SOUVENIR
SECTION
Comedy
Club
Supplement
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SECTION
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"MONEY" BELONGS TOHIGH
ANCIENT ORDER OF COMIC
i' .
CAST
OF CRARACTERS
TRACES DATE OF FOUNDING
BACK TO INDEFINITE TI
Stands Alone Without Rival
Acting As Well As Best
Play of Victorian Era
Dramatics.
As Best
Acted
in
BULWER,PORTRAYER OF SOCIETY
Has Spared No Effort in Making Local
Production As Good As
Professional.
The comedy of "Money" was orig-
inally produced on the 8th of De-
cember, 1840, at the Haymarket
theater, London. The dramatic critic
of the "Literary Gazette," a contem-
poraneous London publication, says
of .its performance: "A better acting
or better acted play has not been
brought out in our day, and we re-
member 'John Bull." It often by its
sparkling allusions, recalled the
'School for Scandal,' to our minds; and
the drop-scene certainly fell upon
every act amid bursts of applause at
the skill displayed in the construction
of these pauses, giving each a scenic
effect and interest that could not be
improved. The strength of the play
is not in plot, nor in actual and con-
sequential circumstances; but the
general power of this performance be-
longs to an ancient, recognized, and
high order of the comic-the power of
seizing the characters and manners
of the age, and holding the mirror
up to society; and that, too, after it
has so long been asserted that the
progress of civilization had destroyed
the materials for such a purpose."
It is this power of Lytton's to por-
tray society, that makes "Money" a
play of perennial interest for each
succeeding century finds keen enjoy-
ment in the manners and customs of
generations gone. And Lytton's per-
sonnages are so vividly, so exactly
drawn that they stand out before a
present-day audience with a startling
naturalness that easily bridges the
chasm between today and the early
eighteenth century in which they liv-
ed. The old newspaper critic quoted
above, says of them:'
"The characters all stand out well
from the mass. Dudley, alias Deadly
Smooth, the cool, calculating gambler,
who, when asked, 'Can you keep a
secret?' happily replies, 'I have kept
myself,' is one instance. Graves, ever
lamenting his lost shrew of a wife,
and betrayed into laughable extrava-
gances by his very griefs, winding
up the whole by a witty hit as he goes
off with the widow, is another ex-
ample when he says, 'Sainted Maria!
thank heaven you are spared this
affliction!' Stout, a radical M. P., all
for the enlightenment of the nation, is
a third original and striking part. In
Sir John Vesey, also, there are sever-
al traits of much originality; and Sir
Frederick Blount, a fashioable cox-
comb, is nearly as good. Lord Gloss-
more, as an aristocratic contrast to
Stout, is well imagined; and the prin-
cipal character, that of Evelyn, is ex-
tremely forcible, both in the feeling,
and apparently reckless and bitterly
satirical situation in which he speaks
and acts."
It is in the words of this last char-
acter, Evelyn, that Lytton shows to
the full his power of cogent, eloquent
expression of feeling. Many of Eve-
lyn's lines are filled with a biting
cynicism that is withering in its keen-
ness; yet it is those same lines that
betray the author's inate genius for
poetical utterances.
Six years after its premier produc-
tion, "Money" was again put on in
London, at the Park theater, and met
with as great a success as at the first
presentation. Since that time, it has
been revived again and again by lead-
ing actors both in America and Eng-
land, and has always met with mark-
ed favor from the public. With the
(Continued on page 6)
Evelyn.........................................Dion S. Birney
Sir John Vesey........... ..........................David Cohn
Lord Glossmore...................... ...........B. D. Welling
Blount................. ...........................Joe Turpin
Graves.... ....... ......................... Lawrence Clayton
Smooth .......................................Donald Kiskadden
Sharp .................................... ......H. L. Nutting
Stout .. ........... ............ .......... .. Martin Briggs
Old Club Member...............................Waldo Fellows
Maid.,..................................Catherine Reighard.
Toke ,....,.........................................G. F. McGraw
Crimson .................................. ......Gordon Eldredge
Grab .................... ..........Harold Pilgrim
Tabouret.............. L. L. Langworthy
Clare Douglas ............. .......................Isabelle Rizer
Lady Franklin.............................Marguerite Stanley
Georgina Vesey ......................................Louise Robson
EDWARD EARLE BULWER, LORD; LYTTON, MAN OF LETTERS
DION S. BIRNEY'
Who Is cast In the lead role of Evelyn.
"He is ambitious and poverty drags
him down. He loves, and poverty
stands like a spectre before the altar.
To be loved again, he will turn opium
eater and dream.of the Eden he may
never enter."
