Spotlight sketches: John McMahill, Jr. and Bobby Boswell

              SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES

Spotlight … … Sketches

… brings to the public an entirely new and novel form of dramatic program.  By simple costume changes and the use of a spotlight, the atmosphere is created for nine different Sketches of varied type.  Not only are both actors gifted with histrionic talent, but each has musical ability as well.  Mr. McMahill gives evidence of his musical ability in the violin playing in the Sketch, 
Unseen Sight
 and Bobby Boswell has an unusually beautiful singing voice which he displays in several of the sketches.  (The attraction carries its own spotlight).



Figure

JOHN McMAHILL, JR., Actor-Author and BOBBY BOSWELL, his gifted 10 year old protege



An Innovation in Dramatic Presentation




The Redpath Bureau



New York Office 
40 Depot Plaza White Plains, N. Y.




Chicago Office 
1316 Kimball Building
 Tel. Harrison 8723, CHICAGO, ILL.




Pittsburgh Office 
Methodist Building Pittsburgh, Pa.






Program
 . . . . SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES



* 
1.


The Man About Town



SCENE:  A bench in Central Park, New York City.



* 
2.


The Price



SCENE:  A cell in death row.



* 
3.

The Professor's Dilemma



SCENE:  A living room.  
(Five minute intermission)


4.


The Persecuted.



SCENE:  The steerage deck of a steamer bound for America.



* 
5.

Transition



SCENE:  The ante-room of an orphanage.


6.

The Dope Addict



SCENE:  A New York apartment.  
(Five minute intermission)


* 
7.


Unseen Sight



SCENE:  A street in New York.  
(Five minute intermission)


8.


The Other Man



SCENE:  The 
Other Man's
 hotel suite.


9.


It's A Boy



SCENE:  A park bench.



* Numbers used for Assembly and Club Programs

Spotlight Sketches
 written by John McMahill, Jr., are fully protected by copyright

Figure


IT'S A BOY



Photography By Karl Butka, Chicago


Figure


THE PERSECUTED





PRESS COMMENTS



... McMahill is a rising young genius of the theatre.


Chicago Herald and Examiner




... and finally, McMahill knows stagecraft, for he can do things effectively and yet simply.


Times Union, Jacksonville, Fla.




... The Peoria audience enjoyed one of the unique performances of the contemporary repertoire theatre.  With only two actors, and with the entire action compressed within the single beam of a spotlight, a remarkable variety in plot, in characterization, and in emotional expression was achieved.


Peoria Star, Peoria, Ill.




... Audiences on tour will get value in this drama.


Charles Collins—Chicago Tribune.




... Cross sections of life, through the medium of a man and a boy, under the beam of a spotlight, were delineated skillfully and realistically.  The acting ability of John McMahill, Jr., author of the sketches, who played the adult role, and the dramatic talent of the young lad, commanded the closest attention.


The Charles City Daily Press, Charles City, Iowa.




... Mr. McMahill's characterization of 
The Dope Addict,
 impressive and dramatic, struck the top note among the various characters he portrayed.  In 
The Man About Town,
 the scene a bench in Central Park, New York City, his young protege was most effective in his role as the waif whose philosophy turned a down and outer from the verge of suicide, and the two did an excellent piece of work in the prologue from the production 
Signal Drums.


The Minot Daily News, Minot, N. Dakota.




... Intense and condensed drama, with a rhythmic pulsation of words, exquisite in choice, beat upon the subconscious nerve force of the audience.  This program is for the discriminating audience.  It should not be viewed objectively.  It is subjective in treatment, the psychology of the human soul in snatches; it is feeling not fact.  Mr. McMahill as a writer has depth.  He uses a fine paucity of words; he makes a syllable tell where other writers might require a sentence.


News-Dispatch, Michigan City, Indiana.



Figure

THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA


SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES


Figure

UNSEEN SIGHT


The following is a partial list of Spotlight Sketches presentations:






Orchestra Hall


Detroit, Michigan




Order of DeMolay


Kansas City, Mo.




