Talent Wanted—Reporters,
Columnists, Feature Writers:
See Maroon and Gold Editors.
MAROON AND GOLD
Show Your Snapshots
To Maroon and Gold Editors;
Some of Them Are Publishable.
VOLUME 28
ELON COLLEGE, N. C.
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1949
NUMBER 10
Barter Players Present
‘Hamlet’ At 8 O’Clock
Robert Porterfield, founder
^nd director of the famed Barter
’Theatre Players who are present
ing “Hamlet” in Whitley Auditor
ium tonight, states that “There is
every indication that American
audiences have a very real appre
ciation for Shakespeare.”
Since 1946 the Barter Players
liave played Shakespeare from
Pennsylvania to Florida. “We
liave found two unvarying condi-
Itions on these tours,” says Porter
field. ‘TjOcal critical estimates of
our performances which revealed
knowledge and understanding of
Shakespearean drama, and popu
lar interest in it . . . for its value
as true theatre.”
During the past two seasons the
Barter Players have presented
Shakespearean comedies, but this
year they have decided on a
change of pace in presenting
“Hamlet” on tour. The group
felt thaf their audiences would re
act to tragedy as they had to com
edies. This was indicated by the
capacity audiences which greeted
the production of this play in Ab
ingdon during the summer sea-
■son.
■ “Hamlet” has probably been
presented more often than any
other play. It would be well nigh
Imposible to reckon up all the
productions the play has received
in all parts of the world and in
nearly all languages.
The Barter Theatre production
Hit And Run Driver
Kills Elon’s Colley
On U. S. Highway 100
Colley, no first name or middle
initial, was killed by an unidenti
fied hit-and-run driver on high
way 100 in front of the college
last Saturday night. He was a
year and a half old.
A resident of the Elon College
community since last September,
Colley was a registered English
Shepherd from a kennel in
South Carolina. He resided at the
home of Professor and Mrs. J. C.
Colley with whom he had lived
since he was five weeks old.
Colley is survived by his mas
ter, Professor Colley, and his mis
tress, Mrs. Colley.
Funeral services were held Sun
day night in the Elon College pow
erhouse where he was cremated.
is imder the direction of Robert
Breen who enacts the title role.
Also included In "??ie cast are Jac
queline Logan, i-tage and screen
star, and Leo CTialzel who was a
mem'ber of the cast of Eugene
O’Neill’s ‘The Iceman Cometh,”
last season on Broadway.
Breen’s Ophelia is Gerry Jedd,
popular young Barter actress
whose performance was acclaimed
during the summer run of the
play.
Magnificently costumed, the
Barter’s “Hamlet” has been ap
proached as a “new play,” and
the entire production of the cele
brated Theatre of the Common
wealth of Virginia is designed to
give modem audiences a ” fresh
understanding of the work that
has been long recognized as
Shakespeare’s masterpiece of
tragedy.
No strangers to Elon College
audiences, the Barter Players
have previously staged “The Im
portance of Being Earnest” on the
Whitley stage. Tonight’s curtain
goes up at 8 o'clock on the Barter
Theatre’s production of William
Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet.”
Gym Construction
Starts This Month,
Says J. F. Darden
Construction of the Elon Col
lege Memorial Gymnasium will
begin this month, according to an
announcement by James F. Dar
den, alumni secretary.
The tentative date for beginning
construction is March 20, and the
work is expected to be finished
by Nov. 1. The necessary grad
ing has been done, says Darden,
and building materials have been
stockpiled.
Nearly $90,000 of the estimated
$150,000-to$175,000 cost has been
raised, according to Darden. Do
nations by alumni and friends of
the college include $44,000 in cash
and $40,000 in pledges. Darden
says $21,000 of this amount has
been raised during the intensi
fied campaign of the last three
months.
“It is hoped,” Darden said,
“that interest in the campaign,
begun in September, will be in
creased when the actual construc
tion begins, so that it will be suc
cessfully completed soon.”
Westmoreland Turns A Hobby
Into Serious Study Of Music
The students above will be soloists during the Northern Choir tour. Top row: Roger Gibbs, bari
tone: Jeanne Meredith, soprano: Ann Truitt, soprano: Jack Castle, tenor. Bottom row: Sharon Black,
soprano: Jack McFadyen, baritone, Dorothy Parker, contralto.
Seven Student Soloists Accompanying Choir
Have Already Gained Regional Recognition
Wlhen Elon’s choristers move
out today to charm audiences at
points north, seven student solo
ists will have no small part in
casting their usual spell.
For their ages, there are prob
ably few singers in the country
who have won more recognition
or shown more promise of gaining
future aclaim.
Baritone Roger Gibbs, froin
Greensboro, has had a run on
first prizes in various contests
held during the last few weeks.
He took first place in the Horace
Heidt contest helu recently in
Greensboro, and in the past two
weeks he placed first in both the
state Student Musicians’ contest
held here and in the regional con
test held in Athens, Ga.
His solo on tour will be a negro
spiritual, “My Soul Is Anchored
In the Lord,” arranged by Flor
ence Price.