More than twenty novels, three
volumes of .original and one of trans-
lated poetry, five successful plays (al-
though one of them only after revi-
sion), and other writings, form 'the
literary output of Edward Earle Iul-
wer, Lord Lytton, the greatest liter-
Ary ftp of his day. An aristocrat of
intellect ;and culture, he poured out,
In inessant stream, essays, poems,
translations, articles enough to make
the busiest grub in Grub street howl.
There was no department of literary
or even political endeavor in which
de was not interested and upon which
the vigor of his personality did not,
with more 'or less vehemence im-
pgie. He was the busiest man in a
lesuTet 'age. 'To his contemporaries
ihe 'was :a poser, a relic of Don Juan
without the latter's essential manli-
noe. 'TYet be 'was a boxer of note,
and one ccif the best fencers of his day."
He was at home in two societies that,
liked nothing 'better than an epigram,
but was never table to lose himself in
,a rtideg xe 'wrote. Yet he neglected
his wife, Vwhose 'charm was such .as
in a~ wise to 'merit such treatment, or'
in most cases to receive it, that he
might the better devote himself to the
pursrit 'of -literature. And long before'
he died, his mind's activity had com-
pletely worn out that of his body.
He was' born 'in Th03, and died in
1M7S, one 'f thIe few to have seen the
,gre&st transformation which the period
between those dates effected. He was
shrewd enough to see what was go-
ing on. Above everything, his cur-
iosity overleaped the moon. At the
age of eight or nine he terrified his
mother by asking if she were not
som imes enercome 'by a sense of her
own. identity. She judged him ready
for school. At the age of fifteen he
published a volume of poems, and a
year later indulged in an unsuccessful
love affair which he claimed influenc-
ed and oppressed him during his
whole life. And at school he was the
best pugilist. All his life he was
unique, and the early and mid-Vic-
torians found him shocking in the
extreme. Tennyson he made fun of.
Consciously or not, his opinions were
different from that of everybody else.
Shakespeare he called vicariously in
one of his novels, "the poet who has
never once draw.n a character to be
met with In actual life,-who has
never once descended to a passion
that is false or a personage that is
real." He spoke of himself as an ar-
tist in words. He scorned the people
in an age when democracy was stir-
ring uneasily. His plays, "The Duch-
ess de la Valliere," "The Lady of
Lyons," "Richelieu, "The Sea Cap-
tain," afterwards revived under an-
other name, and "Money," are about
the only plays of the epoch which are
still considered produceable. They
are stilted, strained, what you will,
but they are good plays. Had Bulwer
stuck to novel writing and been con-
tent to stay within his own limits,
he would have been great; had he
written more plays, he might have
made himself immortal by them. But
he was too diffuse. His curiosity
harpooned his creative ability.
His family life was altogether un-
happy.
In January, 1873, died Edward Lord
Lytton, first gentleman, writer, man
of the world, occultist and aristocrat
in letters of his century.
ISABELLE RIZER
alias Clara, who takes as much pains
to lose a husband as an dld maid does
to get one.
Out of the many who seem to have
by natural endowment that ability to
play stage part, there are some, who
versatile, can take any part that the
occasion requires to be atken. Miss
.Rizer was chosen .for the feminine
leading part, because she preeminently
leads in this capacity. Above the
mediocre, her talent expresses some-
thing of the experienced and stagish
which makes an audience forget the
familiar personality while watching
her clever interpretation of a stage
role.
Traces Date of Organization Unde
Present Name to Day of Hackett,
Bennett, The Alexanders and '
Harriman.
GIVEN FRESH IMPULSE IN 1908
Reorganization Last Year Extendei
Membership to Broader Element
Among Undergraduates...,
Accurate and definite knowledge o
the birth of dramatic interest in Mich
igan fades away into a dim and dar
past, elusive even to the oldest ant
best memories of the campus. Wheth
er dramatic interest ever took a form
al and conscious organization In th
days before the nineties is all myster
That today one of the most ambitiou
and efficient organizations to promot
this interest Is alive in Michigan i
not contested, for the Comedy clul
with the results that it has accom
plished In the past few years, and th,
elaborate plays which it has put be
fore the local public in professions
shape is sufficient evidence to sho'v
that Michigan is not in the least back
ward in the advancement of the popu
lar art when it comes to comparison
with any other leading university 11
America.
Evolved from Older Clubs.
Tracing its lineage through th
"Thespian" and "The Dramatic Club'
of more than twenty years ago, the
Comedy club under its present na
was formally organized in the earl
spring of 1895, when it made its firsi
appearance on May 10, 1895, with tw
well known farces, "Woodcock's Littl
Game," and "Lend Me Five Shillings.'
