Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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departure of so many members, but determination and willingness to work brought nothing but prosperity to the group during the past year. Under the inspiring direction of Mr. RoBert A. Gary, moderator, and Mike Norducci, president, the forty members of the orchestra presented enter- tainment running the gamut of classical and modern com- position. Perfection is on endurance proposition where so much coor- dination is involved and where expression is so obvious. Thus it is that time is of such value to the orchestra man and his music can be heard in practice sessions late into evening. The results were very pleasing: two sucessful con- certs and a number of appearances in student body activities. In the Christmas Concert, the orchestra emerged from its supporting lrole to present Street Scene, featuring vice president Michael Dudeck and his fellow trumpeteers, Dancing Violins, and Brazilian Sleighbells. Topping off the splen- did entertainment, the group accompanied the Glee Club Octet, recreating the gay atmosphere of Oklahoma. The equally weII-planned Spring Concert featured another Broadway great, and the orchestra complied with the musical score of Carousel. The old adage correlating books, professor's glances, and vacation time seems to apply itself as readily to extra- curricular life as to subject matter. The young man about campus is only too willing to take a recess from the activities which have kept him so busy during the school months, and transport himself to the land of no tension. I don't care if you are the solo baritone of the show. No one gets in here without paying. I heard that the kid with the soprano voice has a yen for Sally's girl friend. The combined St. Joseph's College and Manhattan College Glee Clubs ioin in the Song of Christmas.

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The Manhattan Glee Club burst forth in a cheerful Christmas Carol. Even the orchestra watches in amazement as the chorus sings by candle light. f'SOY, Sally, I think that the cute fellow with the soprano voice might ask me to hear him sing the scales. The Glee Club has long played an important role in th cultural life of Manhattan College qnd has, in recent years broadened its scope of activityuParticipation in the Fort Hours Devotion, the Christmas celebration, Moving-Up Day and other school functions, has become traditional. The cultural calendar of the group has itself expanded durin- this period. In 1953 the society made its television debut o the Ted Mack program, and drew the attention of man Catholic groups. The Glee Club was to be found in the ensuing years repre senting Manhattan at varied events for from the Riverdal- scene. On campus too, progress had been given a stron- footing. Under the leadership of Martin Ward, president, th club has witnessed another series of forward steps in th- past year. During the fall semester of 1955 the Glee Club sponsore- four concerts with local women's colleges. The Christma concert, always an SRO highlight, was presented with th- sopranos and contraltos of Albertus Mognus College, an- featured Roy Ringwald's Song of Christmas, traditiona of yuletide at Manhattan. The spring term was again studded with concerts and . number of radio appearances, and Easter Sunday found th Octet before the local television cameras. The close of th year left some sixty members proud of services rendere-e and the stu'aent body indebted to the Voices of Manhattan. Even the clairvoyant would not have predicted the future t- the Manhattan Coliege Orchestra one year ago with 1h

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the players Call them different if you will, but such is not the case with the famed group of Manhattan thespians, The Players. Their argument, simply stated, is that Pope Saint Gregory assigned twelve months to each year, and twelve months will the Plavers have. With the ovations received by the Spring 1955 production The Emperor's Clothes ringing in their ears, the performers took to summer stock for the first time in history. The leisure season of June to August found the society involved in the rehearsals and rehearsals behind the scenes of four one-act plays and one three-act reading. The company, fifteen Players and ten ladies from the local colleges, presented their art before the audiences of many Catholic Charity organizations. September returned the group to their own Broadway, the stages of Manhattan, and on wet and windy November 4, the reading of Everyman, the morality play, hoisted the Jasper curtain. John Nagle portrayed the bewildered Every- man and, in preparing himself for the final journey, was admirably supported by the strong triumvirate of Roger Goebel, Phil Sandstrom, and Thomas Gowlan. With society moderator Professor John D. Mitchell and presi- dent James Bellew spearheading the major production of the fall semester, the semi-onnual play, the Players accom- plished another first by inviting the student body to select the work to be presented. The tally after campus balloting was overwhelmingly in favor of the Donald Bevan-Edmund Trycinski production Stalag 'l7, sending the Players scurry- Dramatic Declumution was a favorite at the meetings.