New Utrecht High School - Comet Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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By Marvin Lucius Aronson EVERY SCHOOL TERM BOASTS at least one outstanding highlight. Pew terms can claim the distinction of witnessing an event as spectacular and as memorable as our Victory Paradef, Several months ago, at a time, when people all over the nation were anxiously asking themselves, What can I do for National Defense?l' sev- eral of Utrechtis teachers hit upon a plan whereby Utrecht would be able to make its contribution to the general welfare of the nation. These teachers conceived the idea of producing a gigantic musical revue in the school auditorium, the proceeds of which were to go to various relief or- ganizations. The show, supported by the Parents-Teachers Association, local churches and synagogues was primarily designed to raise money for the U.S.O., the Red Cross War Relief, and the Junior Red Cross, as well as to afford aid to those students and teachers of Utrecht who had joined the armed forces of America. The generalplan of the production, like everything else about it, was formidable. Lasting for more than two and a half hours, the show was to revolve about five central themes-Pan-Americana, The 100th Anniversary of the Board of Education, What We Have to Eight For, The United Nations, and The Citizen and the War. A group of teachers, who had demonstrated their prowess in previous productions, were called upon to perform the almost superhuman feat of recruiting hundreds of the school's outstanding singers, dancers, and actors from among a student body numbering several thousand, and to coordinate their talents into one great unit-all within a period of approximately two months. Some of those members of the faculty who most actively contributed their efforts to the K'Victory Parade were Mr. Serwer and Mrs. Dopkin fwho directed the whole showj, Messrs. Ehrlich, Eelcher, Charry, and Miss Bromberg and Miss Marinello. Weeks of backbreaking, nerve-wracking work followed, and then- Opening Night. On Thursday night, April 16, after a school day distinguished by the virtually complete absence of studies in the classrooms, the curtain parted for the first time on the long-awaited Victory Paradef, It is difficult to describe the show without plagiarizing Hollywood's press agents'-it was stupendous, colossal, gigantic. It was a hit! That night, a full house gaped in amazement at seventeen numbers ranging in content from serious drama to hilarious comedy-amazed that high school students were capable of turning out such a remarkable show. The audience got its first premonition of the Parade's grandeur dur- ing the very first number, in which the New Utrecht Victory Orchestra, under the capable leadership of Mr. Ehrlich, rendered the stirring, spine-tingling American Fantasy. Eighteen

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Following this auspicious introduction, the Utrecht Victory Chorus raised its collective voice in You and If written by Maurice A. Popkin and Zachary A. Serwer. Then, in the first of several appearances, Mr. Abraham Warchaizer, bald-pated gym instructor, who, it is generally agreed stole the show, brought down the house in a timely skit, entitled We're In The Army Now. This skit described what happened when a lucky group of students were given the opportunity to turn the tables on their teacher. No sooner had this skit terminated, when four would-be Metropolitan Opera Stars, presently affiliated with New Utrechtis teaching staff-Amblin' Abe Felcher, Singiny Sam Applebaum, Waltzing Waiter Minz, and Ample Abe Warchaizer, wistfully recounted the tale of how a villain of the gay nineties was foiled in his attempt to run off with the hero's best girl. This scene helped to corroborate the suspicion held by many that some teachers are capable of doing more than teaching, if they put their minds to it. A serious note was struck in the next number in which a group of stu- dents strikingly demonstrated the importance of Air Raid Precautions. This scene was particularly outstanding for the excellence of its staging. There then followed a thrilling demonstration of agility and physical ntness by the Victory Tumblers in addition to an impressive demonstration of both marching and musical ability by Mr. Charry's Victory Band. Two students, David Seltzer and Sam Adel took the stage in a comedy routine featured by a series of clever imitations of some of the characters, who infest radio programs. Particularly amusing in this talented pairis skit, entitled It Seems Radio Is Here To Stay, was an imitation of the man who vainly attempted to answer the 3564 dollar question on one of radio's many quiz programs. Favorite songs of all the nations constituting the United Nations were sung with gusto by the Victory Scout Chorus. While this group was sing- ing characteristic songs ranging from The British Grenadiersn to Chi Lai, jack Oldstein, a student, realistically imitated President Roosevelt's historic speech delivered to the nation on February 25, 1942. This scene brought to a triumphant conclusion the first act of Victory Paradef, L Almost two hundred members of the Victory Orchestra and the Vic- tory Chorus opened the second act with a rendition of Walt Whitman's musical cantata, UI Hear America Singing. The leading solo was admir- ably handled by Merrill Miller. Presented in an almost completely blacked-out auditorium, Dive Bomb- er, a starkly dramatic radio skit, which told of Colin P. Kelly's historic sinking of a japanese battleship, packed an emotional thrill unparalleled by anything else in the show, as witnessed by the audiences strenuous applause. The next scene, Good Neighborsj' perhaps the most colorful of all as regards staging and costuming, stressed Pan-American solidarity. It was Twenty