THE MICHIGAN DAILY FRIDAY, MARC 30, 1951 'AL DRAMA: Athens Theatre Opens NeEr (Ed. Note-This is the second of two stories on the history of theatrical activity in Ann Arbot. The first article appeared in yesterday's Daily.) By CHUCK ELLIOTT When the Athens Opera House, the city's first permanent theatre giliding opened in 1871, a new era in theatrical activity was begun i'Ann Arbor.. An amateur performance of "the Grand Military Allegory of the py of Shiloh" initiated the house, and the papers reported that it .s "a grand success." Those who saw it "lived over the excitements E the war..." FROM THAT TIME on, until converted into the present Whitney l1908, the Athens was the chief amusement center of the city. Uni- ersty students were not to be put off from their own dramatic ven- ires, however, even though the theatre, in general, was frowned upon r those prim Victorian times. In 1879, students and faculty wit- essed a performance, in a gaslighted rooni In University Hall, of erence's "The Adelphi"-in Latin. Shakespeare was approved of on campus, and the great Lawrence Barrett was booked for several University "recitals." Following his appearance as "Hamlet," in 1879, students admir- ingly formed a "Barrett Club," and proceeded to put on a farce called "Dollars and Cents." This went over much better than Shakespeare. Through the'1880's and 1890's, the Athens Opera House dwindled l popularity. Perhaps it was the growing number of entertainments 'fered on campus, or a lack of good shows, but the enthusiasm which id prompted its building in the first place was dying out. In 1906, the property was purchased byB. C. Whitney, who decided to rebuild the whole structure. He lowered the auditor- ium to the first floor by tearing out part of the second story floor, added two more stories to the building, and made it into the biggest and best appointed theatre in the state. It opened on the night of Jan. 18, 1908 with the Chicago Whitney pera House Company playing "Knight of a Day." Box seats went ir $25 that night, and it was a local equivalent of a Met opening. ABOUT THIS TIME, the Majestic Roller Skating Rink was de- ared unsafe, and was rebuilt into a theatre with vaudeville and 000 feet of Majestic films." In October, 1915, a vaudeville show called "The Girl in the Moon" caused a small riot. The act appeared in a blacked-out theatre, and featured a girl sitting in a luminous crescent moon. While she sang, the moon floated out over the audience and up into the gallery. The students wanted to know how it was done, naturally enough, .they came equipped with a flashlight. The manager had prepared r this, instructing the ushers to throw out anybody who attempted light anything. When he pointed to the offending students, how- -er, they rushed him as a body, took him outside, and rolled him in snowbank. The manager didn't' like this much, and in the re- iting melee, two sophomores were hauled off to jail. The Marx Brothers, the explorer Martin Johnson, and Harry Dson were some of the famous names at the.Majestic. Jolson, like s more famous brother, was a singer, and in iis act sang all six arts of the sextet from "Lucia." ONE SMALL vaudeville theatre, the Star, suffered a sad fate at e hands of some students in 1914. It was late one Saturday after- on after a victorious football game, and the audience was more wdy than usual. The manager got up on the stage and shouted r order. This touched off the students, who proceeded to tear up e theatre. When they were done, the place was in shambles. Presi- nt Angell had to call. a mass meeting to reprimand the mob the xt day, and although money was collected to rebuild the 8tar, was never very popular after that. The Whitney boasted a huge stage, and the size of some of the .productions staged substantiates their claim. When "Ben Hur" was put on there, a cast of two hundred people and eight horses crammed themselves on the stage at one time. Although the Whitney has been converted to showing movies r the last seventeen years, the old dressing rooms and stage equip- ent are still back of the screen. On a wall can be seen the scrawled mes of Jane Cowl, Billie Burke, and Ed Wynn-all of whom ap- ared there many years ago. Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery, d Alfred Lunt all played the Whitney in bit parts between 1911 d 1915. Now that movies have pretty well taken over as popular enter- inment, true theatrical activity has almost ceased in the city itself. e Arts Theatre Club is the only group to yet return to the tradi- n-a lengthy and illustrious one. 