1925 INDIA: A Night in the Orient at University of Detroit
The University of Detroit Alumni Association sponsored a lavish production about India. The purpose of the program was to “assist the Faculty Board of Trustees in the $10,000,000.00 building expansion program for a greater University of Detroit”. At the time of this event, the stadium was about the only building complete on the Livernois Avenue/Six Mile campus. In the program they did show a potential plan for the buildings. The plan to build a fairly large church never got off the ground.
The setting for the drama in the stadium was built on an elaborate scale, five hundred and fifty feet in length and portrayed the temples and tombs of the Mughal Emperors of Ancient India. From the program:”The opening of the drama shows the city at dawn. Natives are seen winding their way from Ghat, or Holy Bathing Place, to the Temple. The gates of the Temple slowly open, showing the funeral pyre of a departed Hindu, and as the fires are set on the Altar, the ancient custom known as “Suttee,” or “The immolation of the widow on her husband’s pyre” is depicted.” Seems to me a bit of a downer way to open a program. The rest of the first half have scenes of a bazaar and a parade with elephants, and horses, with entertaining performances by acrobats and even a ballet!
The second half of the program depicted a major battle with “the roar of artillery…flash from the great guns…crash and roar of crumbling temples and the vivid leaping flames from the burning building. (T)he British troops gain access to the city and soon subdue the rebellious insurgents, and order replaces chaos as the beautiful city smolders in flames.” After the battle scene there is a big display of fireworks.
Apparently the spectacle was a big success. The local papers claimed that 100,000 people attended and there were still a couple of more performances yet to go.
Since this program was produced over a summer, there is no student newspaper coverage of the event. All there is in the archives is the program booklet. It does however, have some interesting ads.
Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian
