North Shore Country Day School - Mirror Yearbook (Winnetka, IL)

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OPERA The girls ' gym was a scene of great con- fusion. The freshmen girls were administer- ing a few last minute dabs of powder upon the noses of some members of the chorus. Several boys dressed in the attire of old time sailors, artists, and farmers were wandering aimlessly around getting in everyone ' s way, and groups of girls in costumes of 18S0 were chattering and giggling, trying to act unex- cited. Upon the stage Mr. Duff, several pounds thinner than he had been a month ago, was pacing nervously up and down, and nearly stumbling over the robed, bewigged gentlemen who were sitting glumly on the edge of the stage, rather pale under their make-up. A whistle blew and a crowd of boys and girls gathered in front of the stage. With a few words of instruction and encouragement from Mr. Duff, the orders were eiven for everyone to take his place for Trial by Jury. This moment was the climax of weeks of work and worry, the time that the whole high school had been eagerly awaiting since the middle of winter. When the curtain went up on Trial by Jury, and the actors looked forth at that endless sea of blank faces staring up at them, they felt a momentary pang of stage fright. This feeling soon passed, however, when they began to get into the swing of things. As the time came for A Nice Dilemma the whole cast mentally gritted their teeth, pitched in, and battled to a successful finish. At the end of Trial by Jury, the actors made a mad clash off the stage, and the sta je crew hurried on to change from the detailed set of the first opera to the simple, modern- istic set of Xingabru. The girls tore down stairs to cover them- selves with liquid powder and to change from long skirts to pastel-colored sarongs decorated with bright flowers and wide sashes. Dorothy Lamour would have bought herself a snowsuit if she could have seen the jungle belles of North Shore. The boys were transformed from jurymen into red-coated Northwest Mounties and black cannibals with feathers in their kinky wigs and bones in their noses. The premiere of Xingabru by Duff Jameson was awaited with as much excite- ment as any Hollywood opening. The fact that it was the first performance of the opera whose libretto was written by a North Shore student and whose musical score was com- posed by one of the faculty, drew a record- breaking crowd both nights and made the experience a more personal one for actor and audience alike. In the second act the antics of the canni- bals dancing the conga to the wild beat of a jungle drum literally stopped the show. They were called back for an unprecedented encore at both evening performances. On Saturday night when the last curtain fell, and it was all over but the shouting, the whole cast filed from the stage to get rid of the grease paint and scrub off the liquid powder. With a very let down feeling they realized that this was the last opera per- formance till next year. For the seniors, there was no cheery thought of next year, however, and in the future they would be only onlookers. If you could put all the fun and satisfac- 26

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VAUDEVILLE If anyone ever has doubts (and how could he) about North Shore ' s dramatic talent, he should remember the Vaudeville of 1941. Everything went off without a hitch, except for the disturbances caused by a couple of janitors. Starting the program with some cultural entertainment, one of our more learned stu- dents gave an enlightening scientific lecture. A magician worked some feats of prestidi- gitation, aided by an assistant who put on a display of cheesecake the like of which has never been seen before. Those chic Senior girls, in a style show, looked as if they had just stepped out of Vogue (of 1920). Since no show could be complete without a Western, the Junior girls supplied one. It had everything from horses and canoes to cowboys and Indians. A few Senior boys staged a double-thriller horror show that made Frankenstein look like Mickey Mouse. Those cute red and green clowns gave Mr. Giallombardo a run for his money and the Freshman girls, with a Truth and Conse- quences program, made people guzzle milk out of a bottle and eat their Wheaties blind- folded. The Sophomore boys out-quizzed the Quiz Kids ; and the Senior boys, deserting the ballet for the northwoods, gave their vo- cal chords a workout with some Canadian songs. Last but not least was the faculty ' s stunt. How can we ever forget the ravishing hero- ine, the dashing leading man, the ping-pong champion, the intelligent servant, and the rest of the talented cast? Everybody, meaning the parents (you know how parents are) and the actors, re- ported the Vaudeville to be great entertain- ment. After the show everyone went into the girls ' gym and cut a rug at the Sophomores ' dance. The Vaudeville was not only a good show, and fun to produce, but it made a profit of about $100 more than was expected. Since the budget of the Student Government de- pends largely on the return from the Vaude- ville, that extra profit was a gift from Heaven. 25

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tion gotten from the opera on one side of a scale and then tried to balance it with the work put in on the opera, the amount of fun would by far outweigh the amount of work. No one would give up the fun of rehearsing, of the Sunday afternoon practice for the leads at the Duff ' s, of the supper the night of the dress rehearsal, of the excitement of the performances just because he was afraid of a little hard work. The person who originated the idea of an annual opera deserves a medal of honor be- cause North Shore without an opera would be like a cake without frosting-. Zl