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THE
S€EME
Messrs. Featherways, Ovington &
Rust. False eyebrows bristling and tailcoat
flapping, Irwin C. Rust, Executive
Office principal and Assistant National
Director of Personnel, exploded out of
the front door and onto the driveway
of his Berkeley Heights, N.J., home. As
he backed his car to the street, daughter
Hilary, age 5, called to him cheerfully
the traditional show business good
luck wish: "Break a leg!"
One hour later, as Jasper Feather-ways,
sardonic and elegant, Rust strode
impudently downstage, greeted his audience
and moved stage left. From this
location, arm draped decorously along
the mantelshelf, foot placed neatly on
the hearth rail, he delivered his lines
and entertained the audience, in the
proper Noel Coward tradition, for the
entire 30 minutes it took to present
"Family Album."
Playing the role that Coward himself
had played opposite Gertrude Lawrence
in 1936, Rusty was pointedly
satiric as the barbed son, Jasper.
Through his prodding and the influence
of the steadily diminishing Madeira,
the hypocritical facade of his
Victorian family — gathered together
after "poor dear papa's" funeral — is
ripped away. Finally Livy, eldest
daughter, shouts what they all feel:
"The HELL with Papa!" The petty
cruelty of their "beloved" patriarch has,
at last, been admitted.
Part of the Noel Coward Tonight at
8:30 group—3 bills, each containing 3
one act plays—"Family Album" was
presented by the Stony Hill Players, a
New Jersey little theater group, under
the direction of Barry Mansfield. Long
involved in stage and TV work, Mr.
Mansfield is spending much of his time
now with amateur theatricals. "It was
great to be directed by a professional,"
Rusty said. "We learned a lot . . . except
perhaps our lines."
One of the highlights of Rusty's
stage career with the Stony Hill Players,
he claims, Was his chipmunk cheer.
He played the part of Ovington in How
to Succeed in Business. "He's the guy
who gets fired because he went to the
wrong school," Rusty explained. When
the company president discovers Ov-ington's
rival school ties he turns him
out. But Ovington, stiff and dignified in
a pin stripe suit and paisley tie, lashes
out defiantly with a rousing school
cheer. "The audience was enthusiastic,
though startled," Rusty said. "They
were surprised, I suppose, that a guy
my age could jump so high."
But it's not so surprising when you
learn that Rusty was a genuine cheerleader
at his high school football games
in Fort Myers, Florida. "I got a lot of
practice at quick changes in those
days," Rusty said. "I was a drummer
in the school band and I would have
to rush back and change costumes at
half time."
At one point in his versatile career,
Rusty was hired as a radio announcer
for a small station in Fort Myers. He
ended up being just about everything
—news commentator, disc jockey, and
even ad copywriter.
Rusty's radio work continued while
he was in the army, and just before his
discharge he auditioned for Radio
Tokyo. Hans Conreid did the interviewing.
"Halfway through the audition
he interrupted me. 'Your foreign
dialects are pretty awful,' he told me.
'But you're in.'"
Back in civilian life, Rusty switched
vocations and is now a CPA licensed
in Florida (he came to H&S through
PPK&Co. merger), Louisiana (4 years),
and New York (Executive Office).
Despite Barry Mansfield's urging
him to take the part of the elderly
Chinese father in Flower Drum Song,
Rusty has decided to retire from the
stage — temporarily. The rehearsal
schedule was becoming rather hectic
and left him little time for piano, an
old enthusiasm, and skiing, a new one.
After the flatlands of Florida and
Louisiana, the rolling hills of New Jersey
are a new experience for Rusty, his
wife Dottie, and their children: Mary
Fair, 14; Martha, 12; Jeff, 10; Hilary,
5. They love it. And they're also taking
advantage of it—having been on the ski
slopes several times this past winter.
Rusty would dash out of the house,
now with a pair of skis tucked under
his arm, and daughter Hilary, with
rather awkward timing, still called to
him cheerfully: "Break a leg!"
Father's day? Harold V (Pete) Pet-rillo,
New York Office partner, and his
son, Mike, have shared a close father-son
relationship and Pete has been
Mike's instructor in his favorite game—
golf.
The reward for Pete's efforts came
last fall, when the annual Maywood
(New Jersey) Golf Championships
were played. Mike, who was tied with
his opponent on the 18th green, had
to play to sudden death. He won the
match on the 20th hole. His opponent:
Pete Petrillo, who stoutly maintains he
is very proud of Mike's victory. And
to reinforce this claim of paternal pride,
Pete even manages a weak smile.
30
