Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Y duvune Word Thus us the reason why a s munaruan steps upon a stage ln thus aum the Drama Department lues v ry close to the semunary s speech course yet ut dufters un uts means of achuevung thus aum ln thus aum our drama department stands apart from that of a hugh school or college Consuderung thus the wave of applause that swells up from the auduence may gratufy a group that has put un a hard nught s work but ut shall never be accepted by them as the standard of theur success Thus year Kund Lady the suxty turst presentatuon of the Drama Department saw for the furst tume the Iught of Quugley s stage The play had been prevuous ly scheduled though not presented un l945 Thus 15

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UNI fi Each year the heavy odor of cold cream and the dazzlung glare of stage lnghts takes on a new slgnufncance for about a dozen of our confreres These are the fellows who call themselves the Quigley Players What they do IS generally known why they do ut IS not Certaunly It IS not the purpose of the semlnary to produce other Charles Laughtons lnor as some wag suggested IS ut the asm of our make up men to produce other Ethel Barrymoresl Just as cer talnly It IS not the place of the priest to plrouette before has people Why then should there be such a group? The nmmedlate answer of entertain ment IS not sufflclent to explain the long hours of practice spent by a group of amateurs who have no par ticular desire to glve an amateurlsh performance There have been occa sions when one could flnd the sem: nary bulldrng black as pitch with the exception of a blazung stage on whnch a group struggled to accomplnsh a convnnclng scene The questnon re curs why do they do lt? 3 my The reason they glve IS this A priest wall always be before h s people Hrs greatest nmplement IH his work of llftnng the Ideals of others n xt to hls life Itself will be hs speech Men luke Hitler know well the magic force of the spoken word and have used at to produce dssas trous results The prnest must luve and speak as a sign of contradlc tlon to these men Nor has the sem: narnan chosen to swell the ranks of those who amuse and divert the world Rather as a priest of the fu ture h wnshes to asslst and guide has people In the awfully real drama of scends both of these Through the expressiveness of the spoken word he 5 Tbgfgjfffm 'JJ lg 35 A Q ' QUL 0 N x x . . I i e 1 . . ' . i' . . life and death and love, which tran- ' - ' 5 I 22303 . . .- Lf' Jr-X . . . . Q, X4 . . . 6 Q I N . . . 1 Cf 0 I ' ' T ' 'V Rl NL

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year it found a new director in the wings in the person of Fr. John O'- Donnell. Though this was the first time Fr. O'Donnell directed the Quigley Players, he is by no means a stranger to the group. He himself was one of the most successful mem- bers when it presented Shadow and Substance in l94l Aided by Fr Liske who gave the Quigley Players their name in i933 Gustav Rosenberg, a slightly agi- tated art collector, was played by Roger O'Brien who with a great deal of mastery managed to let down Mary Herries and a sympathetic audience nightly. His counterpart the business-like banker named Foster was Edmond Parker who as the successful agent of liberation gave an excellent edge of the seat performance and who adapted Kind Lady for our stage Fr O Donnell chose a cast more qualified by enthusiasm than began rehearsing Kind Lady Mean while Ed Conway Joe Corrigan and Joe Vizza spent hours changing the stage into Miss Herries living room and Vincent Heying our electrician fulfilled the directors wish Le there be light Weeks of practice glided by Then the cast dropped scripts put on costumes and after dress and line rehearsals gave Quigley one of its finest first night perform ances This is the way they were seen The role of a doctor and Abbott s highly efficient henchman was very smoothly played by Edward Burke usual requirements of Miss Herries shallow nephew Peter Santard who gained for himself both chuckles and sighs as well as the promise of a wed ding gift One of the most difficult roles of the play that of the unbalanced Ada Henry Abbott s wife was commend ably personated by the most experi enced member of the group Daniel Coughlin who established his ability last year as a cat The character who received more 3 BL 'S JK, , v A in , i J . V . -P as Q-, by experience. ln October this group Martin Dunleavy ably filled the un- . . . . . D 3 . - 7