Beautiful ’Gloria’ Service Offered Again
PCC Chronicle
Vol. 54, No. 11 Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California December 9, 1953
“THERE WAS A NEED ... for some expression of the
reverend spirit of Christmas,” commented Miss Katharine Kester.
This was the reason why, hi 1932, she wrote “Gloria” for the
students and faculty of Pasadena City College
For many years a drama instructor at City College, Miss
Kester is once again directing, under the general supervision of
Miss Isobei Smith, the religious drama to be presented this
Christmas on December 11 and 13.
The fame of “Gloria” has risen since the first year of its
production and the drama has been presented nationally. Miss
Kester related that men in the armed forces have written letters
to her stating that on the field of battle “Gloria” came to have a
real meaning for them.
* Gloria 1 Casts Include
Vocalists, Dramatists
Two complete casts will present the four stagings of
“Gloria” this weekend, according to Miss Isobei Smith, di¬
rector of the choral pageant. The vocal casts include Ethel
Vernon, Mary Ann Ridout and Arline Smith as the Herald
Four Presentations to Be
Given During this Weekend
Ushering the Christmas season into Southern California will be Pasadena City College’s
traditional biennial Yuletide gift to the community, namely “Gloria.” The choral-drama will
be staged four times this weekend by approximately 250 students from both day and evening
classes. Under the direction of Miss Isobei Smith, of the Music Department faculty, the service
will be presented to capacity au¬
diences at 8 p.m. on December
10, at a special student assembly
on Friday morning, and twice on
Sunday, at 2 and 4:30 p.m. All
tickets for all four performances
of the famed Christmas choral
offering have already been issued
to local students and the general
public.
The two casts which will pre¬
sent services are ngmed in an¬
other article in this issue of The
Chronicle. Working with Miss
Smith in the presentation of the
sacred pageant are. William Ben-
ulis, director of Nysaean Sing¬
ers, Robert Ekstrom, director of
Euterpean Singers; Harry David¬
son, drama director; Robert Car-
roll and Raoul Proctor, stage di¬
rectors; Miss Laura Elder, cos¬
tume director; Mrs. Carolyn
Weersing, publicity director; and
Clinton O. Bay, house manager.
Miss Smith, Benulis and Ekstrom
are members of the local Music
Department, of which Mrs. Weer¬
sing is chairman.
Written in 1933 by former PCC
English instructor Miss Katharine
Kester as a Christmas service
which could combine all types of
Christmas music with a Nativity
story permitting the use of effec¬
tive settings, “Gloria” opens with
the prophecy of the coming of
the Christ Child in a temple
scene in which the soloists and
women’s choir use authentic He¬
brew music. Then follows the
desert scene in which a shepherd
stays behind to tend a wounded
• .Continued on Page Three
APPEARING IN “GLORIA” ... as shepherds are (left to
right) Charles Williams, Bob Hollingsworth, Lawrence Jenkins
and Don Schneider. The choral drama will be presented in Sex-
son Auditorium four times this week.
Angels; Joyce Cox and La Verne
Spirito as the Madonna; Richard
Myers and Louis Mattazaro as
Joseph; and Larry Shaw, Don
Schneider, Rodger Francke,
Асу
Chandler, Bill Henry and Louis
Mattazaro as the Three Kings.
Richard Myers and Steven Ar-
neson as the Shepherd Boy; Bill
Henry and
Асу
Chandler as the
Singing Priest; and Venita Lenox
as the Singer in the Temple com¬
plete the music casts.
Dramatic castings for the tra¬
ditional service include Louis
Mattazaro and James Galbraith
as the Prophet Priest; Chris
Tambe as Obed; David Dykstra
and Garry Short as Judah; Stan¬
ley Calhoun and Rodger Francke
as Saradan; Glenda Booth and
Shirley Smith as Elisabeth; Wil¬
liam Monsoor, Don Schneider,
Herbert DeLey and Frank Greg¬
ory as the Roman Soldiers; and
Melissa Armitage, Lynne Averill,
Charlene Bernstein, Barbara Fra¬
ley and Sonia Popovac as the
Heavenly Messengers.
Both of the casts have been in
rehearsal for several weeks in
preparation for the presentation
of “Gloria,” working under the
direction of Miss Smith and Miss
Katharine Kester. The latter is
the author and guest director of
the pageant.
For the first time in the twenty-
year history of “Gloria,” student
organists will provide the back¬
ground music, with Patty Duem-
ler and Ladd Thomas presiding
at the Hammond keyboard.
“GLORIA” CHRISTMAS ANGELS . . . will be portrayed by (left to. right) Joella Roberts, La-
Verne Spirito, Kay Holleman, Charlene Bernstein, Pat Cole, Glenda Booth and Marilyn Roberts.
The above PCC coeds will become a part of “Gloria,” the annual yuletide drama, on Friday, Dec. 11,
and Sunday, Dec. 13. Special effects for the event are being handled by the Technology Department
while the Music and Drama Departments are working in the actual production of the play.
New Debate Team
Members Accepted
With Kathy Gage and Lillian
Tomich finishing third In debate,
Rowena Roberts gaining fourth
in extemporaneous speech and in¬
terpretation, and Jim Galbraith
reaching the semi-finals in ora¬
tory, PCC was admirably repre¬
sented at the Western Tourna¬
ment in Fresno, the season’s big¬
gest event. The Thanksgiving hol¬
iday competition included 48
schools from ten states, with first
place honors going to the San
Diego State team.
Paul Smith, PCC’s debate
coach, was pleased with the fact
that our debate team made the
semi-finals, although we bowed
there to College of Puget Sound.
Numbered among the other
schools we debated were Utah
State, Pepperdine, LA State and
Weaver College, which was one
of the very few junior colleges
entered.
Smith is accepting new mem¬
bers now for the team’s spring
semester schedule, so those stu¬
dents who would like to join the
group are invited to see him as
soon as possible. Since the first
competition starts on the Satur¬
day following the semester’s
first week, no time will be avail¬
able for preparation unless the
debators start now.
