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A Review 'Uptown Is Down! By Terry Dugas Gamecock Staff Writer "Uptown Saturday Night contains diamonds of comed embedded in a field of crap. Th problem is largely in the dire( ting and acting of Sidney Poitie 'Boy Frie By Terry I)ugas Gamecock Staff Writer For the fifth consecutive year the University of South Carolin Theatre has presented a musica at Myrtle Beach during th summer. In the past, Th University Theatre has played i safe withsuchwell established musicals as "Annie Get You Gun," "Oklahoma," an "Showboat." This year however, the Theatre decided t go with a less well known thougl critically acclaimed play, "Th Boy Friend." It is from this choice that th problems besetting th production stem. The plot i simple, as befits a romanti comedy. Polly Browne is a ric young lady at Mne. Dubonnet': Finishing School. Because sh will. inherit a fortune from he father, he has kept her awa3 from "philandering boys." Consequently, she is the only gir who does not have a boy friend ti take her to the costume ball. Enter Tony, a messenger boy who is, in reality, the son of Lor< Brockhurst. He and Polly fall it LEATII ludkets, ep begs, Also chss sets weE bei PAINTUNG L ZUNI T SILYVE: ~ Thev which is as strained as my metaphor. His directing is consistently bad. He cannot carry over his comic mood from one sketch to another, so what emerges is a series of very funny episodes connected by a dull story. In the best comedy films, like "Mash," a consistent level of humor is maintained throughout the film. It is not necessary for the audience to laugh con- I tinouously, but it helps if they chuckle occasionally. Poitier simply strings together t very funny scenes of other people with his own tepid comic talents. He is completely outclassed by his co-star, Bill Cosby. Cosby has 1 one of the finest senses of comic timing in the business. In his y scenes, the laughs follow one e another in quick succession. On the other hand, Poitier often r forgets that the audience is going rid' Needs a e t r Christine Ranck and IIarold Stoci s steps in a scene from the Sandy Wilso I love and throughout the play are I seperated through misun- I derstanding and confusion. r The first problem in the play is that just about everyone has an accent, either French or British. I This makes the dialogue uniformly difficult to understand. In order to be understood, the i actors and actresses strain their I voices beyoind their normal i range. The effect is irritating at I med we hveutory d froam Mexime IR & SUEDE ins, vests, bseets, assesashes , d Irm Ismsps, iginags, Ihets (UCAN VELVET JEWELRY 2704 D.vine Street 779-7995 Sat.- 1-6 to laugh and, consequently, runs his comic lines and scenes intc the preceeding one, thus lessening the effect. The basic premise is good. F'actory worker Poitier and cat :river buddy Cosby spend a night 3n the town at a super swank gambling club, Madame Zenobia's. While there, they are robbed by four hooded theves who steal, among other things, a lottery ticket from Poitier worth 650,000. The remainder of the ilm shows their search for he hieves and the ticket. It is in this search that the ;econd major failing of the film )ccurs. Help is sought from a iumber of people; Richard Prior, Roscoe Lee Brown, Flip Wilson, [larry Belafonte.andothers. With such a star-studded cast, one would expect a continuous series Af agonizingly funny scenes, but, )ecause of Poitier's slow-paced Friends ton execute tricky heel and toe n musical "The Boy Friend." )est. The second problem is that he singing voices of the players re, by far, the weakest part of he show. In her opening song, 'The Boy Friend," Polly, played )y Christine Ranck, is out )rojected by both the orchestra md the chorus. Her voice is lost n the crowd. The high point of the First Act s a duet by Bobby, played by tobert Ray, and Maisie, played >y La Rue Alton. Bobby enters peaking in an American accent hat is a blessed*relief from the oppressive accents of the main Please Turn To Page i4 Expedition & Recreatlonal Grade Sleeping Bags Tents -Packs and Frames Climbing Rope and Hardwari Dow. Jackets and Vests Dupont's Dacren Fiberfill 11 Clothes and Bags Complete Outdoor Library FreeueDred & Dehydrated Feods Stoves.- General Supplies Rugby Shirts -USGS Maps Footgear "COLUMBIA'S ONLY COMPLETE OUTFETTER" Mon. - Pri. 11:00 a.m. -- 7:30 p.m. 10:00 a.m. --6:00 p.m. .Sat. Ph: 252-8838 962 Harden SI er%s Irom irer direction and episodic script, what happens is that each comic tries to out do the other. Richard Prior is painfully bad as Sharp Eye Washington, a private detective whom Poitier hires. Prior is overly frantic in his acting and appears ridiculous when contrasted with Cosby's portrait of coolness. Flip Wilson is largely wasted as The Reverend, pastor of Poitier's church" Poitier insists on using clos .s of Wilson thus destroying the effectiveness of his hillarious body movements. Wilson does shine, however, in his sermon on the perils of "loose lips." Harry Belafonte shares with Cosby the honor of being the saving grace of the film. His smooth imitation of Brando's "Godfather" is a perfect contrast