n...._ T MICHIGAN D ATLY TUESDAY. JITTLY 4. IS" THE ICH CAN ATT .s-ex- .w. .a a ur v . a . A. s aTlE lV TTVA a a1 .i/tai .lL1LE Y . ! ! r Michigan Repertory Players Four Dramas, Opewtta Will Be Presented -. II Rehearsals for Michigan Repertor Begin as Summer Guest Directors Will Open 16th Summer Season 'y Plays FIRST PLAY TO BE JULY 12: Arrive Comedy Highlights Damask Cheek,' Fresh Fields' .w. ® as T* . *: * * * x G' A series of four outstanding plays by well known dramatists and an outstanding operetta will be pre- sented for the sixteenth summer sea- son by the Michigan Repertory Play- ers of the Department of Speech. Opening the series will be a com- edy of true love in 1909, "The Dam- ask Cheek" by John Van Druten and Lloyd Morris. A recent successful Broadway production starring Flora Robson, the play is distinguished for its charm, literate writing and be- guiling characterizations. French Play To Be Given The second offering by the players will be Moliere's "The Learned La- dies." This drama, to be given July 19-22, will show the famed French playwright's ease, breadth and sure- ness in character drawing, and in picturing the manners of his time. Tryouts for the operetta, "The Chocolate Soldier," will be held from 4 to 6 p. m. Thursday at the Lydia Mendelssohn theatre. All persons interested in appearing are invited to attend. They are asked to bring their own music and be prepared to sing at the auditions. CLARIBEL BAIRD ...to direct plays. ~'Jouirney to Jerusalem' Is Biblical Drama Guest directors and technicians for the summer dramatic productions to be offered by the Michigan Reper- tory Plays arrived in town last week to begin rehearsals. Claribel Baird of the faculty at the Oklahoma State College for Women has been a favorite actress with Ann Arbor theatre-goers. Mrs. Baird will appear in a leading role in the first play, "Damask Cheek" and will direct the third play. Viehman- To Direct Theodore Viehman is at present director of The Little Theatre - of Tulsa, Okla. He has chosen the Moliere comedy as well as "Fresh Fields." The opening and closing plays, "Damask Cheek" and the operetta, "The Chocolate Soldier," will be di- rected by Valentine Windt, head of dramatics in the speech department. Phil ippi Will Return Herbert Philippi, who has been designer-technician, for Play Pro- duction for the past year, will re- turn as scenic designer for the Rep- ertory Players. He will be assisted by Robert Burrows, technical director of the Carolina Play-makers and by Ernest Asmus, scene designer at Ann Arbor high school. Also appearing on the technical I staff will be Lucy Barton, costumiere for the Players in 1939 and 1942. Miss Barton, the author of numer- ous books on costuming, heads the dramatic arts department at the University of Arizona. Moiere To Be Given "The Learned Ladies,' one of Mol- iere's most noted plays, gives the playwright one of his best oppor- tunities to ridicule the foibles and shams of French life in his time. One of the main characters is Chysale, an honest bourgeois, who has to endure a pretentious wife, a stup idly romantic sister and his pe- dantic child. He becomes involved in manytof their plots and struggles to help them out. Scheduled as the second produc- tion for July 19 to 22, the play will be directed by Theodore Viehman, who is well known for his interpretations of both Moliere's and Shakespeare's plays. s Comedy will highlight two plays{ this summer, with "The DamaskI Cheek" described as "an amusing frolic in the family album," and "Fresh Fields," which will show the struggle between a pair of impover- ished noblewomen and a newly rich family, appearing among the group of plays offered by the Repertory Players. The opening selection, "The Dam-; One of the highlights of the sea- son will be the third production, "Journey to Jerusalem" by Maxwell Anderson. Scheduled for Aug. 2-5, this drama is a commentary on the never-ending tragedy of social op- pression, and seeks to draw a signifi- cant parallel between the Caesars and Hitler. The "sparkling" comedy, "Fresh Fields" by Ivor Novello portrays a group of Australian parvenus and genteel Londoners. It will be pre- sented Aug. 9-12. Operetta To Be Presented Collaborating for the tenth con- secutive summer season, the School of Music, with the Players, will pre- sent the famous operetta "The Choc- olate'Soldier." Based on Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" the plot has been combined with the enchanting music of Oscar Straus and Stanislaus Strange. The oper- etta will be presented' Aug. 16-19. Season tickets are now on sale at the Lydia Mendelssohn box office. ask Cheek," will be presented Wed- nesday through Saturday, July 12 to 15. The scene is laid in New York in 1909 and tells of, a plain looking but lively and interesting English girl visiting American relatives. She had always