Please enjoy this archived article from the old Mentor High School Log, one of the earlier incarnations of the Mentor High School student newspaper. Special thanks to Mr. Sanelli for finding these in an old bureau taken from the old Mentor High School Library during its renovation into the Hub. Also thanks to Mrs. Ford and the GenYes team for scanning and sharing the original article.
These days, the Mentor High School Drama Club is known as Mentor Theatre. And these days, the spring musical is auditioned right about now in August. But in 1966, it was March 29 and the drama club under director and Mentor Theatre Hall of Famer J. Robert Jay was getting ready for their next production – the very next month! What were they up to? Read on and find out!
– Mr. Couch, Cardinal Nation Advisor
March 29, 1966
Tryouts Held:
But Nobody Wants Hansel and Gretel
Tryouts for this spring’s all school dramatics production, consisting of three one act plays instead of the usual three act play or corresponding musical, were held Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.
One of these shorties, “The Bad Children” by Shirley Jackson, is a musical. The story is basically “Hansel and Gretel” except neither the parents nor the witch wants the children.
The action takes place in a clearing in a forest on the 27th consecutive day of rain. One student referred to it as being “kind of a fractured fairy tale.”
Tryouts for this consisted not only of readings, but each person was required to sing one of the songs from the show, since each character in the play sings a solo. Selections ranged from the “Witch’s Song” to Hansel and Gretel’s “Echo Song” to the rhythmic beat of the enchanter’s “Mean Old Wizard Blues.”
“Dress Reversal” is a farce in one act by John C. Gerber: it is set on a stage rehearsal and has parts for nine boys. “Seeds of Suspicion” by Dorothy L. Sayers is a one act mystery with parts for four boys and four girls. Results of auditions were not released in time for publication.
Robert Jay expects to work rehearsals for the plays every other night: “Dress Reversal” and “Seeds of Suspicion” alternating with “The Bad Children.” As yet Mr. Jay has no idea how sets for the three shows will be worked. The dates for the plays are April 22 and 23.