'Simon' Not So Stupid, CraigSays By CAL SAMRA Simple Simon, the calculating robot, may be simple but he cer- tainly isn't stupid. Prof. Cecil Craig, director of the Statistical Research Labor- atory, yesterday rose to the de- fense of the alleged mechanical nitwit now on display at Wayne University. * * * . PROF. CRAIG lamented the fact that Simon has been sub- Jected to so much abuse and mental torture by members of the press who question his mathema- tical aptitude. " 'After all," he pointed out, "this persecuted contraption can give you te cube root of 357,451,896 before you can even start counting your fingers. "His is a simple construction all right," Prof. Craig chuckled, 'and you can see what's- going on inside him. But he's important to scientific research. I wouldn't question his intelligence either.". * * * OF COURSE, he admitted, in- telligence is quite relative. Simple is decidedly inferior to larger ro- bots such as the Whirlwind Ma- chine and the Eniac. "Those robots," he continued, "can undertake mathematical problems that would give Ein- stein a headache." Another defender of Wayne's Simon was Guy Tribble, '51, who last November got national recog- nition for his invention of the calculator "Simpler-than-Simon." "Simpler-than-Simon justified its reputation as the world's small- est and stupidest mechanical brain last year when it added one and one in half an hour," Tribble em- phasized. KIDS HIT JACKPOT: Midget Slot Machines Present Novel Pastime. By VERNON EMERSON If a few Ann Arbor merchants have their way, legalized slot machines are going to be the rage of the city's younger set. Pint-sized one-armed bandits are now being offered for sale in local stores. Designed for the kid- dies, they are exact metal and plastic replicas of the machines that the government is rounding up and dumping in the sea. * * * ALTHOUGH no money is con- nected with the operation of the toys, when the lever is pulled down * * * the dials spin and stop at the regu- lation combinations of cherries, bars, lemons, plums and oranges. A code of winning combina- tions is included on the{ face of the gadget. Police Chief Casper Enkemann said he is opposed to the sale of such toys as well as many comic books and toy pistols. "But there is nothing unlawful about them. If you call these things illegal, you may as well put cards in the same category." A SPOKESMAN from the sher- iff's department agreed that as long as no money is involved, the toys are lawful. "1f you start us- ing them to gamble on who pays for the drinks, however, their use is questionable." That any child would get much significance or satisfaction out of the little slot machines Swasquestioned by a University psychologist. He said' he had no idea how the toys would affect a child. Students didn't seem too im- pressed with the machines. "You can't win," one said flipping the lever for the 30th time. "Even the realchnc. ones give you a 40-0cae." High School Students To Swarm More than 2,000 high school students will invade the campus within the next few days to at- tend the Michigan School Solo and Ensemble Festival and a Span- ish pageant. Tomorrow music students from junior and senior high schools -- winners of "first division" or "su- perior" ratings in their district contests-will arrive to attend the Festival which is under the au- spices of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association. THESE STUDENTS, vwio repre- sent schools from over 200 cities in Michigan, will take part in a day-long program of solo and en- semble performances and compete for honors in contests for wind, string and percussion instruments. On Tuesday and Wednesday 600 more students will arrive to attend a two-day pageant for Spanish students, sponsored by the campus Spanish club, La Sociedad Hispanica. Activities planned for the group include an inspection of the ro- mance languages laboratory, and exhibits of fine arts, literature, and arts and crafts of Spain and South America. a_. -Daily-Roger Reinke CROWNING TOUCH-Dana Elcar, playing architect Holvard Solness, rehearses one of the more important moments in Ibsen's "The Master Builder." Produced by the Arts Theatre Club, the play will open tonight. In this scene from