The Masque, La Salle University's student-run theater organization, was founded in 1934. With the support of faculty advisor Joseph Sprissler the Masque presented its first performance on December 27, 1934 with the play Sun Up. Though there have been some gaps (particularly during WWII when the group briefly disbanded), the Masque has continued to put on plays and musicals almost continuously since its inception.
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Triumph of Love
La Salle University
Set in the small country of Andorra after World War I, Triumph of Love, examines the philosophical battle between emotion and reason. Princess Leonide has fallen in love with Agis, the rightful heir to her usurped throne. Leonide and her servant Corrine disguise themselves as men and sneak into the philosophical retreat in which Agis has taken refuge. Master of the estate Hermocrate, along with his sister Leontine, have not only taught Agis to hate Leonide, but to live by the strict laws of logic and reason. Comedic antics ensue when the disguised Leonide and Corrine recruit estate servants Dimas and Harlequin to help Leonide un-do Hermocrate's teachings and win Agis' heart . In the end, love is triumphant.
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Crimes of the Heart
La Salle University
Set in Hazelhurst Mississippi five years after Hurricane Camille, "Crimes of the Heart" is the story of three sisters who are reunited when the youngest, Babe, is accused of shooting her husband, State Senator Zachary Botrelle. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this warm hearted, and irreverent play teems with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of the Magrath sisters. Meg has come home after a failed singing career on the West Coast. Babe is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. While Lenny is simply hoping people will remember her birthday. Their troubles are highlighted by their snobby cousin, Chick, and by the young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helpless not to fall in love wither her. In the end the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future. Welcome to Hazelhurst.
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Maverick One Acts
La Salle University
"When I Knew"
Written and Directed By David Terruso
Maggie tells the story of her courtship to her granddaughter Cyndi. She relives the past through the use of interactive flashback."Valentine's Day"
Written and Directed By John Luke Kozempel
Two script-writing brothers live together in New Jersey and deal with the headaches of work and love. -
Rough Crossing
La Salle University
Two Hungarian playwrights - the darlings of the 1920's Broadway theatre scene - are en route to New York via ocean liner for the opening of their newest musical comedy. In just four days, they must convince their impetuous young composer not to quit, untangle the web of suitors surrounding their leading lady and write a fabulous ending for their new show - not to mention · brushing up the beginning and the middle, with only the assistance of their inexperienced but enthusiastic cabin steward. Confusion ensues, slapstick abounds and hilarity prevails in this zany adventure by the British master of razor-sharp wit and verbal gymnastics, playwright Tom Stoppard.
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Bye Bye Birdie
La Salle University
When Conrad Birdie, America's rock n' roll idol of 1960, gets drafted into the army, his agent, Albert Peterson, is at the end of his rope. Albert's secretary and long suffering girlfriend, Rose Alvarez, develops a scheme to send Conrad off with a hit song, "One Last Kiss," which he will bestow on his #1 fan, Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio. Kim and her friends love the idea, but Hugo, Kim's new "steady," is less than thrilled. MacAfee, Kim's father is totally frustrated with kids today until he learns he will be appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show with Kim and Conrad. A smooth show looks likely until Rosie, fed up with Albert and show business in general, sabotages the plan with help from Hugo, and takes a walk off the proverbial deep end. Mae Peterson, Albert's overbearing mother, couldn't be more happy to see the "Spanish tamale" go south, but Albert is desperate to win her back. The story crescendos to uproarious chaos as Hugo wallows over Kim, Mae attempts to collar Albert, Albert begs Rosie's forgiveness, Conrad prowls for a last fling, and Mr.. and Mrs. MacAfee insure Kim is not that fling. All everyone wants is an ending that is just peachy ... er, rosie.
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The Curious Savage
La Salle University
The irascible Mrs. Savage was left with ten million dollars at her late husband's passing. She desires to make a charitable use of it, against the avaricious desires of her grown-up stepchildren. These stepchildren, seeing that they cannot get a hold of the estate, commit their stepmother to a "sanatorium" hoping to "bring her to her senses." With the help of the patients, Mrs. Savage drives her stepchildren to distraction as they seek her fortune. By show's end, the audience is left with a feeling that the neglected virtues of kindness and affection have not been entirely lost in a world that seems motivated at times only by greed and dishonesty.
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The Two Gentlemen of Verona
La Salle University
The story begins in Verona where two friends, Proteus and Valentine, are forced to part as Valentine travels to Milan seeking adventure and fortune. Proteus stays behind to court the love of his life, Julia, who is eventually wooed by his persistence. Unfortunately for the couple, Proteus' father Antonio orders his son to Milan to be with Valentine. Proteus unwillingly leaves behind Julia, who contrives a plan with her friend Lucetta to get to Milan. In Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with Silvia, the beautiful daughter of the headstrong Duke. Silvia is betrothed to the foolish, but very rich, Thurio whom she cannot stand. When Proteus arrives in Milan, he immediately falls in love with Silvia and plots to betray both his lover Julia and his friend Valentine. Julia and Lucetta eventually arrive in Milan, in disguise. Proteus' attempted betrayal leads to chaos that is mended by Valentine and the disguised women. Valentine rescues Silvia, Julia wins back Proteus, Lucetta and Thurio, and even the servants Launce and Speed find love.
