Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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Student Prince To the lilting voices of pretty frauleins, the flash of foaming beer steins, and the riotous antics of university students, the golden curtain of Pickering College's stage opened onto a brilliant performance of Sigmund Romberg's Student Prince. For two evenings, under the accomplished direction of P.F. Schaus, theGlee Club of the College, assisted by girls from the New- marketHigh School, played and frolicked through the romantic tale of student days at old Heildelberg. The story is essentially a romantic love tale and a rather familiar one although, thankfully, it avoids the traditional happy ending in which the prince carries off the poor young girl and everyone lives happily ever after . Naturally, as in any operetta, the music is the essential ingredient and certainly the Student Prince is no exception. The music is not only well known but it provides ample opportunities for a number of different types of voices. After an introduction to the story by four gorgeously dressed and powdered lackeys QA. Earle, D. Keenan, D. Hope, and R. Shermanj two of the main protagonists, Prince Karl Franz QMichael Stevenson, and Dr. Engel QJim MacLeanj sang one of the most familiar numbers from the operetta, Golden Days . They immediately displayed the fine qualities ofvoice which each possessed. Stevenson was perfect as the young, charm- ing but innocent prince. His voice had the range and pitch needed to carry him through the wide variety of songs which this role demanded. He pos- sessed a sureness and a touch which indicated that he was in command of his role and he never once faltered. Jim MacLean, whose tenor voice has a distinctive tone, was equally in control of his part. He exhibited a naturalness on stage which added weight and dignity to his performance, a very fine one. I lfC'II1N I

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The high-spirited band of students whose voices were always strong and very masculine fincluding that of the Kingston Golden Thrushj was lead by Rory McDiarmid as Detleff, Allan Earle as von Asterberg, and Roy Simons as Lucas. McDiarmid was a wonderful surprise to this listener: his excellent tenor voice constantly came through in a strong tone and was asheer delight to hear. We hope he will appear often in future productions. The boys chorus openly enjoyed the rousing drinking song, Drink, Drink . They approached it like veterans. The sometimes-shrill girls chorus was not quite as strong as the boys, but added charm to the production. The students' sweetheartfand surely everyones' by the end of the even- ingjwas the sweet barmaid Kathie. The students chose her as their queen of the Spring Festival and, naturally, Prince Karl Franz fell madly and quite vigorously in love with her. Carol Smith was a marvellous choice as Kathie. She was the epitome of sweetness and easily captivated the audi- ence with her lovely soprano voice and natural manner upon stage. As with the prince she was ideally suited to the part. Their duets were absolute triumphs of romantic grandeur. Miss Smith is to be heartily congratulated for a wonderful effort. The buffoon in the story is the prince's attendant Lutz. This comic role was filled by Bob Grande, who handled it in the professional and polished acting manner which we now associate with all of his perform- ances on the school's stage. Grande displayed the right amount of discip- line necessary for a comic role without over-acting it or being a ham. As a result, he added a great deal to the enjoyment of the performance of the play. Another seasoned actor was Peter Stephens, who played Lutz' atten- dant, Hubert. Stephens was very good as the wooden, rather dumb, constantly obedient servant until he became the husband of the slightly flippant ser- vant girl, Gretchen, Qentertainingly played by Susan Sproulej. He was able to inflect his voice and bulge his eyes in an appropriate manner that gave him a stunned appearance. With so many roles in the production it is difficult to single them all out forrecognizance. Among the minor leads of importance one should note the fine performance of P. Harper as the Prime Minister, T. Bustinduy as the jolly inn-keeper, Elizabeth Beer as the imperious Grand Duchess of Anastasia, and Colin Beaton as Rudolph Winter, Kathie's husband-to-be. Harry Huriy deserves an accolade for his portrayal of the servant Toni, especially in the scene at the prince's palace. Here he struck the right note of pathos and humility. The minor romantic theme in the operetta was that between Princess Margaret, officially betrothed to Prince Karl, and a member of her guard, Captain Tarnitz. Peggy Mclver and Roger Richardson assumed these parts with skill and imagination. Their duet added a tender and lovely moment. The scene, designed by Mr. J.R. Taylor, was most authentic. The inn and the castle ballroom scenes were delightful. A touch of magnificence was added to the production by the sumptous costumes. Lastly one should pay tribute to those tireless workers behind the stage who do so much to make the show a success. Again there are many individuals but notice should be given to stage manager David Newcome and his stage crew, to properties manager, Bob Forbes, to the make-up department under the skill- ful management of A.H. Jewell, and the benign keeper of the costumes, Mrs. W. Fish. Twenty-four