Saint Ambrose College - Oaks Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

Page 32 text:

Scenes from The Best Man and The Emperor's New Clothes Xi 1 4Wss-nm 0 Scott Kelly, Larry Wood and .lim Seward in an intense scene from The Best Man.

Page 31 text:

The Fall Play was an election year selection called The Best Man. The winter children's play was The Emperor's New Clothes. Nina Mokhiber and Julie DeWitt greet children from the audience after the matinee. A good actor doesn't just walk around a stage and say some lines. Learning lines is one of the more difficult tasks but that is only the be- ginning of an actor's responsi- bility to his character. An ac- tor must also know exactly when and where to move on stage. Perhaps the most diffi- cult of an actor's tasks is to bring something new and original to each performance. Actors receive adulation and the applause, but they are not the only members of a pro- duction. A play cannot be ef- fective unless it is presented to the audience complete with authentic costumes, stage settings and props. To move through scene changes smoothly and quickly, a play depends upon a competent backstage crew. Technical members of a production may be overlooked by theater go- ers, but they are highly re- spected by the directors and actors. Building a set, procuring props and constructing cos- tumes require a great deal of time. Over l,2OO cumulative work hours go into the techni- cal end of producing a play. A play must have an audience and an audience does not sim- ply appear on opening night by magic. Time is also spent on publicity. Producing a play may seem glamorous, and is certainly in- teresting, but is far from easy. When the curtain falls on closing night, the audience returns to reality and the ac- tors and technicians plan the strike. Not long after the last performance all the sce- nery is taken down, lumber is salvaged and the theater cleaned. The magic has ended until the next show and its cast prepares for the next production.

Page 33 text:

Election results are in. Jim Seward, Anne Schrier. Nina Mokniber, Scott Kelly, Brenda Cook, Linda Cook, and Rick Meyer are relieved at the news. Larry Wood adds some fine detail to Rick Meyer's make-up for Emperor's New Clothes, Larry directed the children's play this year and was rewarded by outstanding approval of the various Quad city schools that sent buses of viewers to the matinees presented in Allaert Aud.