PAGE 2
MAROON AND GOLD
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1969
Two Hundred On Honor List
As interest mounted in
student dramatics at Elon
College in the late 1930’s,
the students embarked on
the new enterprise of
writing plays; and rec
ords ^sclose that Elon’s
first bill of original plays,
written, cast and direct
ed by students in dramat
ics, was presented March
22, 1938.
Plays given at that time
were “Bramble Bush,”
bv Margaret Earp; and
‘ Swap,” a mountain com
edy by Ford Miller. A
month later another ori
ginal play, Gwen Till
man’s “Six Guns,” was
presented along with A.
A. Milne’s “The Man In
A Bowler Hat.” A final
original play that year
was “Mill Village,”
which was repeated the
following year and won
statewide honors.
The Elon chapter of
Delta Psi Omega (later
Alpha Psi Omega) com
bined with the Dramatic
Club in January 1969 to
present Maxwell Ander
son’s “Winterset,” and
the cast of that play in
cluded Kenneth Utt, who
has since been a well
known TV star and pro
ducer in New York. Also
that year brought a show
ing of Shakespeare’s
“Much Ado About Noth
ing.”
Another original pro
duction in 1939 was ‘Old
97,” a play written by
Dr. Fletcher Collins* stu
dent in sophomore Eng
lish. Dr. Collins direct
ed the play, which later
placed first in the state
contest. The Shakespeare
class that year present
ed “Romeo and Juliet”
on December 11th and
12th.
Still other original
plays were given In 1940-
41, when the Elon Play
ers presented “Sophisti
cated Freshman,” a play
of college life, written
by Gladys Wright, Char
les Parker and Robert
Cox; “Infernal Tri
angle,” a ballad play,
composed by Elizabeth
Newton, Tenala Abner,
Roger Inman and Boyd
Clapp, it being based on
the old ballad of “The
Farmer’s Cursed Wife.”
A third play on the same
bill was ‘Funeral Flow
ers for the Bride,” writ
ten by Beverly Hamer.
CHAPTER TWO
This is Chapter Two,
continuing the story of
student dramatics at Elon
College, detailing the ac
complishments of the
Elon Players during the
so-called Middle Years of
Elon’s playmaking his
tory. There was high
praise for the many stage
shows between the 1930 s
and the early 1950’s.
Once more that year, the
Elon Players entered the
state contest and receiv
ed second place at Chapel
Hill for “The Will of the
Lord.”
Three one-act plays
were given by the Play
ers during the year 1941-
42, including “Judy,” di
rected by Marjorie Hunt
er, who is now a Wash
ington newspaper corres
pondent for the New York
Times. Among the one-
act plays that year were
“The Broom,” “A Jap
anese Incident” and “Air
Raid Drill,” and once
more among the stars was
Kenneth Utt, Elon’s gift
to the Broadway theatre
and TV world.
Mrs. Elizabeth R.
Smith, a daughter-in-law
of Dr. Leon E. Smith, at
that time president of
Elon College, came to
Elon in 1943 and began
a successful ten-year re
gime as director of dra
matics while teaching un
der a fellowship. Out
standing during that 1943
year was the presenta
tion of Shakespeare’s
“Henry IV, First Part.”
Two one-act plays were
the only plays of record
for the wartime year of
1943-44. They were “Her
Majesty, the King,” and
“Sugar AndSplce . How
ever, it seems evident
that there were other
shows that year.
The school year 1944-
45 brought forth two
plays, “Out Of The Fry
ing Pan” and “The
Rock,” the latter being a
religious play by Mary
Henlin, and among those
In the cast for “The
Rock” was Earl Danlel-
ey, now Dr. Earl Dan-
leley, who is president
of Elon College.
Four plays were given
in 1945-46. They were
“Moor Born,” a story
(Continued from Page 1)
Harmon Loy, JanetMc-
Adams, John McBrayer,
Maryann McCrary, Sher
ri McGIrt, Edwin Mc
Grath, Denny McGuire,
Carol McKinney, Cather
ine Mangum, Robert
Martin, Douglass Mills,
Frances Moran, Astrid
Moreno, Ellen Morton,
Loraine Moser, Penelope
Muse, Charles Neese,
Wanda Newlin, Carol
Norman, Lucille Oliver,
Donna Oliver, Sally
O’Neill, Carolyn Over
street, Gerry Oxford,Ro
bert Pair, Katherine Pat
rick, Robert Patterson,
Stafford Peebles, Susan
Pell, Cleo Perdue, Eu
gene Pointer, Linda Pot-
of the Bronte sisters,
“The Passing of Third
Floor Back,” “Mr. and
Mrs. North” and “Zen-
gara,” the last named
being an original play by
Mrs. Elizabeth R. Smith,
the campus dramatics
leader.
It was during 1945-46
that the Elon Players be
gan the practice of award
ing “Oscars” for the top
performances of the year,
and the first winners were
Kathleen Young for her
role in “Moor Born” and
Merritt Burns for his
work In “The Passing of
Third Floor Back.” Sup
porting awards went to
Ann Strader and Miller
Basnight, both from “Mr.
and Mrs. North.”