Contralto Dorothy Jones Par
ker, from Schoolfield, Va., was a
member of a high school glee club
which won state and national
contests. She was soloist in a
number of operettas produced in
her high school. As a WAC in
the service, she toured the U. S.
as a member of the Army War
Bond Choir.
Her solo is “Jesus Walked This
Lonely Valley,” by Nordoff.
Anne Rawls Truitt, soprano, is
a graduate of Suffolk, Va., high
school. As a high school student
she won top rating in state con
tests, and like Miss Parker, she
was a soloist in high school oper
ettas. Like Gibbs, she was an
honor roll student in high school,
and she won medals for her work
in dramatics and other activities.
On tour she will sing, “I Won
der As I Wander,” by Niles.
Sharon Black, soprano, is from
Burlington. Formerly a soloist
with her high sc'nool glee club
and in Burlington churches, she
won first rating in state high
school contests.
Her solo is “Halelujah,” by
Hummel.
Tenor, Jack Castle, like Mrs.
Parker, is from Schoolfield, Va.
He sang with his high school glee
club for three years and took part
in operettas.
Castle will sing “Go Tell It On
the Mountairf,” by Work and “In
Ecclesiis,” by Gabrielli.
Jack McFayden, another
Greensboro boy, sang in his high
school state contests. He recent
ly passed an audition for the Stars
of Tomorrow contest going on in
Raleigh and broadcast over WPTF
Last year he won the North
Carolina State Paul Lavalle Con
test which offered a $1500 music
schoalrship, and later represent
ed the state In a regional contest
held in Atlanta, Ga.
For the past three years he has
received first rating in the state’s
Federation of Music Contest.
On tour McFayden will sing
“Come Unto Me,” by Dvorak, and
“Battle Hymn of the Republic,”
by Steffe-Ringwald.
Jeanne Meredith, soprano from
Virgilina, Va., is not only a sing
er of note, but one of the most
active members of the student
body here. An honor graduate
from high school, she is currently
president of the glee club, presi
dent of her senior class secretary
to Dean D. J. Bowden, and editor
of the college annual. Last year
she was president of the Junior
Class and secretary and treasurer
of the student body. In October
she was one of 11 Elon students
named to “Who’s Who in Amer
ican Colleges and Universities.”
Her song on tour will be “In Ec
clesiis,” by Gabrielli.
Turning to the study of music
took a strangle hold on a baton,
his profession with a bewildering
As an undergraduate at Elon,
his major was business adminis
tration and English. Music, then,
PROF. JOHN WESTMORELAND
lie says, was only a hobby. Even
Ithen, however, he was working at
Jiis hobby seriously enough to
Tate giving a solo organ recital
Ms senior year.
late. Prof. John Westmoreland
so to speak, and has worked at
energy ever since.
Apparently his head was not
pointed in the right direction un
til he spent a summer studying
music with the head of the piano
department at Columbia Univer
sity. He got off enough credits
that summer to enter graduate
school in the fall with no defici
encies. Nine months later he had
added to an A. B. in business ad
ministration a Master's degree in
music.
But it was study Westmoreland
was after, not just a degree. At
tending the Juillard School of
Music in New York, he studied
piano materials and methods
with Guy Mair, sonata literature
with Katherine Bacon, and the
works of Bach with Roslyn Tu-
reck.
The fact is that Westmoreland
has rested little since he first
took a score to his bosom. He
has spent two summers at Colum
bia serving as student assistant ti
Lilia Belle Pitts in the depart
ment of music education, anothei
(Continued On Page Four)
Elon Student Entries Sweep Honors
In Contests Here And In Athens, Ga.
Elon Choristers Leave
On Eleven-Day Tour
The 36-voice Elon College
Choir, with Professors John West
moreland, conductor, Fletcher
Moore, accompanist, and Evelyn
Hodgins, chaperone, board busses
today at noon for an 11-day con
cert tour which will carry them
as far north as Boston, Mass.
For the choir, whose members
are already seasoned troupers,
this will be the second New Eng
land expedition in two years, and
their second tour in two weeks.
Last week’s three-day trip car
ried the group through eastern
Virginia where they gave six con
certs in Congregational Christian
churches in Suffolk, Rosemount,
Portsmouth, Norfolk, South Nor
folk and Newport News.
For the New England tour, the
choir Tias been trimmed from the
56 students who made the Vir
ginia tour to 36. Each student
choir member is paying $20 to
defray part of the expenses of the
trip.
As in the Virginia tour, all
appearances of the group are to
be made in Congregational
churches. The itinerary calls for
eight concerts in Virginia, Wash-
Elon's Forensics
Enter Tournament
At Lenoir Rhyne
Elon’s four-man debate squad
and debate coach, Prof. J. E. Dan-
ieley, yesterday left for Hickory
where they will be participating
in the South Atlantic Forensic
Tournament through tomorrow.
The debaters are William P. Wil
kins, senior in busines adminis
tration; Kenneth Jacobs, sopho
more in pre-law; James Widen-
house, senior in pre-law; and
James Cook, senior in chemistry.
