Sacramento City College - Pioneer Yearbook (Sacramento, CA)

Page 30 text:

ADRIENNE LECOUVREUR A very successful drama season was brought to a brilliant close with the presentation of Adrienne Lecouvreur on April 19th and 20th at Stanford Junior High School. The choice of the play was admirable, Adrienne Lecouvreur being an example of a perfectly constructed play. The plot is artistic, dramatic, and fast moving, never lacking in interest, but moving swiftly on to its tragic conclusion. It was a delightful and beautiful spectacle to watch. The costumes were authentic and rich and both men and women wore powdered wigs. Evelyn Culver in the title role portrayed the life story of the famous French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur who was famous at the Comedie Francais in 1730. Miss Culver interpretated the role intelligently. The death scene was particularly beautiful and emotional, yet artistically restrained. Russell Azzara and John Moller completed a very outstanding repertoire of plays. In the past two years these young actors have taken leading roles in every production, and have created many fine characterizations. Russell Azzara played Michonnet. He reincarnated this lovable old man, who once actually lived and loved Adrienne. Adrienne ' s lover, Maurice, was capably played by John Moller. The Abbe de Chazevil, played by Laurence Davis, and the Princess de Bovillon, played by Dorothy Pratt, were two finecharacterizations, the Abbe being worldly and shrewd and the princess, polished, subtle, and villainous. George Sutter gave a very good interpretation of the role of the prince. Others in the cast included: Duchess D ' Aumont, Ruth Gartler; Marquise de Sancerse, Elizabeth Guthrie; Countess de Beauveau, Sarah Louise Heilbron; Mdlle. Joevenot, Ruth Friedburg; Mdlle. Dongeville, Dorothy Lipps; Susanne, Martha Minter; Poirson, Elizabeth Svetich; Quenaul ' t, John Ferguson; Servant, John Dulton; Call Boy, Marshall Brooke. A delightful feature that added greatly to the charm of the play was the music used. It was taken from the opera Adriand Lecouvreur” by Franceres Cilea, and played by John Coppin, violinist, and Arthur McCue, pianist. The make-up class received congratulations upon the splendid manner in which the difficult make-ups were created. This class was under the instruction of Miss Frances Frater. Martha Minter acted as make-up mistress. The electrical department continued to give the drama class support of the highest quality. This department was under the supervision of Marshall Brooke, assisted by Max Doan. Nanne Yost for the second time was ap¬ pointed the responsible position of stage man¬ ager. Under her efficient direction the back stage staff worked in perfect union. The tech¬ nical staff included: George Patterson, master of properties; John Dutton, prompter; Martha Minter, assistant prompter; John Ferguson, wardrobe master, assisted by Mildred Huston and Beverly Calvert; Elizabeth Gutherie, call boy.

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Shakespeare ' s last original and uncollaborated play, The Comedy of the Tempest, was presented in two public performances on the evenings of March first and second at the Stanford Junior High School Auditorium. A private performance was sponsored by the educational department for Sacramento school children on Friday afternoon. Painted forests against a background of luxurious velvet cur¬ tains furnished a pleasing setting for the play, the action of which takes place on an uninhabited island. Changes of scene were designated by slight shifts in curtain arrangements and the addition of a few stage properties. Clever effects were obtained by the lighting which was designed by Marshall Brooke. The Tempest is full of human interest, fun and magic like A Mid¬ summer Night ' s Dream, but with a more wistful beauty and a deeper significance. The characters were well cast as to ability. Several important characters were double cast and both parties did equal justice to their roles. Russell Azzara and John Moller, as the savage Caliban, had two different but fascinating interpretations. Dorothy Pratt, as the sweet and innocent Miranda, and Elizabeth Gutherie, a more animated Miranda, proved that freshman can do fine things. Perhaps the most outstanding part in the play was Shakes¬ peare ' s brilliant character of Ariel, de¬ lightfully and successfully portrayed by Margaret Gleason. Ariel dominated prac¬ tically every one of the numerous scenes in which she appeared. Miss Gleason was charming in her depiction of the fairy sprite and her delightful singing voice added much to the difficult role. Kind old Prospero was played by John Ferguson and Ferdinand by Forrest Darby, both newcomers. Excellent bits of humor were inserted by the drunken trio of Trinculo, Ste- phano, and Caliban, the first of the two parts enacted by Joe Silva and George Sutter. These scenes rivalled Ariel in popularity with the audience. Mystery was added by the masque in which Prospero calls upon the spirits for enter¬ tainment. The appearance of goddesses, nymphs, dancers, monsters and divers spirits form a striking picture as well as furnishing a lull in the action. Top of page—Russell Azzara. Center—George Sut¬ ler, Joe Silva, John Moller. Bottom — Margaret Gleason, Dorothy Pratt, Forrest Darby, John Ferguson.

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Top row, left to right—Mr. R. W. Everett, Mallett, Schei, Mr. J. S. Hughes. Bottom row—Williard, Allewelt, Williams. DEBATE The outlook for the Junior College debating team at the beginning of the Fall semester was not particularly encouraging. Only three experienced debaters remained on the team—Elwood Williams, Tom MacBride, and Laurence Schei. The new members, however, fulfilled their positions very efficiently, and showed great promise for a better record in the Spring and Fall semesters of 1934. The new members were: Bill Milton, Clarence Willard, Alta Jane Allewelt, and Robert Mallett. The debate coaches—Mr. Ralph W. Everett and Mr. James S. Ffughes—deserve a great deal of credit for their able guidance. The topic for the first debate was Resolved: That the United States government should own and operate the railroads. The date for this debate was October 26th. Sacramento s affirmative team—Miss Allewelt and Mr. Williams—met the Modesto Junior College team at Sacramento. The Modesto Junior College team, composed of two excellent speakers—Kenneth Bock and Kenneth Grimm—was awarded a unanimous decision by the tnree judges. The negative team—Mr. Milton and Mr. Williard—traveled to Santa Rosa where they debated Merle Hanmer and Marion Murray. They were also defeated by a two-to-one decision. In spite of the rather gloomy start, the Sacramento team prepared enthusiastically for the second league debate on the question Resolved: That the United States should lead in tariff reductions. This question was debated December 8th. The affirmative was upheld by Miss Allewelt and Mr. MacBride who had as their opponents Miss Adria Wiseman and Marion Murray of Santa Rosa Junior College. The Sacramento team won by a two-to-one decision and the number of points scored was far above that of the Santa Rosa teams, thus giving Sacramento high point honors. The negative team debated at Modesto on the same date. Mr. Schei and Mr. Mallet met Mr. Bacon and Mr. Downing of the Modesto Junior College. The Sacramento team lost the hard-fought question by a two-to-one decision. The decision was lost by only thirteen points out of a 300-point judges ' decision. The topics for all of the league debates were extremely timely and interesting when considered in the light of the present economic policies of the United States government. As the Pioneer goes to press, tentative plans are being made for several other debates this season, but, as yet, definite dates have not been decided upon.