Todd School's Hascy Tarbox Holding the Silver Cup Awarded by Chicago Drama League for the Play Twelfth Night, 1933
Title
Todd School's Hascy Tarbox Holding the Silver Cup Awarded by Chicago Drama League for the Play Twelfth Night, 1933
Subject
Twelfth Night is a 1933 American Pre-Code short color film, notable as the very earliest surviving film directed by Orson Welles, then aged 17. It is a recording of the dress rehearsal of Welles's own abridged production at his alma mater, the Todd School for Boys, where he had returned to direct this adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night for the Chicago Drama Festival in 1933. The play won first prize at that year's festival, presented as part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, A Century of Progress Exposition.
The cast included Hascy Tarbox as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Todd School's Headmaster Roger Hill's daughter Joanne Hill as Viola.
The famous actor and director, Orson Welles, is the best-known Todd School graduate. He started at Todd School in 1926 and graduated in 1931 at age 15. In the summer of 1934, he returned to produce the Todd Theatre Festival of Shakespearean plays at the Opera House.
Welles’ first known film, Hearts of Age, was filmed in Woodstock. The building seen in the film is Wallingford Hall on the school campus. The Todd School bell used in the film now resides in front of the Woodstock Presbyterian Church, and the gravestone is in the Calvary Cemetery on Jackson Street.
Welles is perhaps best known for directing and starring in Citizen Kane. In another of his movies, The Stranger, set in a boys’ boarding school, Welles paid homage by including subtle references to Todd School.
Welles was a frequent visitor to the school after graduating, and would eventually serve on the Todd School board and his daughter, Christopher, attended the school. Welles remained friends with Roger Hill, Todd School Headmaster, and the two men collaborated on the Everybody’s Shakespeare.
The Todd School for Boys (1848–1954) was an independent school located in Woodstock, Illinois founded by Reverend Richard Kimball Todd, a Presbyterian pastor. Under the guidance of Headmaster Noble Hill in the 1920s and Hill’s son Roger in the 1930s, it became known as a progressive school that provided students, including Orson Welles, with a creative educational environment that emphasized practical experience over traditional academics. The main Todd School Campus was located on the northeast corner of the Rt. 47 (Seminary Ave) and Rt. 120 (McHenry Ave.) junction.
The cast included Hascy Tarbox as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Todd School's Headmaster Roger Hill's daughter Joanne Hill as Viola.
The famous actor and director, Orson Welles, is the best-known Todd School graduate. He started at Todd School in 1926 and graduated in 1931 at age 15. In the summer of 1934, he returned to produce the Todd Theatre Festival of Shakespearean plays at the Opera House.
Welles’ first known film, Hearts of Age, was filmed in Woodstock. The building seen in the film is Wallingford Hall on the school campus. The Todd School bell used in the film now resides in front of the Woodstock Presbyterian Church, and the gravestone is in the Calvary Cemetery on Jackson Street.
Welles is perhaps best known for directing and starring in Citizen Kane. In another of his movies, The Stranger, set in a boys’ boarding school, Welles paid homage by including subtle references to Todd School.
Welles was a frequent visitor to the school after graduating, and would eventually serve on the Todd School board and his daughter, Christopher, attended the school. Welles remained friends with Roger Hill, Todd School Headmaster, and the two men collaborated on the Everybody’s Shakespeare.
The Todd School for Boys (1848–1954) was an independent school located in Woodstock, Illinois founded by Reverend Richard Kimball Todd, a Presbyterian pastor. Under the guidance of Headmaster Noble Hill in the 1920s and Hill’s son Roger in the 1930s, it became known as a progressive school that provided students, including Orson Welles, with a creative educational environment that emphasized practical experience over traditional academics. The main Todd School Campus was located on the northeast corner of the Rt. 47 (Seminary Ave) and Rt. 120 (McHenry Ave.) junction.
Date
1932
Collection
Citation
“Todd School's Hascy Tarbox Holding the Silver Cup Awarded by Chicago Drama League for the Play Twelfth Night, 1933,” Woodstock Public Library Archives, accessed October 11, 2024, https://woodstockpubliclibraryarchives.omeka.net/items/show/552.
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