Arts Festival Is Revived
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Carolina's Playmakers Theatre
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Many Ghosts Are
The University's Theater.
By PF.TE IVEY
r Ghosts of long ago stalk the
stage and aisles of the Playmak
ers Theater in Chapel Hill. And
it is. not only owing to the dra
matic tradition of the building,
brought on by the thespians who
have articulated behind its foot
lights; The home of the Carolina Play
makers is in a building that is
one of. the oldest on the campus.
It has in its years housed horses
from General Sherman's Army,
served as a dance hall for Caro
lina students, was the University
Library for years. It also has
been a bath house, a central
place for shower baths in those
early days before dormitories
were equipped with such ameni
ties. It has been tne university s
Law School building, and once
chemistry labs were in the base
ment. ; The Playmaker Theater's real
name is Smith Building. ' It is
named for Governor Benjamin
Smith, who donated 20,000 acres
nt latvfl. in. , Tennessee, to the Uni-. ,
versity some of the money to
be used for a new building,
t The building was first a dance
hall. A short time later it was
converted into a library. During
the Civil War, Sherman's Army
occupied Chapel Hill. Chancellor
Emeritus Robert House tells this
story:
"A squad of Michigan cavalry,
stationed in the village, found
that the book stacks in the li
brary made very good stalls for
the horses.
"Ever since that time, Michi
gan horses have been noted for
ttieir intelligence, and Carolina
students for their horse sense."
The front of the Playmakers
Building has a most .unique cor
nice on the tall columns. These
are corn stalks, and were fas
hioned by a convict who labored
in this artistic venture for the
pay of ten cents an hour.
It was in 1925 that the Caro
lina Playmakers, on the upsurge
under the influence of Professor
Frederick II. Koch, took over
the Smith Building, and it has
popularly been known as the
Playmakers Building since that
time. The Carnegie Corporation
gave $13,000, and the Legislature
$25,000 for renovations.
"he theater was : designed in
1850 by architect Alexander Jack
son Davis of New York. Archi
bald Henderson describes the
building this way:
"Davis , placed upon the cam
pus its most beautiful building,
Smith Hall, a structure of im
peccable proportions, the perfect
portico with classic Corinthian
pillars showing a delightful vari
ation from the Hellenic norm in
the capitals of wheat and corn
plants, with foliage of grace and
beauty, symbolic of the native
American landscape."
In the 300 years since North
Carolina's beginning, this build
ing, Smith Hall, stands as one of
the lovely architectural struc
tures of North Carolina, one of
the half dozen or so striking con
tributions to American architec
tural genius.
So the ghosts that walk through
Smith Hall are not only the play
actors speaking the speech trip
pingly on the tongue, but also
Jawyers debating their legal
points, chemistry professors in
white coats with crucibles, li
brarians and books, students dan
cing to a light Virginia Reel,
boys yelling in the central cam- -pus
showers and singing in harr
.mony with, bathers and singers.
Michigan horses, who were tran
sient guests, and the generations
of Carolina Playmakers whose
exploits have been known on
stage, screen, and the TV camera.
Mm
Jor 6Y' To Lead Ban
Playmakers
To Launch
Neiv Season
"My Fair Lady," Lerner and
Loewe's great musical comedy
hit, will be the opening produc
tion of the fall semester as The
Carolina Playmakers launch their
47th season on Oct. 23.
The Playmakers production of
the lavish musical, which star
red Rex Harrison and Julie An
drews on Broadway, will be pre
sented in Memorial Hall on Oct.
.23, 24, and 25. The opening night
performance will be reserved for
UNC students, their dates, and
spouses, and season tickets for
students are now on sale for
$4.00.
Other productions scheduled for
the 1964-65 season are: "Hamlet,"
Dec. 8-13; "Oh Dad, Poor Dad,
Mamma's Hung You In The Clos
et And I'm Feelin' So Sad," Feb.
23-28; "Billy Budd," March 30-Apr.
4; and "A Streetcar Named De
sire," May 4-9.
