Pages 14-16
Sports Hughes takes over girls varsity lacrosse. Mr. O’Brien retires after 34 years ! at JC. Entertainment
The Passion of the Christ perturbs audiences with controversial propaganda. ! Page 11
Pat riot
John Carroll School " Tradition " Pride " Excellence
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March 2004 " Volume 39, Issue 5
Editorials Librarian protests Patriots of Genius piece. Staff presents practical rebuttal.
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Features Internet predators prey on lack of privacy, prosecution near impossible. Pages 8-9
fares well with audiences Sarah Jones Entertainment co Editor
During the Þrst week in March, over 120 students participated in the production of the annual JC musical. This year JC students brought My Fair Lady, a timeless classic, to life on the auditorium stage. My Fair Lady was Þrst produced at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15, 1956. Rex Harrison starred as “Higgins,” Julie Andrews starred as “Eliza,” and Stanley Halloway starred as “Doolittle.” Alan Jay Lerner wrote the book and lyrics and the music was composed by Fredrick Loewe. My Fair Lady was adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabrial Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion. For those unfamiliar with My Fair Lady, it takes place in the streets of London in the year 1912. Eliza Doolittle is an audacious ßower merchant. She attempts to sell ßowers to Colonel Pickering and from a distance sees Professor Henry Higgins writing her speech in his notebook. Professor Higgins is a distinguished phonetician interested in different dialects.
When Eliza Þrst sees Professor Higgins, she believes that he is a policeman, but he convinces her otherwise. Colonel Pickering makes a bet with Professor Higgins that he cannot transform a commoner, such as Eliza into a member of the upper class English society. Professor Higgins accepts the bet and has to change Eliza’s speech, manner, and dress into that of a duchess. Work on the JC production began before the ’02-’03 school year ended. Mrs. Lang and Mrs. Brueggemann choose three potential shows the summer before. Much thought goes into the selection of the musical. Mrs. Lang, the director of My Fair Lady said, “Mrs. Brueggemann and I talk about the talent that we have, we read scripts, and we try to match the talent that we have to the scripts.” Also, when trying to choose a musical to perform Mrs. Lang said, “We try to look for something popular that people will be familiar with and it hits me that this will be the one.” Auditions for My Fair Lady began in December and rehearsals began on January 5. Rehearsals were everyday after school, Thursday nights, and Saturday mornings. Junior McKenzie Walsh starred as Eliza Doolittle. When describing Eliza, Walsh said, “Eliza is a very strong person and very stubborn. She changes her nature and keeps her personality, but then she falls in love.” Senior Jimmy
Biernatowski starred as Professor Henry Higgins. Biernatowski describes Professor Higgins as “a stuck up, arrogant, selfcentered mama’s boy, who thinks he knows everything about everyone.” Sophomore Chris Susio played Colonel Pickering, senior Britt Cramer played Mrs. Pearce, and senior Katie Camden played Mrs. Higgins. Along with having to learn lines, students need to learn the music and the dances to the music. Mrs. Brueggemann and Larry Hensley are the choreographers for the JC musicals. Mrs. Brueggemann said, “We begin the process by listening to the soundtrack of My Fair Lady and we discuss the production numbers and the movement of the cast. We create separately and together to make footwork appear natural to the characters. Then as choreographers we meet with the pit director and designate the differences in the score and Broadway soundtrack.” My Fair Lady included ten musical numbers and many were accompanied by dancing. Mrs. Brueggemann said, “What never ceases to amaze me is the quantity of students that are non dancers, that rise to the occasion and learn the dance steps every year.” The show went very well for the cast. Walsh said, “I had my doubts in the beginning, unsure if it would all come together. In the end it all came together. It was a very difÞcult show, but because of the very difÞcult show that it is we did a very good job of pulling it off.” Biernatowski said, “The musical was awesome and a wonderful experience. I could not have asked for more my senior year. I cried before the show even started on Sunday.” Also moved by the show, Freshman John Hussar, a chorus member said, “At Þrst it did not seem it was going to be as good as it was, but come dress rehearsal it was better than everyone
expected.” M r s . Brueggemann, commenting on the cast’s diligence and ability to pull through, said, “The result choreographically was better than I thought it would be three weeks before, but that is typical because everybody rises to the occasion.” The musical had two matinee performances during the week for Southampton Middle, St. Margaret’s, and St. Joan of Arc. There were three performances over the weekend. Saturday night was sold out and the Friday and Sunday shows had about Þfty tickets remaining for each. On Saturday night, over sixty alumni from the 1971 production of My Fair Lady were invited to the show. At the conclusion if the production, they were invited up on stage to receive ßowers and to meet the actors in this years production. Once again, Marty Coffman ‘03 returned as an accompanist and vocal coach and Amanda Bertram ’02 returned as stage manager. Mr. Schick was the Light and Sound Director, Mr. Gaudreau was the Set Director; Mrs. Bair was a Vocal Director, and Mr. Scott Jones was the Orchestra Director.