Roosevelt Military Academy - Rough Rider Yearbook (Aledo, IL)

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u - Q n He must have wings . . Dancing pixies . . What's up there . . Hi! Shorty . . Slumber on SEVENTY THREE

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ll ' ' I m If Cohen, Tragos, Four Girls Headline Casts That Sing, Dance, And Panic Audiences By JIM ROBERTS If Capt. Mike Coutant was a baseball player, he'd draw the highest salary in history, because he sure bats 1.000 every time he comes to the plate. Instead he's a rattling good dramatics director, and his three- night production of Midsummer Night's Dream at Roosevelt Mili- tary Academy on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights was tops. It trumped his two previous shows by the Bard, of Caesar and t'Romeo and Juliet, which this writer thought was impossible. wk :xc wk Apparently Mike's cast of 100 high school age players from Roosevelt Military academy and schools Aledo and Viola high don't know the meaning of im- possible, because they it strictly from Basin played Street. And we'll bet everyone of the cast had a great time production. in the bkbkbk One hardly knows where to start in handing out the raves, because seldom have so many done so much so well. My Achin' Sides They brought meaning to lines that are often dull for the mere reader, and when the hilarious scenes arrived in this best of all Shakespearian comedies, they romped through them with a blithe spirit that left the audience sore from laughing. Cadet Chuck Cohen was superb as Bottom in the Wednesday and Friday performances, and on the first show especially, proved a real trouper. Probably no one in the audience that night knew that Chuck, who made merry in the rude mechanics' play within a play, was on stage for 15 min- utes with an accidentally inflicted gash in his left arm, that after the show required eight stitches from a physician! wk :ie :xc He picked up that slash, about a half inch deep, during the riotous scene when Bottom portrays the death of Pyramus in the mechanics' play. Yet he never batted an eyelash that wasn't in the plot. And Friday the only evidence of his near conversion to beefsteak was a bandage that only slightly showed. wk ik wx: Running a neck and neck race with Cohen as a scene stealer was little Cadet Bill Tragos who old Bill the Bard must have had in mind for the part of Puck when he wrote it. Aiding and abetting Cohen- and Cadet Charles Hyde, who fill- ed the part Saturday night when the former was attending his grandparents Golden Wedding an- niversary in Chicago-was a quar- tet of equally stupid rascals who will be remembered for years by their spectators. Cadet Gaar Fitch was a riot as Flute, the bellows mendor who becomes Thisbe, the maiden-all 6 ft. 5 inches of him! Cadet B. J. Ack- erman with a burlap frock and cow's horn ear-trumpet panicked the on-lookers with his Oh, an- other lover type of retorts, and Cadets Dan Stilling and Gerald Guinn teamed as Snout and Snug to round out the mechanics, cast, directed by Peter Quince, as por- trayed by saucy and exasperated Cadet Lt. Howard McPherson. Gals Are Great On the feminine side, Miss Sally Smith and Miss Jeanne Peterson of Viola teamed as Hermia and Helena on Wednesday night, while Miss LaVon Lundquist and Miss Janet Oppfelt portrayed the roles on Thursday and Saturday nights. The enunciation and feel- ing for the parts was wonderful in each case, and both sets of girls reached their peak in the lively 'fmadn scene in the forest when Hermia attempts to claw her ex- friend to pieces. As suitors to the girls, Cadets Jim Watts and Walter Miller were both handsome, convincing and enjoyable. And in direct con- trast to their handsomeness were the scenes featuring Oberon, king of the fairies, and his nine bat- men attendants. Cadet Waclov Jagiella, whose make-up was de- signed for Capt. Coutant bv the Max Factor Studios in Holly- wood, was a fearful giant whose spell imposed on the sparkling Diane Johnson as Titania, queen of the fairies, was the cause of some tremendous snafu proceed- ings. And Tragos too proved he can do other things besides play foot- ball and then trade off as a dancing Puck, when he put to music the solos On The Ground and Up and Down. The performance was given in the academy gymnasium, using a stage and also most of the center of the floor as Coutantls players employed the modern theatrical practice of a circular staging. The show is predicated on the en- trance of Theseus and Hippolyta, as portrayed by Cadet Elliot Greenburg and Marjorie Rey- nolds. They were accompanied by SEVENTY-TWO Cadet George Engle as Egeus, Hermia's doting father, and Cadet Richard Bale, who is Philostrate, master of the revels. The lighting was in the charge of Cadet Ronald Anderson, while Cadet Warren Thomas was pro- duction manager and Cadet Don- ald Young was assistant to Capt. Coutant, who also proved his ex- cellence as a ballet-master by drilling a group of Aledo high school sophomore girls into a de- lightful ballet corps on only 12 lessons. The bats, attendants to Oberon, also presented a tricky ballet number, and at intermis- sion one of their number Cadet Lowell Jackson, most excellently played the soulful 'fNocturne by Felix Mendelssohn's Midsum- mer Night's Dream, on the ma- rimba. Others adding to the perform- ance were Cadets Roger Schultz, Monte Shalander, Joseph Poretta and John Timson as the Little Pucksg fairy attendants of Ti- tania: Misses Shirley Greer, Diane Prentiss, Kay Varner, Esther Frye, Sandra Goss, Shirley Maynard, Joyce Peterson, Nancy Stead, Marlene Kottman, Mary Nichols, Dolores Sage, Patsy Relander, Shirley Reason, Janet Clymore, Darlene Holt, Cherie and Rita Browng Amazon attendants to Hippolyta: Misses Miriam White, Janice Fell, Janet Swearingen, Barbara Vogelsang. , Warrior attendants to Theseus: Carets Jack Viner, Peter Kidwell, William Stokes, The Bats, attend- ants of Oberon: Cadets Edward Swanson, Richard Good, Lowell Jackson, Richard Morgan, San- ford Brandt, Leonard Dierking, Robert Douglas, Donald Andrews, Charles Hyde., Feature dancer, Miss Judy Solomon. K Production Staff Assistant electrians, Cadet Rich- ard Stempien, Cadet Carl Tchok- reff, C a d e t Pfc. Dwight Pollack, Cadet Pfc. George Nich- nlson: Stage carpenters, Cadet Sgt. Ronald Anderson and Cadet Sgt. David Meyers. Sound effects, Cadet Pvt. Wil- liam Stein, Make-up, Cadet Cpl. David Bersellg Business Manager, Cadet Sgt. Charles Paradiseg Pub- licity, Cadet Sgt. Harold Polkowg Property Manager and Costumes, Cadet Sgt. Thomas Staggs and Cadet Pvt. James Prescott. Costume Mistress, Miss Bar- bara Sandquistg Scenery designed and Painted, Cadet Pvt. Jack Viner, House manager, Cadet Pfc. Walter McKenna, Stroblites, courtesy Mrs. Shirley Reiserg Cos- tumes made by Mrs. Faye Day and Mrs. Robert Eberleg Makeup designed by Max Factor Studios, Hollywood, Program Cover by Cadet Pvt. Jack Viner.

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Mvumf. - ' President, Mr. Premo Westolg Past President, Mr. Ed Anderson. The Rough Rider wishes to thank the Parent-Alumni Association for the many fine gifts that have been presented to the academy this year. We extend our sincere Wishes that our parents and the alumni will have many more successful years and that the fine cooperation between this group and our school will always be as pleasant as it has been this past school term. SEVENTY-FOUR