SOUVENIR SECTION Comedy Club Supplement i SECTION i I "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. -------- -- -- 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 I I