of the club in the 1910s precipitated multiple performances of its productions and the touring of areas outside of the city into the surrounding areas of Western Pennsylvania as far away as Altoona and Erie, as well as in Youngstown, Ohio and Jamestown, New York. By 1929, the club's productions had become so profitable (some of the profit was directed into the Alumni Hall Building Fund), and had gained such a level of importance, that the graduate club configuration was no longer sufficient to run the club. Therefore, a corporate charter was obtained from the state in order to reorganized the club's structure with club founder Ashbrook (D.D.S. 1911) elected as its first president. Among the Cap and Gown club's alumni were Hollywood stars Dutch Hendrian, Regis Toomey and Gene Kelly, along with Kelly's brother Fred, who became an influential choreographer and television producer and director. Following his graduation in 1933, Gene Kelly remained active with the Cap and Gown Club, serving as its director from 1934 to 1938. The club's 1938 production, Pickets, Please!, featured the debut of the university's other major spirit song, the "Pitt Victory Song". The club thrived for 34 consecutive years before it became dormant in 1942 due to the entrance of the United States into World War II. Following the war, the club was revived in 1946 and staged a production in December of that year, followed by its 36th and final production in 1947, although it lingered on as a club until 1978. Pitt Players to Pitt Stages In 1916, simultaneous with the growing popularity of the Cap and Gown Club, another extracurricular student club, the Pitt Players, was organized as a co-ed theatrical group that focused on more serious, non-musical dramatic presentations. The Pitt Players was organized by George M. Baird, who along with also being known for writing the lyrics to the University of Pittsburgh Alma Mater, was active in many of the aspects of the group's productions. Although most of the university's programs in theatre were transferred to Carnegie Tech during the administration of Chancellor John Bowman in order to avoid duplication of that school's efforts, the Pitt Players, supported by the Theatron honorary dramatic fraternity, evolved to put on multiple theatrical productions each year. Its 1947 production of Joan of Lorraine, the first off-Broadway presentation of the play, received national publicity on Fred Waring's radio program. Later that year,