The Student Night performances,
a popular innovation which be
gan last year, enable UNC stu
dents to attend the opening night
performance of each of these,
five plays for half price. These
Student Season Tickets are now
on sale at the following locations:
The Playmakers Business Office,
214 Abernethy Hall (next to the
Scuttlebutt); Graham Memorial
: Information uesK: ana x-oun.
Only 330 are available.
By FRANK WELSH
"Major Y" brings new talent
and glamor and basic musical po-"
tential to the rejuvenated UNC
Band of 1964. The new band
director is knmvn in national
military circles as "Mister Mus
ic Man."
He is John F. Yesulaitis who
came here this month as a facul
ty member of the Music Depart
ment and director of bands.
Called "Major Y", for short, in
the U.S. Air Force where he was
associate director of the band in
Washington, D. C, the new band
director is now retired from the
Air Force and entering a new
career in collegiate music, in
both instruction and perform
ance. , . A,
In his 16 years conducting the
top Air Force musical ensem
bles in Washington, Yesulaitis
performed before heads of state,
includin-g France's DeGaulle,
England's Queen Elizabeth, and
Russia's Khrushchev.
Yesulaitis's 20 years of active
service in military forces includ
ed duties as varied as flushing
snipers out of palm trees on
PacLic islands in Work! War II
and conducting an cchestra Jor
Royal garden parties at Eng
land's Buckingham Palace. His
honors range from the Bronze
Star, presented for meritorious
service under cenemy fire, to a
special commendation from the
U S State Department for his
personal efforts in organizing
and presenting entertainment
for State Dinners.
As a conductor, music arrang
er, composer, script-writer, and
radio and television producer,
Yesulaitis has worked with at
least 30 film stars, and his mus
ic has been used in more than
100 movies. He bas appeared on
stage with such personalities as
Irene Dunne, Helen Hayes, Jesse
Lasky, Lauritz Melchior, Marge
and Gowcr Champion and Jane
Powell.
He directed an Air Force
radio program, Serenade in
Blue, which was broadcast week
ly on more than 2,500 American
radio stations, for twelve years.
-This program has also offered
thP first American-style music
heard by millions in other coun
tries," Yesulaitis said.
Yesulaitis began his military
career in 1936 as a French horn
player with the U.S. Army Band.
He was promoted to Warrant
Officer Bandleader in 1942 and
was sent to the Pacific Theatre
of Operations to conduct bands
for the 7th and 77th Infantry
Divisions. He took part in
beachhead landings in the Paci
fic, including combat duty on
Guam, Leyte, Okinawa, and in
-
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JOHN YESULAITIS
the Philippines. He was with
occupation forces in Hokkaido,
Japan, and in Korea.
He joined the Air Force band
in Washington in early 1947 and
began his series of appearances
around the world. He has ap
peared in the Olympic Stadium
in Berlin before an audience of
more than 120,000. His appear
ance conducting the Air Force
Symphony Orchestra at Bodo,
Norway, marked the first sy
phonic concert above the Arctic
Circle by an American orches
tra. A native of Coaldale, Pa.,
Yesulaitis received his early
musicai education at the Ernest
Williams School of Music, then
an afaliate of New York Univer
sity, and the U.S. Army School
of Music. He received a B.S.
degree in Music Education from
the University of Maryland in
1954.
After doing graduate work in
composition at the Catholic Uni
versity of America, he was
awarded a Master of Music de
gree. He assumes band duties
here immediately, succeeding
Herbert Fred who has joined
the music faculty at UNC in
Greensboro.
Tryouts
Scheduled
Tryouts for "My Fair Lady,"
first production of the Carolina
Playmakers fall season will be
held tomorrow night at 7:30; Sun
day, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Mon
day, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tryouts, all of which will be
held in Memorial Hall, will be
conducted by Thomas M. Patter
son, director of the play, Foster
Fitz-Simon, choreographer, and
Charles Horton, musical director.
Those trying out for singing
roles should bring music for a
song which they are familiar with,
and those trying out for speaking
roles will be asked to read a sec
tion of the script of the play.