been in love with her cousin Jimmy, who, however, is engaged to a pert little actress, but as the quotation from "Twelfth Night" would imply, "she never told her love." "Fresh Fields" will portray two ladies who have inherited a mansion in London but who are without the necessary income for its upkeep. Past acquaintances in Australia are a warm-hearted, inn-keeping family who descend upon the ladies as "paying guests." Maxwell Anderson's play "Journey to Jerusalem" which the Repertory Players will present, has a large por- tion of its text taken from chapters in the New Testament for its histori- cal accounts of the early life of Jesus. The play is the story of a pilgrim- mage to Jerusalem for observance of the ritual of the Passover by a Jewish family from Galilee. A twelve year old son, Jesus, is one of its members. Shown throughout the acts is cor- ruption and greed in high positions and distress and poverty among the people. It deals with Roman slavery imposed by Augustus but carried out by Herod and the growing need for spiritual leadership. All this is re- lated with colorful imagery and the smoothly flowing lines which are so typical of Anderson. Claribel Ba'ird, guest director from Oklahoma, has chosen "Journey to Jerusalem" as the vehicle which she will direct for the summer series. It will appear Aug. 2 through 5. INVEST IN VICTORY -~~ e HERBERT PHILIPPI will design sets Players, Afusic You're always right, and bright as a School To o . penny in cool cotton. We have just For O eretta the dresses you want to make this the One of the favorite light operas ofbev theatre-goes, "The Chocolate Sol- best summer you ve ever had. dier," will be presented jointly by the Michigan Repertory Players and the School of Music Aug. 16 to 19 as the finale for the summer play season.P e Although Bernard Shaw wrote "Arms and the Man" in 1904, much1I is made of the fact- that soldiers at . that time got rations of chocolate $6 5 o and it is from this that the operetta ets the name. Oscar Straus set the play to music. The plot shows how lovely Raina Petchoff saves Captain Bluntschi from the Bulgarians by hiding him in her boudoir until he can safely es- cape. His concealment brings about many amusing situations in which Raina's father and her fiance are made to appear very ridiculous. A well remembered operetta on Broadway and in many other cities, "The Chocolate Soldier" was also made into a movie starring Nelson 217 South Main 9 Nickels Arcade Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. BUY WAR BONDS I _..... _ mmmmxwm r W Ww W - W - wW - W - THE DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH PRESENTS PLAYERS THE MICH GAN REPERTORY in 5 brilant Plays Distinguished uthors THE DAMASK CHEEK . John VanDruten and Lloyd Morris "The Damask Cheek,"distinguished for its charm, literate writing, and beguiling characterizations, is a comedy of true love in 1909. It was a recent successful Broadway production in which the noted actress, Flora Robson, won great acclaim. July 12-July 15 July 12 - August 19 FRESH FIELDS ... Ivoroveo Mr. Ivor Novello is the author of many successful plays but his high-water mark is reached in the sparkling comedy "Fresh Fields." This play about Australian parvenus and a group of genteel Lon- doners has amused packed houses both in England and the United States. July 19-July 22 Cevnedq9 aU-,x~fe JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM . . . Maxwell Anderson "Journey to Jerusalem" is a dignified and beautiful commentary on the never-ending tragedy of social oppression, and seeks to draw a significant parallel between the yoke of the Caesars and the yoke of Hitler. It's period is specifically those few days in Jerusalem when the boy, Jesus, was awakening to a knowledge of His mission and to the sorrowful realization of the command to becme a sacrifice for humanity. August 2-August 5 IC any u4Ic0. n'h t THE LEARNED LADIES *Moliere In this,i the next to the last of his plays, Moliere shows an ease, THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER Oscar Straus and Stanislaus Stauge In Conjunction with the School-of Music For the tenth consecutive summer season, the School of Music will collaborate with the Players in the production of a famous operetta. Based on the story of Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man," and com- bined with the enchanting music of Oscar Straus, this operetta is a perennial favorite of theatre-goers. "'The Chocolate Soldier" was recently made into a movie starring Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens. August 16-August 19 breadth, and sureness in character drawing and in picturigg the maners of his time, such as he had hardly attained before. His humor has grown richer, and his attack upon contemporary foibles and shams far bolder. July 12-July 15 Pe 4-ect ! Iwncp bteptaim#h k . . .