4

Page Four

THE

COLLEGE

NEWS



Wednesday, April 25, 1951



Last Nighters

‘Brooklyn’ Spirit Mixes
Melody, Tears,
and Laughs

by Margie Cohn, °52

“The action takes place in
Brooklyn around the turn of the
century’—and Betty Smith’s lov-
able characters begin to take
shape in A Tree Grows in Brook-
lyn. You can’t call it a musical
comedy; you can’t call it an opez-
etta oz a tragedy. Its qualities of
drama are so intermingled that the
tears are hardly dry when you find
yourself laughing. You are taken
through almost every stage of life,
from the pretended birth of a baby,
to a little girl’s graduation, to the
death of a lovable drunkard. It’s
almost too much for the human
chemistry to take at one sitting.

The music by Arthur Schwartz
and Dorothy Fields is fresh, good,
and seemingly lasting. Such
chorus tunes as “Mine ’Til Mon-
day” and “I’m Like a New Broom”
provoked loud applause. The love
song which will probably outlast
the rest is “Make the Man Love
Me,” but the real show stopper
was Shirley Booth’s comic rendi-
tion of “He Had Refinement.”

In fact, Miss Booth herself just-
ly deserves the ovation she gets,
from her first appearance on the
stage to her final curtain bow. Her
acting ability is unquestionably
fine; she lives the part of the
sister, Cissy, with her many hus-
bands named Harry. Also receiv-
ing top billing is Johnny Johnston,
as. the singing waiter, Johnny
Nolan, whose weakness for “hooch”
leads him to his death. For sup-
porting characters, praise must go
to Katie (Marcia Van Dyke), with
her steadfast love for Johnny, and
her pleasant singing voice, to Har-
ry (Nathaniel Frey), Cissy’s
stupid. but appealing husband, and
to Francie (Naomi Mitty), the
little girl who lives in a world of
make-believe.

The sets are outstanding. You
are placed in a realistic Brooklyn
alley, and then transported to a
humble kitchen, with a clever cut-
out ceiling with silhouetted lamps.
The most impressive scene brings
you a danse macabre on Hallo-
we’en, with eerie lighting and
masked figures,

This show does not present an
overall mood of tragedy.or vf
comedy. Certainly the book is
not a comedy. Yet, in the play,
there are innumerable funny
scenes, lines, and songs. The first
act seems better than the second,
since there your emotions are not
strained from one extreme to the
other. But you leave the theatze
with the feeling that your climb to
the balcony was worth it.



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College Students Must
Share Fostered Ideals

Continued from Page 1

most readers and perhaps second-
ary importance for the future,
dealt specifically with the A.A.
organizations, their problems and
functions. The second was much
more general. Here ideas and
ideals applicable to every organ-
ization on and off campus were
set forth and discussed, as well
as some means for realizing them.

The motto of the A.F.C.W., “To
unite, to share, to learn,” set the
keynote for the Convention. Uni-
versities with enrollments of thir-
ty thousand worked hand in han
with women’s colleges whose stu
dent body numbered as little as
two hundred.

Several points were stressed at
the conference. We were remind-
ed that leadership and ability to
work with people are two entirely
different qualities, and that there
are few people who have neither,
just as there*are few people who
have both. A leader must recog-
nize her own capabilities and try
to improve them. Her most im-
portant function, however, is to
help those that have potential
leadership ability.

In order to help those that need
help, an organization must be a
cohesive group working toward a
goal. Besides its activities of the
moment, it should, as an over-ail
policy, promote activities that
foster self-confidence. If an or-
ganization encourages many
people,’ the organization is on
its way to being a good one.

A free exchange of ideas is es-
sential for the well-being and im-
provement of any organization.
Yet the organization must not en-
tirely lose itself in the enthusiasm
of the moment; it must know at
all times just where it stands in
relation to its ultimate goal.

An organization must have faith
in itself. But it is important to
remember that too much faith
breeds arrogance and almost al-
ways antagonizes, whereas too
little faith brings a lack of self-
confidence and contempt.

The Conference also tried to
show us where we should stand in
the future. College girls, particu-
larly college leaders, are among
a highly privileged group. In the
college community any abilities
we have can be developed with a
minimum of effort. However,
when we leave the place they are
so tenderly fostered we must
maintain and develop them on our
own. Only by maintaining these
abilities are we able to help the





sromesesma

Orchestra & Choruses
Present Mixed Program
Continued from Page 1

by the Women’s Chorus, lacked
balance and proper blending of in-
dividual voices. But in Moon Mar-
keting the girls snapped into life
and appeared actually to enjoy
singing. If more than piano ac-
companiment had been used the
group might have seemed less
monotonous.

