Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 February 1950 — Page 12

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THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

*

_ SUNDAY, FEB. 12, ii

Hammers, S Saws Add Din As IU Students Prepare ‘La Boheme’

: 5 ; 3

Left to ighi—lob Haskins, Jactianapolis Herbert Shive, assistant to Dean Wilfred C. Bain; Walter Rus-

sell, technica Staff Plans to Top Past Successes

With Production Set for Mar. 2-4

By HENRY BUTLER THERE'S hammering and sawing, as well as vocalizing, going stuff that still is standard ‘equip-

on in Indiana University's East Hall these days.

Music School Dean Wilfred

C. Bain's opera stat preparing

2 1950 season to surpass triumphs of '48 and 49.

. Current work on Puccini's

director, and Nathan Miron, Houston, Tex: (than limit the spectator’s Imagi-|20, when the Busch-Hoffman-opera is more or less immoral means release.

nation, Dellcata attic-window {outlines suggest the Parisian art|18t’s garret where Mimi dies in { Rudolfo’s arms. None of the (heavy, 19th-Century German

‘tment at the Met s ” ”

ALL THIS work goes on “In a

“La Boheme,” to be given Mar. 2, 3 balding that, last September, was

and 4 in the 1100-seat theater the music School bulit from cast-off [sadly unequipped for opera. Wal-

Army warehouse units, requires countless man-hours from volun: sifal” which Mr, Busch and ban- Theater and Butler Bowl

iin

“iter Russell, formerly of the Civic and

teer student carpenters, painters tamweight conductor Ernst Hoff-/ now technical director for the IU

~ and electricians.

man produced in '48 and '49.|

—H's the old show-bustness story “Better than the Metropolitan” of what the public never sees: The they wrote.

That might have

huge effort that precedes the first seemed faint praise, except that

thrilling curtain rise. In and out of the trim, neat building that iooks like the deluxe kind of GI theater veterans will rem@mber, there's a day-long, sometimes almost night-long, procession of students and faculty engaged in the fascinating and sometimes nerve-wracking toil of creating a show. Make no mistake: “La Boheme” will be a show. Dean Bain's stage director, ex-GI-8gt. Hans Busch, who, at 35, has a wealth of European, Bouth American and Broadway experience, is determined . to - give Puccini's poignantly appealing tragedy the best send-off it's ever had.

. " CRITICS raved is “Tales of Hoffmann,” “There and Back,”

the Met has superior vocal reach |in the operatic ring.

“More meaningful than the Met” would be closer to truth. Mr, Busch and Mr, Hoffman both insist on opera in English, { They poth insist also on sim. Iplicity and naturalness. In his East Hall basement office, lined with opera scores, books in several languages and autographed photos (Toscanini and others) | Mr. Busch told me the other day, “I want the singer to behave like a human being, not lke! a primadonna. I want the whole cast to -stay away from meaningless operatic gestures.” The drive for simplicity extends to scenery. For “Boheme,” Richard Scammon, of Dr. Lee Norvelle’s Speech Dept., has de-

“Down | in t the Valley” and “Par-

signed sets that stimulate lather]

opera, told me, “We didn’t even Town a hammer and saw when If] came here last fall” With ready help from Dean Bain and his assistant, former Ft.-Wayner-Her-bert Shive, the lacks were supplied. Now East Hall is ready to fit into the music dchool’s vigorous pattern of progress, Last Year's “Parsifal,” an artis.tiec miracle for a student outfit and probably the only student production of Wagner's great music drama the United States has ever seen, was costly. It drew ‘Veriticism. for extravagance. But the platforms and risers, the mo- ® bile stage units. expensively con{structed for “Parsifal,” now are | permanent equipment on the East 1 stage. | hor Il come in mighty handy {for “La Boheme,” for this year's repeat performance of “Parsifal” on Palm Sunday, Apr. 2 and for

the big ¢ deal next May 18, 19 and

Hans Busch, opera stage director for the IU School of Music, ond Fourfesnmonthe-old Cheryl Scammon watches Mr. Busch tell

Lee W, Fiser, Little Rock, Ark.

Mr, Busch has Russell combo put on two world and a waste of time. My feeling observed painfully gawky premieres: “The Veil” by Ber-/is that even if most of our stu- students gradually snap out of nard Rogers, and “The Jumping dents do not become profes- their evident unhappiness when Frog of Calaveras County,” by| sionals, their stage experience they had to produce results on

Lukas Foss. { will give them insight into life, the stage. i ” {It will enrich them,” he sald. dl JA SE © THAT OPERATIC double-bill 8 Bool “LA BOHEME” is to be given

will be part of a spring festival! HE SEES opera r - one antidote, with two separate casts on alterof contemporary music, which|to standardized recreation. Al nate nights, to provide maximum certainly will draw national at- country dominated by radio, performance opportunity for tention to Indiana. Dean Bain’s | sports, movies and TV is emotion- opera students. In addition to School of Music is rapidly taking ally malnourished. opera productions, which are imlaurels away from heavily en- He has seen big-voiced, brash mensely laborious and take dowed, big-name music schools | students come barging on the months of rehearsal, the music elsewhere. Each time IU rings the stage with the extrovert: American school this semester will start a —Sud- series of studio performances. students from distant|/denly the musle and the dramatic Using only curtains, lights and points, meaning would get them. risers, these scenes and episodes, People may wonder why opera] They'd almost break down, {trom | standard repertoire will give should be studied and produced|Since nobody can really cry and/all opera students a whack at in a state university. Mr. Busch sing at the same time, that was|stage performance. has some answers to queries. Lesson No. 1 in emotional. fon-| When Helmut Wolfes,

talented

dis-

faculty next Thursday, the opera) prepared to teach repertoire. department will be still better! Hitherto, Mr. Busch, who says! he’s no musician, though he likes| to practice on his grandfather's| cello, a big item in the solivenir-'

George Kemp and his orchestra will play for the annual Valentine’s day dance to be given for the Hellenic Orthodox Youth Association at 8 p.m. today in tthe—8 banon—hall; 2245, East Riverside Drive.

The club is. composed of young

auspices of Holy Trinity Hellenic {Orthodox Church. Officers of the club are Wil-|

's mother, Yona ra (Mrs Richard)

Scammon (left) and Juliana Larson, Houston, Tex., how to act the role cluttered io oh wink has had to help

Mr. Hoffman with the coaching of individual students. Top price for “La Boheme” will be 90 cents, with nearly 500 60-

cent seats also available. My

{guess is that the three performsances will be sell-outs,

Hellenic Orthodox Youth Plan Valentine Dance

ades, corresponding secretary; Connie. Banks, recording secretary; Gus Trabaris, treasurer, and Lee Demas, sergeant-at-arms,

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