Harvard Men in Boston Pageant

A pageant for the benefit of the Fathers' and Mothers' Club of Boston will be given at the Boston Opera House this evening at 8 o'clock and tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. Work in preparation for this occasion has been in progress for over a month and the actual work of drilling for the various displays and dances has been carried on for almost the same length of time. The pageant is one of the most elaborate things of its kind ever undertaken in Boston. Mrs. L. J. Barber, of Boston, has had entire charge of the rehearsals, and she has been ably assisted by a number of experienced theatrical people.

For carrying out the entire program over six hundred people will be used on the stage. These people have been gathered from various organizations both in Cambridge and Boston. Some twenty men from the University have rehearsed regularly and a few of them will take prominent parts in the display. A majority of the costumes, some of which are very elaborate, have been made by the players themselves or by the members of charitable organizations. Thus far only one dress rehearsal has been held, when the entire company went through the whole program. This afternoon a final drill for half of the company will be held on the stage of the Boston Opera House. Hitherto the rehearsals have all taken place in the gymnasium in Mechanics Building. The work has been somewhat impeded by the lack of proper facilities of scenery and stage setting. The addition of these accessories for the two public performances will greatly increase the beauty of the spectacle and allow the action to be carried out with greater smoothness.

The central thought of the pageant is derived from the custom of tree worship practiced by the ancients. Starting with the crude and superstitious worship of the early Norsemen, the practice is followed down through the ecclesiastical history of the various tribes and peoples that inhabited Europe before the time of Christ, and finally ends with the springing into life of our own Christmas tree. The program will be divided into two parts. In the first, groups of people representing the different nationalities of the ancient world will appear, each group carrying its national tree of life. Dancing and acting representing customs of the various nations will show the audience the progress and development in thought which led up to the origination of the Christmas tree of modern time. This final tableeau employs nearly the full cast of 600 people.

Although the talent engaged for the pageant is almost entirely amateur, there are a number of professional or semi-professional actors who have consented to take the more important parts. Miss Daggett, who took a prominent part in the "Boston 1915" production at the Castle Square Theatre, will dance, and others of considerable theatrical experience will assist.

Tickets for both performances at $5, $3, $2, $1, and 50 cents are on sale at Herrick's, at the Boston Opera House, and at the Pierce Building, Copley square.