Schicksalslied, the third Brahms
composition of the evening, was
beautifully balanced, well execut-
ed, and artfully directed. The au-
dience was spellbound.- The violin
passages of Schicksalslied were
technically difficult but strikingly
executed. The contrasts, too, were

perfect; the group slipped easily

from the flowing adagio to ‘the in-
tense, fiery, allegretto, to a crisp
stacatto and intona well co-ordin-
ated solo section where each in-
strument assumed the theme. The
choruses were more than inspired;
they wer a part of the music.

Gently Johnny, Haverford’s first
selection, perfectly contrasted a
bright beginning with a slow, mel-
odic finish. The dynamics of this
and the two succeeding numbers
were exceptional; the control, per-
fect. The piano accompaniment,
especially that of John Davison
was brilliant.

Two rich folk selections by the
combined choruses compared’ fav-
orably with the Bryn Mawr-Har-
vard concert of the preceding
week. The final offering, Turn
Back, O Man, began with a simple
cello passage moving towards a
resounding climax ag the orches-
tra and choruses joined in.



underprivileged groups that sur-
round us. We may not be able
to better their conditions mate-
rially, but we can help peuple to
live better under the conditions
that exist. ‘

We must not lose the ability to
improve when we leave college
but must maintain and enlarge it.

On the 13th, six hundred gizls
went back to their homes with a
very important goal in mind:
They had “united, shared, and
learned.” Now they must try to
communicate these ideals to their
colleges, and find ways to imbuc
each individual with:a spirit of
self-confidence and cooperation.







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Arts Night To Feature
Dancing, Play, Operetta
Continued from Page 1

corset. As the poet ,Lee (““Moody’’)
Haring was alternately depressed
and exhalted; this will no doubt
result in an inspired performance.
Danny Luzzatto directed _ skill-
fully; as usual, she was gentle
with her charges.

Gentleness does not seem to be
the theme of the dance club’s pro-
jected performance. Siembaba, a
lullaby of the African veldt, has a
good deal to do with Lewis Car-
roll’s “beat him when he sneezes.”
The words are, in part:

Twist his neck

And hit him on the head.

Throw him in the ditch 4

And he’ll be dead.

Danced, it’s a‘ little less grim. In
the gym Monday night, there was
some talk of slow-fast-slow, of
pulling in and out, of counting and
splitting. There was a lot of what
might be called creative work.
Bodies (the Bohemian running
wild in their veins?) writhed upon
the floor, then rose to skip, slap,
kick, and circle. The other dance
is to be based on Dance of the
Winds, sung by the woman who
is both bass and coloratura, Yma
Sumac. Its details will have to
remain a mystery until the final
performance,

So, to some extent, will those ot
Il Janitero, an operetta by John
Davison of Haverford. All that
is definitely known is that a fire
rages throughout the action.
Death or a rescue squad must re-
solve the situation soon after the
curtain falls. Gwen Davis gave
a brief run-through in Rock show-
case, since the rest of the cast was
not scheduled to rehearse until
after press-time. She sang several
songs, undaunted by a_ white
mouse who was leaping about the
room. ‘The music, she explained,
is a versatile satire involving
French, Spanish, and Italian com-
posers; Wagner not being par-
odied, the leading lady must ap-
pear “likee a Wagnerian soprano,
in a dinnah dress.”

It doesn’t look as if Skinner
workshop should be lonely on Sat-
urday night.



Officers Tried and New
Find Trip Rewarding

Continued from Page 1

over two hundred candidates to
Barnard’s simple procedure of
uominating from the floor in a
mass meeting. I mentioned our
preferential ballot and everyone
gasped in horror. They all list
candidates in alphabetical «order
and think that our system is un-
democratic.

Disappearing reserve room books
are a universal problem. Bryn
Mawr is one of the few colleges
whose yearbook and newspaper:
are both self-supporting. '

Other colleges have put consid-
erable effort into better student-
faculty relationships. One has a
group of faculty members “affili-
ated” with each hall who come
regularly to dinner. Wellesley has
student-faculty dinners every
Wednesday night. Smith, among
others, uses course-evaluation ques-
tionnaires and finds the results
useful to both faculty and stud-
ents.

In. general, the old officers talk-
ed and the new officers listened,
jotting down ideas that sounded
useful, and attempted the’ almost
impossible task of learning from
someone else’s experience. The
meetings ended on an_ inspired
note. After a buffet supper on Sat-
urday Mrs. MacIntosh, the Dean
of Barnard, talked to us informal-
ly about the role of women in the
national crisis. We all left feel-
ing that much was expected of us,

‘a sstudents and as women, and

that we had little excuse for not

‘making ourselves useful citizens

in some capacity.



The annually compiled reports
of four of the big campus or-
ganizations—Self-Gov, Under-
grad, Alliance, and the NEWS
—are now on view in the Quita
Woodward Room.









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