A great deal of data is not available
through any records of MIchigan'
oldtime dramatic interest, but it is a
familiar and well known fact that II
the nineties when Norman Hackett
Carl Harriman, James O'Donnel Ben-
nett, Kirk and Charles Alexande
made up that galaxy of "budding play.
ers," a lively interest in the dramatic
art became evident, hampered in some
degree for lack of facilities to stage
the ambitious productions, which are
attempted by the Comedy club players
of today.
Took Formal Shape in '90's.
With the eagerness of these stu-
dents of the nineties for the estab-
lishment of a dramatic club, and the
hearty enthusiasm that it received at
the outset, the early years of the
Comedy club were marked with great
suceess. Later the organization be-
came a more or less closed corpora-
tion, in which dramatic talent was not.
the essential requisite for member-
ship. Under this drawback the Ce-
edy club labored for some years un-
covering pronounced talent and clev-
erness at times, as was proved by the
popularity of such plays as "The Pri-
vate Secretary," "A Night Off," and
"All the Comforts of Hime."
New Standard in 1908.
In 1908 a new standard of member-
ship was set, demanding ability of the
candidates which was tested by pre-
liminary try outs. For this new im-
petus given to the club, a great deal of
credit is due to Professor Louis A.
Strauss, of the English . department,
Since that year, the run of "The
Inspector" (1909), "The Mart" (1910)
and "The Magistrate" (1911) has plac-
ed the Comedy club on a high plane
of dramatic activity.
Reorganization Last Year.
Last year a partial reorganization
of the club was brought about. A
new constitution was adopted and its
capital clause provided that member-
ship would not be limited to those
who take an active part in the annual
plays but should extend its roll to
(Continued on page 6)
c ial J. SHopI
MARGUERITE STANLEY
alias Lady Franklin, the snooth pat-
roness experienced in worldly wiles,
who untangles the knot that youth
cannot, and, who in passing acquires
a husband for herself.
That Miss Stanley is capable of
handling an important and significant
role was shown -by her masterly per-
formance in "The Magistrate" of last
year. Her farewell year in Michigan
Miss Stanley leaves an indelible mem-
ory of her work for the Comedy club
and figures as one of its most valued
and able players.
puss gentleman that's all perfume,
who objects to the letter R as being'
too wough. He never does anything'
that is silly nor never says anything
that is wise."'
Mr. Turpin is no novice in the his-
trionic art. In ante Michigan days he
shone as a star of the first magnitude
in a series of plays in which he took
varied parts. Rumor has it that the
above epigram fits Joe Turpin, to aT,
maybe that's why he was chosen for
one of the capital comedy leads of
"Money."
Thanks.
The editor of the Comedy club sup-
plement wishes to thank Miss Mar-
guerite Stanley, Messrs. John S. Swit-
zer, Edgar A. Mowrer and Harold
P. Scott for cooperating in the col-
DAVID COHN
alias Sir John Vesey, alais "Stingy
Jack," who thinks "the world's, all
humbug." His is the money God.
When there is a strong masculine
lead to be' filled by the Comedy club,
Dave Cohn is invariably picked as
first pretendant in his class. Having
been an efficient and hard worker in
the interests of the Comedy club for
thepa st three years Cohn now holds
down the dignity of President of the
club. He needs no introduction to a
local public for all know him to be a
reliable and excellent interpreter of
the preponderant leading parts of the
Comedy club plays.
DONALD KISKADDEN
alias "Captain Dudley Smooth," more
commonly called Deadly Smooth, the
finest player at whist, ecarte, chess
and piquet, between this and the pyra-
wids, the sweetest manners, always
calls you by your Christian name. But
take care how you play cards with
him."
We are familiar with the fact that
the name Kiskadden is the true name
of Maude Adams, America's leading
actress, and some of us are familiar
too with the fact that Donald Kis-
kadden is her cousin, but whether the
name Kiskadden and masterly playing
are synonomous or not, it is signifi-
cant that Don is picked repeatedly by
the Comedy club each year, and he al-
ways takes one of its biggest parts.
Don will leave us this year, but when
we think of him in the time to come,
we will always remember that he was
one of the'best players that Michigan
has ever had.
.
JOE TURPIN
alias Sor Fwedewick Blount, "a fine lection of news for these columns.
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ti
S eaL Sale
Mon., Twies., Wed. a.t
WAHR'S
Ttvjrs., Fri.. Sat. .t
Whitney Theatre
Saturday Evening, December 14th, THE COMEDY CLUB of the Untver-
shty of Michigan presents Lytton's Glittering Farce,
.Spe'
(Under Professional Training)
in 8:15 O'clock
Performn'e
Saturday Afternoon,
February I
ff-I
Ob ma
A-000 to 1.00
New Whitney Theatre
urfal
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