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The Fantasticks
La Salle University
Synopsis
The show begins with an enthusiastic introduction to the characters gathering for their performance. The Narrator, El Gallo presents the main characters, "a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall." This wall separates the homes of the boy, Matt, and the girl, Luisa, and it is soon clear that their fathers have been feuding for years.
As a result, the parents have not permitted their children to socialize. Resulting, of course, in bringing the boy and girl together by sparking a forbidden love between them.
The children exchange vows of love behind their fathers' backs, but in reality the fathers have been old friends for years, concocting their ''feud" to lure their children together in marriage. Knowing that they would not accept a prearranged marriage, they wish to end their fake feud without revealing their secret. They decide to stage an abduction and hire El Gallo to direct it. With the help of two actors, El Gallo abducts the girl, allows the boy to save her, and produces a proper end to a feud.
The unexpected result of this little scheme is that in the second act we find that the fire of passion has dimmed between the lovers without the heat of excitement. The boy, now less than thrilled with his legal lover, leaves to travel the globe in search of "himself." The fathers are frazzled by this predicament and end up truly feuding. The girl is now being wooed by El Gallo. She, however, gets hurt when El Gallo leaves her dejected after promising her a life of excitement. Eventually the boy returns home disillusioned and disappointed after finding the world to be over-rated. Finally, the two lovers realize that everything they have been looking for, they already have in one another. The fathers end the feud, and the families live "happily" ever after, and so forth.
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The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940
La Salle University
It is the winter of 1940, and a wealthy benefactor to the arts has gathered together a small cast and a creative team to hold backer's audition for a new Broadway musical. What the creative team does not know is that they have been reunited at the Westchester estate to unmask a murderer, three chorus girls from the team's Broadway flop Manhattan Holiday were killed by the "Stage Door Slasher." A bumbling police inspector tries to solve the case of the "Slasher," which is made more difficult by a blizzard, blackouts a half-crazed German maid and a curious Irish tenor. The four eccentric members of the creative team point fingers while bookcases swivel, knives spring out from nowhere, and bodies fall. A less-than-impressive comic and a bright-eyed chorus girl are forced to do the real detective work, meanwhile hidden passageways and secret diaries twist the plot in many hilarious directions as the cast tries to unmask the "Slasher" before he strikes again.
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Lysistrata
La Salle University
Synopsis
Act I:
Scene i: (A street in Athens)
Lysistrata holds a secret meeting with representatives from all the Greek city-states to discuss her plan ,to end the Peloponnesian Wars.Scene ii: (Outside the Acropolis)
After the old women have successfully occupied the acropolis and barred access to the treasury, a militia of old men attempt to reclaim their city. The Commissioner tries to overcome Lysistrata's women so that he may withdrawal funds for the war effort.Act II
Scene i: (Inside the Citadel)
Lysistrata must maintain her women's morale during their battle of the sexes, while the Athenian soldier Cinesias returns home from the war seeking his wife Myrrhina.Scene ii: (A Street)
As the Commissioner awaits reinforcements to confront the women, he encounters a Spartan messenger.Scene iii: (Outside the Citadel)
In her final attempt to secure peace between the Athenians and Spartans, Lysistrata hosts a peace accord between the armies ... using her own feminine style of diplomacy. -
Pippin
La Salle University
Synopsis
Pippin is the story of a young man and his quest for his identity. Pippin (the main character) is the son of the war-thirsty Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, stepson to the delightful yet conniving Fastrada, and brother to a dim, insipid guy named Lewis, none of whom seem to offer fruitful assistance in his quest for "complete and ultimate fulfillment."
Anyway, the story is set in the medieval time period on a miniature golf course. Young Pippin, as smart as he is, has just been offered to be the· scholar of the house at the University of Padua. Yet, despite this honor, he is disheartened and discontent. So he declines this offer and sets out to run wild, to go where the wind takes him, to run like a chicken with its head cut off, to-- well, you get the point. He decides not to waste his life on ordinary activities. So he joins in the war against the Visigoths, of which his brother is a big part (and his father is the general).
After his first battle, Pippin decides that he wants more out of life than to watch heads and limbs fly into the air in the throes of war. So he pays a visit to his wise old grandmother Berthe, where he realizes that it's better to stop worrying and start living it up! Unfortunately, the wonder of having women hang all over him isn't enough to get him into the cosmic groove; and when it is brought to his attention that his father the King is an unfair ruler, Pippin plans to murder him (with a little help from his stepmother). He figures that he can be the new king and treat everyone fair and just. Yet this is a disastrous scheme; things do not turn out as well as had been hoped. Pippin does not want to give up. He tries being creative in art; he dedicates himself to the church; but he soon realizes that his quest is unfulfilling. The poor guy is completely out of options.
This is when a desperate widow named Catherine comes along and, with the help of her daughter and her daughter's duck, scrapes him up (literally) from the depths of despair. The question is this: will a home, a little girl, a sick duck, and lots of wild sex be enough for him? I guess you'll find out.