; Michael McDermott, ' -I9; John Quann, ' 49; H. T. Hosten, ' ' SO; Jack O ' Connor, ' 49; and |ohii P. Smith, ' 0. The officers of the Players for the past year were James Sheehy, President; Dan Petix, Vice-president; Joe Daly, Treasurer; William Burns, Secretary; and Robert Mc- Loughlm, Director of Publicity. 198

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COUNCIL OF DEBATE Two hundred forty-four victories as against only forty-six defeats. A stag- t;erin5 record, no matter what the field of endeavor. Manhattan ' s Council of Debate has com- piled |ust that record during the past years in meetings with such schools as West Point, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Rutgers, Catholic LIni ' ersity, ViUanova and many others. Mem- ories of this former power — or perhaps it was the dimly-heard voices of those who had defeated these scliools — caused a small group to attempt reorganization of the Council last Fall. At the first meeting of the group, Mr. Henry O ' Brien took over as moderator of the group and since that time his deep in- terest in debating and in members of the Council has been of great aid in helping overcome the many obstacles standing in the way of reorganization. On the evening of March 5, the Alumni Room in Cardinal Hayes Library resounded to the voices of Manhattan debaters for the first time in three years. Ed Walsh and Bob McLoughlm, both debating for the first time, presented the negative of the proposition, That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry. However, their experience was not sufficient to gain a ictory and the Council had to be satisfied with a draw with the Bucknell debaters for the opening of the season. 200