The Elon Players chose
“Junior Miss,” “Night
Must Fall,” and “Best
Foot Forward” for show
ing in the 1946-47 year,
and top performance tro
phies went to Beryl Force
for her role In “Night
Must Fall” and to War
ren Johnson for work In
“Best Foot Forward.”
Best supporting actors
were Kathleen Young and
Ray Day. Day has since
served for some years
as director of dramatics.
ter, Nelly Pratt, Dennis
Prye,
Alice Reavis, Jesse
Rhodes, Anita Rich, Jes
sie Rivers, William Ro
bey, Constance Russell,
Franklin Sasser, Brenda
Saunders, Pamela Sau-
vain, Susan Schrelber,
Donald Scott, Eddie Scott,
Barton Shaw, Worth Shaw,
John Shirley, Barry
Simpson, Charles Size-
more,
Nancy Slaughter,
Christopher Smith, Larry
Smith, Phillip Smith,
Wayne Smith, Donna Sny
der, Alvin Smuzynski,
Richard Sours, Paulette
Spindle, Sandra Stauffer,
Saundra Steverson, Will
iam Stout, Mickey Stuart,
Only one play was given
in 1947-48, that being
“Claudia” on November
10, 1947. Mrs. Smith was
on leave of absence the
rest jf the year, and there
were no dramatics awards
for outstanding actors
that year.
The year 1948-49 saw
several plays, including
“What A Life,” “Gas
Light,” “Arsenic And Old
Lace” and a religious
play at Easter entitled
‘The Betrayal”. Winners
of the awards that year
were Jeanne Parks and
Ed Nash for leading roles
in “Gas Light,” with sup
porting honors given Bob
Wright and Dorothy
Sharpe. It was during
this year that Delta Psi
Omega assumed the new
name of Alpha Psi Ome
ga.
An original student-
written musical show, en
titled “Are You Having
Any Fun,” topped off the
1949-50 stage year. Other
plays that year were
‘Room Service,” “Kind
Lady,” “Out of the Fry
ing Pan” and “Antigone.”
Leading role awards
that year went to Bob
Wright and Rosamond
Randall Stuckey, Charles
Tabel, Archie Taylor,
John Temple,
Edmund Thomas, Linda
Thompson, Randall
Thompson, William Tor-
bert, David Towe, Julia
Treece, Alex Vardavas,
Elise Vernon, Angela
Walker, Fred Walzer,
Sallle Ward, Bruce
Washburn, Jackie Web
ster, Elinor Welch,
James Wells, Linda
Wesley, Helen Whitlock,
Ronald Wicker, Robert
Wicks, Dennis Wilbourne,
Margaret Willett, Debo
rah Williams, Carol Wil
son, Janet Winstead.Jer-
ry Woodlief, Ruth Woody
and Joanne Yount.
Bromley from the cast of
“Antigone,” with sup
porting honors given to
Ann Truitt from “Out of
the Frying Pan” and to
Ed Engles from “Anti
gone.”
(Continued next week)
No Mat Team
For This Year
There will be no wrest
ling team at Elon this
year, although the mat
sport proved to be both
successful and popular In
its first campaign for the
Christian grapplers last
winter
The Elon wrestlers,un-
der the direction of
Coach Mickey Brown,won
four of seven meets last
winter. Including a de
cisive 23 to 11 win over
the N. C. State Univer
sity matmen.
However, difficulties
In scheduling this year
due to varying class ana
examination schedules at
different institutions,
prevented having a team
this winter. Plans are to
revive the sport next
year.
MAROON and gold
Dedicated to the best interests of Elon College and
its students and faculty, the Maroon and Gold Is pub
lished weekly during the college year with the excep
tion of holiday and examination periods at Elon College,
N.C. (Zip Code 27244), publication being in coopera
tion with the journalism department.
REPORTORIAL STAFF
John Andrews, Landy Blackwell, Don Bowers, Edna
Brantley, Richard Bray, Rebecca Burgess, Chester
Burgess, Bruce Cohen, Dean Coleman, Dillard Dye,
Joe Fowler, Don Goldberg, Joe Goldberg, Tom Hardee,
Wally Hardwick, William Hartley, Joe Jessup, Sondra
Jones, Bobby King, Bob Klingel, John McNeill, Sam
Massey, Jerry Midkiff, Denny Moore, Robert Nash,
Ned Poole, Elizabeth Sanders, Kay Savage, Jerry
Schumm, Ronnie Sink, Mike Spillane, Mike Straka,
Archie Taylor, Joe Teague, Bill Walker, Ronnie Wick
er, Jerry Woodlief, George Watts, Frank Webster.
Elon PlayersPraised
During Middle Years
DANCE TRIO FROM STVDEHT-WRITTEN MUSICAL SHOr
The trio of smiling dancers above were part of the cast for the Elon Player
production of an original musical show, which was presented by the student
group in the spring of 1950. The show, entitled “Are You Having Any Fun,”
was written by two students, Nash Parker and A1 Pearce, It drew high praise
in a three-nlght run in Whitley. The dancers above, left to right, are Ed Wat
kins, Bob Walker and Ed Engles. Both Walker and Engles were “Eppie” win
ners in their day, and Engles Is still rated by many old-timers as the finest actor
in Elon Player history. His performance In “TheMan Who Came To Dinner”
was praised at that time by visiting New Yorkers as on par with the professional
performance of Monte Wooley.