to the frantic gangland struggle that goes on around him con cerning the ticket. Throughout the film, Bill Cosby August Ja By Chuck Gamecock St, The August Jam Pop Festival Charlotte Motor Speedway this Sa was in doubt ten days because of a Council to halt it by court injunct The August Jam is to be the only year. This festival is a direct offshc Jam held last April in Southern ( Because festivals now appear to 1 August Jam will be the first major Atlanta Pop Festival held in July Sponsored by Big WAYS radio s Productions Inc., and Beach Club Bi rate entertainment. The Allman Palmer; Eagles; Marshall Tucke Daredevils will be featured. Other Oak Arkansas; Grinder Switch mediocre bands. Tickets for the event are $12.00 ii Advance tickets can be picked up at The gates will open at 5:00 p.m. 1 will be 10:00a.m. Saturday. Wolfm. W'th suci a bonanza of talent a planning to attend, I became distres be cancelled. After some phone < determine the truth about the fest The people in most metropolitan a festival. Most of them fear that a fE and that it will endanger the local re Some residents say that it will cau pillaged, and overrun " Only one incident was needed to s would cancel the event; and that ini Russell outdoor concert at Memor At that concert, a so-called "long killed an old and well-respected sc From this account all hell broke honchos of Calarrus County imm( getting an injunction to stop the A The injunction claimed that from would attend the "Jam" and that extraordinary burden on county h Stan Kaplan, president of Chari promoting and co-sponsoring the ev saying, "We'll be damn lucky to gel has hurt ticket sales." Kaplan also said no more than 11, initially predicted a crowd of 70,0( At a district court hearing held las *the main issue centered on whethe when concerned with private prop The injunction sought to proti nuisance." However, the hearing ri the injunction only covered concer concern events held on private p With regard to security, Kaplan security force of 500 off duty police handle the crowds. Kaplan also said "the police are are to keep order on private propert He added that he was paying thi Lake, and Palmer $100,000 each t Phil Frazier, head of ticket sales he will continue to sell advance tick< Presently, he has sold 600 of his Frazier says he can get more if nece is cancelled, he will refund the ticke If you can go to the Jam, do soI major one around here for years. fnrthcoming review. rescues scenes from mediocrity fostered by Poitier's lack of comic talent. Cosby's first ap pearance on the screen, driving a cab, invokes howls of laughter from the audience. His fight sequence with Little Seymour and Big Percey is the comic high point of the film. In a film that has so many comic actors trying to out clown each other, Cosby's zesty but restrained acting is most ef fective. When Cosby is not featured, the film and the audience sit and wait for something to happen. Despite Poitiers' bland acting and soberly paced direction, the film reaches several high points of comedy, largely due to Belafonte and Cosby. It is funny at best, and dull at worst, but we,ll worth the cost of admission. The film is good, Cosby is excellent and in the hands of a comic director like Richard Lester, it could have been brilliant , n Still On Cromer iff Writer is still scheduled to go on at the turday. The future of the concert n attempt, by the Calarrus County ion. major pop festival in the South this ot of the very successful California .alifornia. >e sound financial investments, the pop festival in this area since the 1970. tation of Charlotte, Kaleidoscope oking Inc., the Jam will offer first Brothers', Emerson, Lake, and r Band; and the Ozark Mountain bands that will appear are Black Foghat, and several other similar i advance and $15.00 at the gate. Taylor Street Pharmacy. Friday, and the first performance in Jack will be the MC. t one event and since I had been sed to hear that the festival was to :alls and research, I was able to ival. reas are against any type of music !stival crowd cannot be controlled sident's safety. * se their property "to be damaged, et off a series of legal hassles that :ident came on July 20 at the Leon ial Stadium. haired freak" allegedl;" shot and !curity guard. loose. The businessmen and head diately sought and succeeded in ugust Jam. 100,000 to 250,000 rock music fans "the concert goers would put an salth and security departments." )tte radio station WAYS which is ent, disputes the crowd predictions 50,000 to 70,000. All this legal talk 000 tickets have been sold. He had 10 to 110,000. ;t Wednesday to decide the matter, er or not the injunction was legal erty. act the county from a "public led against the county saying that ts held on public land and did not roperty. said that he had hired an extra amen and a medical staff of 26 to not there to arrest anyone. They y: the Speedway). e AlIman Brothers and Emerson, o perform at the festival. at Taylor Street Pharmacy, says ats for the Jam until the 9th. 1,000 allotted tickets. However, ssary. If by some chance the Jam t holders' money. ecause there may not be another f you can't make it, then read nour