Patterson announced, however,
that it is not necessary to be
famiilar with the script in order
to audition. The cast will include
several principal roles, both male
and female, and a chorus.
The Carolina Playmakers serve
Chapel Hill and the University as
a community theatre, and also
provide a theatre laboratory for
students in the Department of
Dramatic Art. Tryouts are open
to the public, and everyone is
eligible and welcome to participate.
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By JOEL BULKLEY
The University will host the Esquire Liter
ary Symposium next spring as part of Carolina's
first Fine Arts Festival in 20 yearsFestival co
chairman Henry Aldridge announced .this week.
The Festival, a week-long salute to the crea
tive arts, also will feature a Carolina Playmak
ers production, art exhibition jazz concert and
seminar and panel discussions.
This Will mark the first time Esquire's Liter
ary Symposium, held yearly on the campus of
an American university, has been conducted in
the South.
Participants in the two-session symposium
have not yet been announced, but are expected
to be top-ranking authors, short-story writers
and playwrights.
The Literary Symposium, sponsored by Es
quire Magazine, will be held April 5 and 6.
Last year's panel members, novelist Robert
Penn Warren, short-story writer Bernard Mala
mud and playwright Edward Albee, appeared at
Princeton University. . Past symposiums have
featured Dwight MacDonald, Norman Mailer,
Gore Vidal and James Baldwin.
The Fine Arts Festival will be held March 31
April 6 with six University departments partici
pating. Aldridge said it will be conducted in a
manner similar to the Carolina Symposium with
guest speakers and performing artists appear
ing both in the afternoons and evenings of Festi
val Week.
The Fine Arts Departments Drama, Radio,
Television, and Motion Pictures, English, Music,
Journalism and Art will join forces to bring
students into closer contact with the arts and to
foster greater understanding of and participa
tion in the arts.
The general theme of the 1965 Festival will be
"The University and the Arts."
The Festival will include at least one critic
and performer in each art field and the week will
include such activities, in addition to the Liter
ary Symposium, as the Playmaker's production
of "Billy Budd," productions by the RTVMP De
partment, a film critic, a music performance, the
guest appearance of a famous perf ormer or music
composer and an exhibit by Ackland Art Center.
Aldridge said the . tentative schedule includes
the following programs:
Wed., March 31 Festival begins with Play
makers production of the stage adaption of Her
man Melville's "Billy Budd."
Thurs., April 1 John Chapman, who wrote
the stage adaption, will lead a panel discussion
or present a lecture on drama in the afternoon.
The RTVMP Department will enter its presenta
tion that night, probably the Southern premier
of a recent experimental film, with critical ap
praisal by an outstanding film critic following
the showing.
Fri., April 2 Ackland Art Center will unveil
a special exhibition in the afternoon and evening
with a guest lecturer in art speaking. Also that
afternoon, the RTVMP Department will pre
sent student productions. r 5
Throughout the Festival "Billy Budd' will be
presented. No activities are scheduled for Sat
urday. Sun., April 3 A performance of contemporary
music by an outstanding composer is tentatively
planned for the evening. Composer and music
critic will appear in followup session Monday
afternoon.
Mon., April 5 Repeat of Sunday evening mus
ic performance and Esquire Literary Symposium.
Tues., April 6 Literary Symposium continues
and a jazz concert concludes the Fine Arts Festi-
o
val Activities.
Participating artists and critics will be an
nounced as soon as arrangements are completed,
Aldridge said.
Funds for the Festival have been allocated by
the University, but a solicitation of both students
and faculty and an appropriation from Student
Legislature will be sought to finance the Festi
val. If the Festival' is successful it will become a
permanent program and alternate with the
Carolina Symposium. Planning for this year's
festival has been going on for well over a year
and has" received much of its impetus from Stu
dent Body President Bob Spearman, Aldridge
said.
Officials0 of me Fine Arts Committee are Jim
Meredith and Henry Aldridge, co-chairmen; Al
len Morgan, treasurer; Janet Eakin, secretary;
and Pat Dearborne, social directress.
Something Heiv For Chapel ESill
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