1952 Magnet Yearbook

,J ARVI:' COLU:GIATE
57
THE
Jarvis has again presented a suecess
ful operetta. For the past fin"
yea rs we ha w perfor med Gilbert
and Sullivan ope rettas. but this year
) Ir. Overholt decided to do somethin g
di fferent; 1'0 he chose a da ring novelty,
"The Chimes of Xormandv".
by Robert Planquette. Everyone sa id
it would not be a success. but wit h
two of the best men-e- Mr . Overholt
an d ) Ir. Campbell-in charge. a nd
a n enth usiastic cast, serious re hearsing
began after the Christmas holida
yl'.
Th en ca me the Snturdu v rehearsail',
which were th e most enj oyable.
We'll take a peek at one. "Alr tght
everybody, beginners Act 1" T he
chor us all lined up , eve ryone talk ing
a nd waiting fo r t he music. Th e orchestra
started to play and rehearsal
began. Time after time :\[r .
Ca mpbell stopped it to explain posl ­
ti ons and lines and to yell at the
chorus to keep quiet. T hen, )[r. Overholt
stopped procedure to bawl out
someo ne in the cas t for not knowing
his cues and to explain parts of
t he music to the orchestra. At last
after tw o hour" Act I was over and
eve ryone rushed off to a rest a urant.
As the week" progressed songs and
lines were beginning to iron ou t. but
still cues were missed. and still the
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OPERETTA
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cast ke pt talkin g: ;\1r, Campbell and
) [1'. Overholt were st ill yelling, hut
patien t as well.
w ith th e d rell:-; rehea rsal druwing
near, :\Ir. Overholt's hopes were not
too high. n ut. after it was ove r. he
was proud of us. It W3:, the best dress
rehearsal ever. Each perfor mance bl;"­
came better and Saturday night's was
almost perfect.
Our thank" go to Wally Pet r vka n
and Tom Stephens. who came axatn
this year to help us out. Wally W31'\
in good voice . and wry muc h at
home in his portrayal of C renicheux.
Tom was up to hi" old tr-icks and
funnier than eve r as th e Baillie. T his
pa rt was also played by Wall y Rus­
"ell , who did a grand job. Br uce
Crockett deserves special congratulat
ions for the w a ~ ' in which he portrayed
the difficult part of Ga spard. t he
old miser. Again , as before, Bettv
Rober tson's sweet voice rang through
the audito r ium. Unfortunately, th is
is her last vear at Jarvis. bu t I am
sure she ha's a brillian t ca ree r as a
singe r. Vera Stacey. who also pla y­
ed Ger maine, dese rves credit fo r her
performance. For t unately for us. she
will be here again next year. Better
tha n ever was Li llian Boain otl. who
played the pa rt of t he scamp. Se rpelet
te. In some spot:' Lillian stole the
show with he r exhilarati ng voice. but
I am afraid this is also he r last ope r­
etta at Jarvis. RUT . if she doesn't get
he r FRF.='CH (which I hope sludoes
n't for OUI' sake) :o;he will bt'