1867-1868

Play: The Conjuror or The Three Heirs

Author: Unknown
Date: Saturday Evening, October 12, 1867, 6:30 P.M. (after an early supper)
Producing Organization: Thespian Society
Venue: Washington Exhibition Hall
Event: St. Edward’s DayPROGRAMME.
Grand Entrance March: Notre Dame University Cornet Band
Haydn’s Fourth Symphony in B flat, (adagio and allegro): Orchestra
Salutatory–“Rose of Allandalae”: Field Band
Address from the Senior Department: James W. Watts
Song–Composed expressly for the occasion, by Prof. M. E. Girac, LL.D., and dedicated to Very Rev. E. Sorin, Provincial, etc.: St. Cecilia and Philharmonic Societies
Address in Latin: W. T. Johnson
Address in French: J. Lafferty
Music–(Waltz for the occasion, by Prof. O’Neill): Notre Dame University Cornet Band
Address in German: D. T. Wile
Address from the St. Edward’s Society: John Fitzharris
Song and Chorus–“The Shaking of the Hand”: Philharmonic Society
Music–(Woodman, Spare that Tree): Notre Dame University Cornet Band
Address from the Junior Department: Mark Foote
Music–(Carry me back): Field Band
Address from the Minim Department: Ernest Lyons
Song and Chorus–Philharmonic Society: E. E. Hull, S. B. Hibben, W. B. Smith, Wm. Dunlap, A. O’Reilly, Frank Guthrie, M. S. Ryan, J. Laffeerty, E. Walker, Frank Ingersoll, Jas. McBride, S. Corby, N. Wood, J. Dickinson, II, P. Morancy
Music–(Adagio): Orchestra

Comedy in Five Acts.

(PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE OCCASION.)

THE CONJUROR: OR THE THREE HEIRS.

Dramatis Personae.
Lord Truman: R. M. Short
Sir George Truman–(the Conjuror–his nephew and adopted son): W. T. Dunlap
Mr. Fantome–(also nephew to Lord Truman): M. J. McBride
Mr. Tinsel: J. Fitzharris
Vellum–(Steward to Lord Truman): J. D. Murphy
Mr. Abigail–(a Major-domo): F. Guthrie
Butler: N. Wood
Gardener: J. C. Keveny
Coachman: E. E. Hull
At the end of each Act, except the last, the Band will discourse some excellent music. At the end of the Fifth Act a Minuetto will be played by the Orchestra.
Finale–(Haydn): Orchestra
March for Retiring: Notre Dame University Cornet Band

Note: Closing remarks by Father Provincial Sorin”The proscenium, however, resembled the constellation Ursa Minor, being a little bare. The statuesque figures of Science, Art, Agriculture, and Commerce were not sufficiently relieved to make more than a shadowy appearance, and Washington looked almost as lonely as Poe’s Raven. But this deficiency is of course only temporary, and consequent on the fact that the hall was not painted soon enough to leave time to attend to it. The general effect of the interior was much imporoved by the painting recently done, and when the deficiency alluded to has been supplied, Washington Hall will be entitled to a high rank among halls devoted to similar objects in the West” (5).

Source: Scholastic 1:7, October 19, 1867, 4-6.


Play: The Recognition

Author: Father Augustus E. Lemonnier, CSC
Dates: November 27, 1867 and June 23, 1868
Producing Organization: St. Cecilia Philomathean Association
Venue: Washington Hall
Events: Festival of St. Cecilia & Commencement

Cast List

Duke of Spoleto: James Page
Esquire Ricardo: James Sutherland
Prince of Macerata: Horace Moody
Count Bartolo: D. J. Wile
Antonio: Otis Walker
Balthazar: John Flanigan
Stephano: John Skelly
Leonardo: Asa Wetherbee
Gratiano: Robert Staley
Lorenzo: Edward Walker
Giacomo: Frank Ingersoll
Reginald: Louis McGinnis
Paolo: James Wilson
Zucchi: George Bower
Piedro: WIlliam Clark
Beppo: P. Cochran
Vicentio: James Dooley
Alphonso: A. Mitchell
Piccolo: M. Mahony
Marso: C. Sage
Andrea: E. Benoist
Orlando: John Raggio
Alberto: R. McCarthy
Gabrini: William Reynold
Castello: George Arbuthnot
Orazzi: John Mchugh
Colonna: Daniel Egan
Silvio: James McGinnis
Carlo: J. Broderick
Alfieri: Charles Dodge
Almeno: H. Benoist
Rafaele: W. B. Small
Manfred: John Dunn
Angelo: T. Batman
Rossi: J. F. Ryan

Note: The Prologue was delivered by C. Dodge and the Epilogue by J. F. Ryan. The full script appears serially in Scholastic 1:23, 24, 26-29 and in Joseph A. Lyons, The American Elocution and Dramatic Reader For the Use of Colleges, Academies, and School, 3rd Ed. (Philadelphia: J. H. Butler & Company, 1874).

Source: Scholastic 1:13, 1-4; 23, 4-6.


Washington’s Birthday Celebration at Notre Dame

Date: February 22, 1868, 2:30 P.M.
Venue: Washington Hall
Washington’s Grand March: 36 brass pieces under the direction of Prof. O’Neil in front of the College, including “Hail Columbia,” “Yankee Doodle,” and other national airs, followed in quick succession.
Programme

Grand Entrance March: Cornet Band
Music: Orchestra
Song and Chorus–Alma Mater–Girac: Charles Hutchings, Benj. Heffernan; Chorus
Practical Elocution: Junior Collegiate Department, Prof. Griffith
Pantomime: “mute demonstration” by “the whole class”
Serio-comical colloquy: John Flanigan and Pantomimists
“Little Jim”: Robert Staley [silent]
“High Pitch”: Charles Hutchings
“Moderate Pitch”: Frank Ingersoll
“Low Pitch”: Lawrence Wilson
“Very High Pitch”: Lawrence Wilson
“Gentle and Moderate Force”: Michael Mahony
“Very Quick Time”: J. McGinnis
“Circumflex”: Franklin Dwyer
“Moustache”: Asa Weatherbee
and many others in the Junior Department
Orator of the Day: William T. Johnson
“Spartacus to the Gladiators”: Chas. Dodge
“The Baron’s Last Banquet”: Jno. Flanigan
Music: Band
“Washington Schottische”–Girac: Orchestra
Selection from Longfellow’s “Ship of State”: Prof. A. A. Griffith (“a perfect elocutionist” who “appeared upon the stage amid a perfect storm of applause, which fairly shook the Hall.”) followed by an encore of selected portions from
Shakspeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor
Closing Remarks: Rev. Father Superior
March for retiring: Cornet Band

Note: Visitors from South Bend, Niles, and Elkhart. “The entertainment, on the whole, was one of the most interesting that has been given in Washington Hall for some time. . . .”

Source: Scholastic 1:26, February 29, 1868, 1-3.


last edited by Mark C. Pilkinton, May 30, 2013