the symbol-filled play, Elcar dreams that he is putting the finishing touch on the tower of a building he has designed. Arts Theatre To Present 'Master Builders'" Today -Daily-Jack Bergstrom KIDDIES' DELIGHT 'Technic' Coming Technic, the engineering college magazine, will be sold Monday and Tuesday in the engineering arch. Daily Classifieds Bring Quick Results lF.1 t SMART, CASUAL CORDUROY Dress Slacks "The Master Builder" by Henrik Ibsen, the third production of the Arts Theatre Club, will open at 8:30 p.m. today in the club's thea- tre at 2091/ E. Washington. The play tells the events of the last 24 hours of Halvard Solness' life. Solness is a guilt-obsessed architectural genius. He feels per- sonally responsible for a series of Spring Tour Scheduled by Men Singers Fort Knox, Ky., has been added to the spring tour of the Men's Glee Club.I A last-minute acceptance from; the commanding general of the Army post has caused the shift which will cancel a scheduled April 10 concert at Evansville, Ind. Otherwise, the schedule for the tour remains as previously an- nounced. The 43-member organ- ization under the direction of Prof. Phillip A. Duey of the mu- sic school, will give concerts dur- ing spring vacation as follows: April 8, Sterling, Ill.; April 9, St. Louis, Mo.; April 10, Fort Knox, Ky.; April 11, Louisville; April 12, Cincinnati; April 13, Cul- ver Military Academy, Culver,' Ind.; April 14, Muskegon. The date for the Glee Club con- cert at Hill Auditorium remains Saturday, May 12. circumstances which have resulted in misfortune for his friends but have built his success. DURING THE . course of the play, driven by his own obsessions and the taunts of a young girl, Solness finally brings on his de- struction. The set is made up of three ir- regularly-shaped, skeletal plat- forms designed, according to scen- ic designer Jerry Lepard, "to get the actors up in the air." The posi- tions of the three set pieces will be changed as the play progresses to give a different stage setting for each act. * : s THE CAST is headed by Dana Elcar, playing Solness. His wife IAline will be played by Bette Ellis. Warren Pickett will be Doctor Herdal, a friend of the Solness family and physician to the in- valided Mrs. Solness. Miss H'ilda Wangel, the young woman who helps drive Solness to his death, will be played by Sonya Raimi. Others in the cast will be Pat Newhall, Lepard and Robertson. The play will be performed nightly, except Monday, through April 8. Admission is open only to members and their guests. Mem- berships may be obtained at the club's theatre or by calling 7301. 'U' To Be Host To Japanese A group of deans and professors Trouble With Parking? Use Our Friendly DRIVE-THRU SERVICE M BEER * WINE- * SOFT DRINKS * KEG BEER Open Daily 10 A M., Sundays Noon to 1 P.M. 114 E. Williams Phone 7191 GREY NAVY TAN BROWN GREEN ri# 1 pc. Waistband 1s Pleats r' Zippers I Last Selling 4.. FRIDAY and SATURDAY... $5 00 ANN ARBOR CUTRainT ki '. I 10--- T.. v.., .-..gyn.. TT-4-- 4+4..... .11411 1 Water irdS Snow irom Japanese universities will visit the campus during the fol- BeginS at MuSeum lowing week. All New Wool Gabardine //2ad4f At al SLACKS "Water Birds" will be the theme of the University Museums' pro- gram today. Various displays of the many species of water birds will be on exhibit from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Exhibition Halls of the Museums. Three accompanying films, "Life Cycle of a Muscovy Duck," "Wet- lands," and "Water Cycle" will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in Kellogg Aud- itorium. Their visit is being sponsored under a program for the occupied areas of the United States Office of Education, and is intended to bring the visitors into contact with faculty members of the var- ious University departments. There will be a reception for the visitors and for Japanese stu- dents on campus at 4:40 p.m., Monday at the International Cen- ter. It will be sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies. . LATEST IN ST 4 ( I' I s 'BEST IN VALUE! 1A% 1Mxl ' L A~ p f ff I _ Smart - Looking, com- fortable; wrinkle resist- ant, new wool slacks, with the amazing CAL- IFORNIA waistband. Available in regulars and longs $1595 18th Year 65-80 Day Bicycle Tours from $465 74 Day French Study Tour $775 56 Day Motor Tours - from $1090 Including Round Trip Steamship from New York or Montreal. iKo I i I