Lucile Calvert: dramatic artist and reader

              W. COLSTON LEIGH
presents
LUCILE CALVERT
Dramatic Artist and Reader

Figure


Exclusive Management: W. COLSTON LEIGH, INC.

77 W. Washington St. Chicago, Illinois

521 Fifth Avenue New York, N. Y.



Tribune Tower Oakland, Calif.



LUCILE CALVERT

• A perfectionist in all things but most especially in her dramatic work, Lucile Calvert has made of each one of her lecture recitals as finished a piece of artistry as it is possible to achieve by natural intelligence, vivid imagination, great power as an actress and sincerity of purpose.  Perhaps the fact that she is her own severest critic and maintains for her work a standard higher than any an audience could set is responsible for the respect and admiration she has won for her performances.  Whether she is depicting a dramatic scene from the eventful life of England's Queen Elizabeth or giving her hearers an insight into the simple beauty of the soul of a Negro slaver, she incites their approval, not only for the excellent quality of her speech and her unusual interpretive ability but also for her deep understanding of human nature.

• The superiority of her work on the platform received recognition in the form of an invitation to Miss Calvert to supply the American talent at the International Conference which was held in Budapest during the summer of 1938.

• Lucile Calvert's dramatic ambitions began with her appearance in amateur theatricals in high school in Columbus, Ohio, the town of her birth, and flourished during her first two years of college at Ball State College, where she organized a now active dramatic society.  After her second year at that institution her outstanding work in speech and dramatics was rewarded by a scholarship to Lake Forest College.  As a result of the honors which she received when she was awarded her B.A. degree there, she was invited back the next year to be a member of the Lake Forest faculty in the capacity of assistant to the Head of the Speech Department.  Later she was awarded a Master of Arts degree at Northwestern University and the thesis she wrote on the theatre to merit this degree received such widespread attention that Kenneth McGowan drew upon it for his book Footlights Across America.

• Upon her graduation from Northwestern University, Miss Calvert became an Associate Professor of Speech and Director of the University Theatre at DePauw University, which position she holds at the present time.  With her very active group of university players she has put on finished productions, more professional than amateur, of such well-known plays as Ceiling Zero, Mrs. Moonlight, Trelawney of the Wells, Berkeley Square, and Petticoat Fever.  She has also taught speech and dramatics at Colorado State College.

Now: Professor of Speech and Dramatics, Butler University Indianapolis, Ind.

• Although Miss Calvert is more or less of a newcomer in the East, her appearances on the stage, lecture platform and radio have brought her no little recognition in the Middle West.  Her programs have been presented before such discriminating audiences as the University of Maryland; Wittenberg College; State Teachers College at Macomb, Illinois; Colorado Chautauqua, Boulder, Colorado; Science Hill College, Shelbyville, Kentucky; Federation of Women's Clubs in New York City, French Lick and Indianapolis, and many other leading organizations and clubs throughout the Middle West.

• With her varied program of lecture recitals, Miss Calvert shows a versatility that is only equalled by the charm of her personality.  For the latter her audiences admire and respect her as a woman, while for the former they acclaim her as an artist.


1938-Platform work on East Coast.
1940-Platform tour on West Coast.
1941-Platform tour through Easternhalf of United States



Miss Lucile Calvert is a reader of uncommon intelligence and power.  She brings to her work on the platform deep insight into the beauty and meaning of literature, skill in interpretation and a superior personality and character.

—LEW SARETT
Poet and Lecturer

I had the privilege of hearing Miss Calvert read selections from Maxwell Anderson's 'Mary of Scotland.'  The lines were read thoughtfully and sympathetically.  The characters of Elizabeth and Mary were clearly delineated.  Exceptional care was given to proper costuming with the result that the reading was of real value!  I am happy to recommend Miss Calvert as a talented reader who will delight her audiences.

—G. BROMLEY OXNAM

Keen intelligence, rare charm and a deep understanding of human nature mark the dramatic interpretations of Lucile Calvert.  Her versatility is shown in the variety of her programs.

—THEODORA IRVINE
Director, Irvine School of the Theatre
New York, N. Y.

Miss Calvert has combined well the educational and the entertaining values of her performance.

—Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

It was a great pleasure to have Miss Calvert with us.  Her recital was enjoyed by all and I hope that she will return again.  Her efforts were of the highest order and I have heard only compliments about her performance.  It was excellent from beginning to end.

—University of Maryland
College Park, Md.

Miss Calvert is a master of the art of dramatic interpretation and both of her programs here were of a high order.  I do not hesitate to recommend her to any interested organization if high quality work is appreciated.

—Wittenberg College
Springfield, Ohio


It was like a visit to a lost kingdom, making contact with men and women who lived and died when the world was much younger, to hear Miss Calvert.  She is a real actress who not alone feels her lines, but allows the audience to interpret them first from her own facial expression, the tremor of her voice as well as the power with which she expresses them.  It was a most artistic afternoon.
—Terre Haute Tribune Star
Terre Haute, Indiana





Pragrams

LADY, LADY!  (Alternate title: FAMILIAR FACES)
A series of humorous and serious monologues strung together on a thread of comment and chatter.

HIGH FINANCE (Humorous)   (15 minutes)

Mrs. Evelyn Penniforth comes to tea and expatiates after her own fashion upon Mr. Ballington's dicta on economics.

A HANDBAG (Humorous)   (10 minutes)

Wherein an abstracted and breathless matron gives an exposé of the foibles of the sex and that most indispensable of feminine indispensables — the handbag.  The scene is the Springdale station's waiting room just before the arrival of the 9:22.

THE ASTROLOGIST (Humorous)   (12-15 minutes)

A solitaire-playing wife gives her husband an account of her afternoon visit to an astrologist.  The husband finds his paper more prophetic.

OPEN HOUSE (Humorous)   (15 minutes)

Tea and crumpets and afternoon hospitality in the wide open spaces of the West.  The scene is a dude ranch and the protagonist is arrayed in a long dress and a wide-brimmed hat.

THE TRAVEL TALK (Humorous)   (10 minutes)

Mrs. Lula Statts Quigley tells the club about her trip to California and achieves a wholly unexpected reaction to her adventures.

MA from The Grapes of Wrath   (10-15 minutes)

An incident taken from Mr. Steinbeck's book.

THE POTION SCENE FROM ROMEO AND JULIET   (12-15 minutes)

Miss Calvert portrays the role of Juliet after her nurse has left her and shows the girl's fright and eventual courage.

THE CAREER OF A SORORITY VERANDA (Humorous)   (10 minutes)

An inanimate witness to the tragedies and comedies of college romance goes on a gossiping spree and reveals not only many amusing incidents in its long and varied career but also shows a startlingly urbane philosophy towards life's little problems in general.



• ELIZABETH TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND

A lecture-recital which covers the entire life of Queen Elizabeth and presents three dramatic episodes—at twenty-eight years of age; as a middle-aged queen just after she has held Mary Stuart prisoner for eighteen years; as an elderly woman in love with the young Earl of Essex.  The costume worn by Miss Calvert for this program is one which was awarded a prize as the most authentic costume at the Beaux Arts Ball in Indianapolis.

• PAOLO AND FRANCESCA

A lecture-recital of one of the greatest love stories ever written showing the love of Paolo and Francesca, the love of the two brothers, and the love of Lucrezia for Francesca, which is the love for a child denied her.  This program is presented in costume of the period.

• TRISTRAM

A dramatic reading (in costume) of an exerpt from Edwin Arlington Robinson's great love poem.  The intensity of its emotion, the vigor and beauty with which the passion sweeps through it and the majesty with which it moves makes it perfect material for the oral interpreter.  Miss Calvert's gown is adapted from the regular Isolt costume.

• MARY MAGDALENE

The story of the various legends regarding the character and personality of Mary Magdalene.  Fact is distinguished from fiction—and the Biblical background given.  This is used as a basis for the interpretation of the characters as projected in Maurice Maeterlinck's Mary Magdalene.

• FLAME THROUGH SMOKE

A lecture-recital projecting the philosophy of Lew Sarett as it is written into his poetry, and showing him as a poet, philosopher, woodsman, a wilderness guide and companion of white and red men.

• NEGRO PORTRAITS

A lecture-recital which looks into the soul of the negro through such works as those of Countee Cullen, Stephen Benet, and James Weldon Johnson.