Friday Afternoon Follies

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Melissa Kean

Once again, I’m completely at a loss. Whatever she’s doing, though, it’s clearly riveting.

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10 Responses to Friday Afternoon Follies

  1. Leoguy says:
    November 25, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    This was well before my time, but it looks like she’s collected some “beanies” from freshmen, class of ’62.

    Reply
  2. Melissa Kean says:
    November 25, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    Yep, and she’s got them attached to a stick for some reason. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.

    Reply
    • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
      November 25, 2011 at 10:59 pm

      That is NOT a “stick”; it is pointed, and thus is more akin to a “spear” or “lance”.

      She is also carrying a “shield”, with initials.
      (Someone else interpret those, please. Possibly the initials of the sophomore president of the Class of 1961.)

      My guess is that this is a rehearsal (people standing at the “exit” — possibly from cast members NOT in that number). Possibly of the “Rice Follies” of ? year.
      The auditorium reminds me of the Lamar High School auditorium, where we performed our “Rice Follies of 1956”.

      Reply
      • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
        November 25, 2011 at 11:03 pm

        The initials J T might also have been those of a professor noted for spearing/”shafting” the class of ’62.

        Reply
  3. Dagobert Brito says:
    November 26, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    We know it was 1958-59. The young lady is holding a sword, probably borrowed from NROTC. My memory is that in 1959-60, Jones freshman girls put on a skit prior to slime parade so I suspect that that is what is going on.

    Reply
    • Francis Eugene "Gene" PRATT, Institute Class of '56 says:
      November 27, 2011 at 12:57 am

      What year did Jones College begin?
      Does/did it have an auditorium with a proscenium (?sp NOTSL) stage?

      Reply
      • Pat Campbell says:
        November 29, 2011 at 1:26 am

        Jones, along with Baker, Will Rice, Hanszen, and Weiss were all founded in 1957. The initiation of the college system gave us a women’s college (Jones) on the north side of campus and the men’s colleges on the south side. That made for a long walk for the guys to go visit the gals. Opening Brown did not improve the commute.

        Reply
    • Keith Cooper says:
      November 27, 2011 at 5:38 pm

      I would guess that the photo was taken in Hamman Hall, which I believe opened in 1958. It has the stage and the right setting.

      Reply
      • Joseph Lockett ('91) says:
        November 30, 2011 at 6:35 pm

        That is indeed Hamman Hall. The air-conditioning duct barely visible in the stage-left wings is still there, as I can verify from having hung out underneath it waiting for entrances during the recent production of *Macbeth*. I also made an entrance through the same side doors where the spectators are clustered in the photograph — and you can still see the exterior doors from the building behind them, just as it is today.

        I believe I remember the vertical wood paneling around the proscenium arch from when I first came to Rice; during some Hamman Hall renovation over the past 25 years it was replaced, because it’s not there now. The stage also looks different: often nowadays it’s extended out toward the audience seating to form more of a thrust configuration.

        Reply
  4. Karl Benson says:
    January 3, 2012 at 3:09 am

    I believe that the young lady on-stage is Susanne Morris Glasscock ’62 and that the young lady behind the piano whose chin is obscured is Anne Shamblin Baillio ’62. I can’t identify any others, nor do I recall the occasion.

    Reply

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