Notre Dame


South Bend, Indiana




State Teachers' College


Mt. Pleasant, Michigan




St. Xavier's College


Chicago, Illinois




Bob Jones College


Cleveland, Tennessee




Nazareth College


Kalamazoo, Michigan




Green Bay Women's Club


Green Bay, Wisconsin




Stout Institute


Menominee, Wisconsin




Virginia Junior College


Virginia, Minnesota




Bradley Polytechnic Institute


Peoria, Illinois




Elmhurst Women's Club


Elmhurst, Illinois




State Teachers' College


Minot, N. Dakota




Band Mothers


Mason City, Iowa




Women's Study Club


Michigan City, Indiana




Our Lady of Cincinnati College


Cincinnati, Ohio




P.-T. A. Council


Charles City, Iowa




Five High Schools


Omaha, Nebraska




The Alumni Players


Ispheming, Michigan




Irving Park Women's Club


Chicago, Illinois




Junior Friends of Art — Palmer House


Chicago, Illinois




Internat'l Lyceum Banquet, Auditorium Hotel


Chicago, Illinois




Blackstone Hotel


Chicago, Illinois




Wednesday Club


St. Louis, Mo.




St. Louis Country Day School


St. Louis, Mo.




Order of DeMolay


Kenosha, Wisconsin




East St. Louis Wednesday Club


East St. Louis, Illinois




Order of DeMolay


Alton, Illinois




Western State Teachers College


Kalamazoo, Michigan




Michigan State College


East Lansing, Michigan




Bay View Junior College


Bay View, Michigan




Findlay College


Findlay, Ohio




East Cleveland High School


East Cleveland, Ohio




Cleveland Heights High School


Cleveland Heights, Ohio




Tiffin High School


Tiffin, Ohio




Norwalk High School


Norwalk, Ohio




Fostoria High School


Fostoria, Ohio




Roosevelt Jr. High School


Cleveland Heights, Ohio




W. H. Kirk Jr. High School


East Cleveland, Ohio




Kiwanis Club


Tiffin, Ohio




Kiwanis Club


Fostoria, Ohio




Womans Club


Racine, Wisconsin




Monmouth College


Monmouth, Illinois




Knights of Columbus


East St. Louis, Illinois




Trinity Guild, Episcopal Church


Michigan City, Indiana




Foremen's Club, Allis Chalmers, Corp.


LaPorte, Indiana




Association of University Women


LaPorte, Indiana




Woman's Club


Dubuque, Iowa




Quest Club


Fort Wayne, Indiana




Edwardsville High School


Edwardsville, Illinois




Alton High School


Alton, Illinois




Cape Girardeau High School


Cape Girardeau, Mo.






What They Say About 
SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES


Figure

THE OTHER MAN



Spotlight Sketches appeared here July 13, 1938 and was EXCELLENT.  Remarks of the crowd on leaving:—
Fine
—
Unusual
—etc. Mr. McMahill, Jr. and Bobby Boswell put on a fine program before a large and enthusiastic audience.  It was an unusual type of entertainment that was a surprise to everyone.  Both actors show the result of long and careful training.  Again, we thank you for such a fine program.



Michigan State College, East Lansing, Mich.




The assembly program SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES was presented to our student body on Friday, September 30, 1938, and it was recorded as fine an attraction as any assembly program we have ever had in our school.  It is a high class performance with a real appeal to it that really 
goes over.
  We shall look forward to another performance by these same people.



Bloom Township High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois.




I want to take this opportunity to again thank you and Bobby for the splendid program you presented to the Kiwanis Club last Thursday night.  They are still talking about it, and say that it was one of the BEST programs we have ever had.



Kiwanis Club, Tiffin, Ohio




... Spotlight Sketches was unusual in the demands for versatility it made upon each of the actors — demands which were admirably met...




Western State Teachers College, Kalamazoo, Mich.



... We all enjoyed, enthusiastically, Spotlight Sketches.  I believe there is a fine idea behind them and I am hoping after your return engagement this winter, the students may attempt to do something like them, as a new mode of acting.




University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.




Your production 
SPOTLIGHT SKETCHES
 is undoubtedly the best theatrical presentation Mother Chapter has ever sponsored.  It was entertaining and inspirational.  I believe other DeMolay Chapters would appreciate an opportunity to sponsor this production.



Mother Chapter DeMolay, Kansas City, Mo.


Figure

THE DOPE ADDICT