In a tournament which is limit
ed to 30 colleges and universities,
Elon’s deba'ters will be competing
against teams from as far south as
Florida and as far north as the
Naval Academy.
Cook and Widenhouse are the
negative team for the tourna
ment, and Wilkins and Jacob will
handle the affirmative.
The Elon squad has had four de
bates lo date'. They first traveled
to Wake Forest for a practice de
bate, and alter lost close contests
here to teams from the University
of North Carolina and Catawba.
ington, D. C., New Jersey, Con
necticut, Rhode Island and Mas
sachusetts, with two stop-overs in
New York City.
The first concert is scheduled
for tonight in Richmond, Va. To
morrow the choir travels^ to Irv
ington, N. J., where they are to
be overnight guests of the congre
gation of the First Christian
Church. Sunday morning they
will sing for the morning services
in the Congregational Church of
Orange, N. J., and Sunday night
they will appear at the church in
Irvington.
The troup will have Monday
free in New York City, where
they are to stay at the Biltmore
Hotel.
On the road again Tuesday,
they make appearances in Water-
bury, Conn., Tuesday night. Prov
idence, R. I., Wednesday night,
and in Brookline, Mass., Thurs
day night.
Friday morning they are sched
uled to return to New York City
and again take up quarters in the
Biltmore, Saturday the Choir will
be guests of NBC Symphony Or
chestra, with Arturo Toscanini
conducting, at their concert. Fri
day and Saturday afternoons the
students will attend operas and
plays of their choice.
Heading south again, the next
concert stop will be in Jersey
City, N. J., Sunday night, and the
last appearance will be made in
Washington, D. C.
Arsenic And Old Lace
Set A Season Record
In Box Office Take
Last week’s performance of
“Arsenic and Old Lace” in Whit
ley Auditorium, was, from the
standpoint of box office returns,
^he most successful production of
the Elon Players’ current season.
A large and enthusiastic audi
ence placed its stamp of approval
on the Players’ offering by its
continuous laughter and hearty
applause.
A matinee was given on Wed
nesday to an invited audience of
200 high school students from Gib-
sonvillQ and Elon College. Al
though the matinee house was
smaller, its response was as en
thusiastic as that of the evening
audience.
FRED SAHLMANN
Three Elon College students
made a sweep of the honors in
the state Student Musicians con-
jtest, sponsored by the National
j Federation of Music Clubs, and
j then went on to the South Atlantic
District finals of this competition
,’to win the laurels at that contest
held at the University of Georgia.
The state contest was held on
I
Feb. 19, and the district finals ^ piar
were held Feb. 26. There is no thur
national contest in this musical, dian
competition.
Of the four divisions of com-^ Coll ^
petition in the state contest, Elon Der
students calimed top honors in Car
.JL
three. Roger Gibbs, freshman,
was the winner in the men’s vocal
division; ’Va'ne Moore, senior
was supremo among the organists;
and Fred ^ahlmann was judged
to be thr ' c t pianist. The win
ner of tV:e nmg class, the wo
man’s '• ion, was Rosa
Glem ’ ‘ f Rockingham.
Th ' • this contest were
Mi?s 'lunger, concert
from the Ar-
iservatory in In-
Anne McClenny,
fr.^r ilty of Hollings
iprt Livingston,
C, Chapel Hill;
■'■visor of mu-
ROGER GIBBS
sic in the High Point city shools;
and Clarence Southern, of Bur
lington.
In the state competition Wayne
Moore and Fred Sahlmann tied
for first place, the distinction of
being judged the outstanding stu
dent musician in North Carolina.
A $150 purse went with this hon
or, anil Moore and Sahlmann di
vided the cash prize.
Moore and Sahlmann are stu
dents of Fletcher Moore, head of
the music department of Elon
College, and Gibbs is the student
of Lome Grant, non-resident
voice instructor in the College
music department.
Moore Has Broad Background
Featuring Study And Travel
Professor Fletcher Moore, now in his third year as head of Elon’s
Music Department, has pursued his study of music with phenome
nal persistence for years, even making his war travels pay mus
ical dividends.
With Moore, the promise of
things to come came early. Dur
ing his junior year as an under
graduate at Elon, he won first
place in the South Atlantic Stu
dents’ Musicians contest in both
piano and organ. A year later he
graduated with a triple major in
music, English ana matliematics,
excellent background for his fu
ture studies.
Taking his Master’s degree
from Columbia, he studied piano
with Sascha Gorodnitzki, Russian-
American concert pianist, and
Guy Maier, American pianist and
teacher.
After returning to Elon and
teaching three years, Moore plan
ned to go abroad for a year. Plans
called for study in Zurich, Swit
zerland, and a European concert
debut. However, five days before
sailing time, he recalls, he was ad
vised by the State Department
against leaving due to the threat
of war.
Forced to change his plans.
PROF. FLETCHER MOORE
Moore did not alter his studying
intentions. He went to Santa
Monica, Calif., for another year
(Continued On Page Four)