Stern College for Women - Kochaviah Yearbook (New York, NY)

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DIARY OF A THESPIANETTE SEPTEMBER, 1955 Dear Diary, I jusc signed up for the Dramatics Club. I ' ve always had a yen to express myself on the stage — and here ' s my opportunity at last. NOVEMBER, 1955 Hey! What ' s going on? I didn ' t know Sarah Bernhardt went into tantrums before every performance she gave. Oh, I see. Rabbi Shulman (he ' s our coach) says this ' U really bring out our voices. But I ' m a modest and delicate soul, so I don ' t really think I ' ll try it now. What am I talking about? That ' s easy. Take any kind of recitation, break it up into syllables, and shout it that way while throwing your arms, trunk, and those other appendages into a different contortion with each syllable. Sounds weird? Aw. c ' mon, it ' s all for the sake of art and the theatre! Rabbi Shulman is demonstrating ... he flings his left arm to the ceiling . . . oops! There goes his watch sailing across the room . . . and as it clonks against ye old blackboard, we realize we ' ve been fortunate to witness power as a tangible object . . . well, anyway Q.E.D. JANUARY, 1956 Sh-h! Do not tell anyone, but I theenk perhaps maybe efsher the Dramatics Society of Stern College for Women — ahem! is preparing to consider offering a sample of its illustrious theatrical ability. MARCH, 1956 Let ' s do a musical! Somebody around here ' s supposed to sing! Don ' t be silly — give the audience credit for some imagination. Rabbi Shulman and I have gone over to Schirmer ' s to listen to the score of Trial by Jury. Gilbert and Sullivan were never in better voice — oh, pardon my error — anyway this operetta is tres suitable for our purpose and we ' ve got just the cast. MAY, 1956 Rabbi Shulman has certainly given a great deal of his time and effort and infinite patience in his direction of our performance. Martelle Berenson is, as usual, in beautiful voice as the lovely, wronged Angelina. Rachael Apher as the judge is sen- sationally funny with her inimitable style of song and jig. Other freshmen in the cast are Effie Fink, Iolet Shapiro, Ginger Prager, Chani Intrater, Fran Pakter, Ethel Kagan, Marga Weinberg, and Esther Holstein. As an unbiased outsider, Yours Truly declines to make a statement about her part as the Defendant, seeing as how circumstantial evidence may tend to irreparably incriminate said party of the first part. Meanwhile, back at the operetta ... it seems that one of our spies in the audience has just informed us that they were rolling in the aisles. Sound corny? Aw, don ' t be a killjoy ... let us live a little. History has just been made at Stern College — ■ the first Dramatics Club presentation — and as our jet-propelled curtain closes the stage from view, I give a weary yawn — what a workout, but what fun! Sleep tight, little Diary, Ie shono ha boah ba Metropolitan. 16

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FRED SELMA STILLMAN, LONG BEACH, NEW YORK Daphne first saw him down by the corner drugstore. His hair was dark brown in color and his eyes had a soft, lovable look. Questioning the soda-jerk, Daphne learned that Fred often visited that very drugstore. just at that moment Fred came inside and Daphne noticed the brisk way he carried himself and the friendly greetings he got from the drugstore staff. She wondered whom he lived with and the soda-jerk informed her he didn ' t know. Somehow afraid to ask any more questions, she left the store, looking back at Fred just once. Instinctively she liked him and knew that she would return to that soda fountain often. As she had hoped, when she became part of the drugstore scene, Fred finally noticed her. One day he sat next to her while she drank a malted milk and she dared to watch him closely for several seconds. When she turned the stool around so as to get off, she accidentally kicked his leg. When he jumped back in a sutprised manner and looked at her in a slight cringe of pain, she cried, I ' m sorry. A special awareness in the look he returned her made her happy that this little accident had occurred. That day he walked home with her. Well, he actually didn ' t walk home with ,her — he just sort of trailed her in the background. Daphne felt a glow in her heart and a blush on her cheeks, but she didn ' t turn around to acknowledge his presence; she knew she must handle this right — especially with one she had begun to feel so deeply about. About two doors from her house he stopped walking and just seemed to be watching. Daphne watched him out of the corners of her eyes. I guess he just wants to learn where I live and maybe, oh maybe, he ' ll come over one day. These were her thoughts at that moment, but she did not tell her mother or father about Fred. He was her own secret and besides she didn ' t know if her parents would smile on a drugstore-meeting-follow-home friendship. So Daphne decided to stay away from the drugstore for one day at least, with the hope that Fred would come over to see what had happened when such a steady customer absented herself from her daily haunt. But Fred did not come, not at all. It made Daphne a little sad, but she couldn ' t act disappointed or her mother would notice and she didn ' t want to tell about Fred, not just yet anyway. 18