The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 11, 1980, Page Page 8, Image 8
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, fame oul
| with musk
j < t By David Baker
*1 Film Critic
3 In September 1978, director Alan
.1 Parker was virtually unknown, his
only, claim to fame being a
disastrous 1976 film called Bugsy
Malone. Bugsy was a low-budget
musical about gangsters and their
molls, and the oldest person in the
cast was 13. Paramount Pictures
didn't bother to release it in most
parts of the country.
In October 1978, Parker's second
film, a low-budget prison picture
called Midnight Express, was
released. It was subsequently
nominated for six Academy
Awards and ran up a domestic
boxoffice gross in excess of $20 <
million. Suddenly, Alan Parker
was hot and in the ensuing battle
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iui ma sci vices, ivivjrivi wun uui wun :
a script called Hot Lunch, a i
musical about eight talented !
students who attend the High I
School for Performing Arts in New ]
York. 1
MGM gave Parker $8 million to i
work with (more than three times
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Editor's note: A few months
back our local Public Television
station, E TV channel 35,
premiered a stunning sci-fi film
adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's
The Lathe of Heaven. All of us here
at the entertainment dp ah woro
ecstatic the following morning.
Gamecock Film Critic. David
Baker, wondered how the film
would have been on an unlimited
budget, like so many big
Hollywood eittraypgaruas. Big
bucks or not, The btifhe of Heaven
remains one of the most stylish and
imaginative sci-fi films this editor
has seen, and one he ctin recommend
without reservation.
When Ursula K. Le Guin, the
popular novelist,Uioet and science <
< , . tion writer, V ap-:{.
p oached in 1977 about adapting'
he/* futuristic novel The Lathe of
Heaven into a two-hour movie for
television, she was skeptical about
the success of such a venture. She j
as' "How can you film
dr ' e narrative and images?" |
finMlv tfnt hor
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answer "he Lathe of Heaven,
public ^vision's , first major
made-f( evision film, returns
to S C. Monday, June 16 at 8
onCh. ;>
The I 'leaven is a chilling
and mys* set at the end of
the 20th ce> about a man
plagued hv own haunting
dreams t y change the
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dance a
the budget of Midnight Express)
and complete artistic control. One
of the first things Parker did was
hire a cast of unknowns and
another was change the title to
Fame.
A year has passed since
production began and the finished
picture opens here on June 20, the
o. ? ? rJ?.. 41 4 ml. _ i-? - r, .
same uay nicti i ne umpire sirines
Back, Roughcut and Brubaker
arrive in town. Hopefully, Fame
will be able to weather the competition
those films are bound to
give it, because it's easily the most
exciting, enlightening and entertaining
movie of the bunch.
Parker's eight no-name stars have
come through with flying colors
(there's not a sinele bad npr
? 0? ? r
formance in the film) and Parker's
staging, both of the musical
numbers and of the dramatic
scenes, is never less than extraordinary.
At 134 minutes, the
picture is about 20 minutes too
long, but other than that, it has no
najor fault.
The film is divided cleanly into
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want enter)
displays her eloquent be
ire real it
face of reality ? past, present aric
future. Bruce Davison, Kevii
f!nnw,iv ?nH Maraorol Aiinmi ? "
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featured in the production.
Originally published in 1971, Th<
Lathe of Heaven is the first of Ms
Le Guin's novels to be dramatize<
on film. Since much of her writinj
and descriptive passages depen<
on the imagination of the reader
Ms. Le Guin's greatest challengi
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Conway looms ove
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nd drama
five sections, beginning with the
students' auditons and going
through each year of school until
graduation. From year to year,
Parker shows us how friendships
and allegiances change, how new
students arrive as old ones are
kicked out because they lack the
proper talent and motivation, and
how each of the protagonists
continually perfects his or her
chosen craft (acting, sing, dancing,
or a combination thereof). By
the time graduation rolls around,
it's hard to believe we're watchine
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the same kinds whose auditions
went so comically awry in the
film's opening section.
Parker and scenarist
Christopher Gore have also included
several scenes dealing with
the kids' private lives and how
each confronts the problems that
come his or her way. These scenes
work fine in most cases ? how
Doris (Maureen Teefy) breaks
free from her pushy mother with
the help of The Rocky Horror
See 'Fame, 'page 9
i//et style in 'Fame'
i'Lathe'
1 in adapting the script was to
i translate her novel for the
? television screen without
sacrificing its integrity.
? George Orr, portrayed by Bruce
Davison, is the story's troubled
J dreamer. Whenever he has an
I "effective dream," reality has
1 been directly affected when he
, awakens. In an attempt to rid
2 See 'Lathe,' page 9
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r Davison in 'Lathe'
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SpotMghts 1
/
Summer theatre season opens i
The 1980 USC Summer ReDertorv Theatre season nnens .Innp ir with
George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, followed by Arthur Miller's Death I
of a Salesman, Preston Jones' Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, I
and Chris and Les Reynolds' children's show, Dr. Vanilla and the Short
Tall-Tales.
Death of a Salesman will play June 25-29; Lu Ann Hampton Laverty
Oberlander, July 2-6; and Dr. Vanilla and the Short Tall-Tales, July 2326
and July 30 Aug. 2.
The productions will run Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 and
Sundays at 3. Dr. Vanilla will also run at 10:30 a.m. Beginning July 9,
the first three productons will be performed in "rolling rep" each week
untl Aug. 3. Admission is $3 50 for tho nuhlir ?9 Bft fnr I ISP fannltv anH
staff, military and senior citizens, and $1.50 for USC students. For information
and reservations, call 777-2551 between noon and 5 p.m.
weekdays.
'Rush' for sororities begins
The Panhellenic Association of sororities at USC will hold registration
for sorority rush now through July 11 from 12:15-1:15 each weekday.
The registration in the Russell House Ballroom will be held in conjunction
with summer freshman orientation. Late registration will be
Aug. 27-29 from 10-4 on the Russell House patio.
Registration to rush the 10 Panhellenic sororities is open to any USC
female student, including incoming freshmen. The fall rush, the period
when sororities officially open their membership to recruit new
members, will be Sept. 3-13 when prospective members may attend
meetings of each sorority. Students must be registered by the
Panhellenic Associaton to participate in fall rush. The registration fee is
$5. For information, contact the Panhellenic Office, Box 80065, USC,
Columbia, S.C. 29208, 777-5117. S
USC professor awarded
Dr. Elmer Louis Amma, professor of chemistry at the University of
South Carolina, has been awarded the 1980 Sone Award by the American
Chemical Society. The award, one of the most prestigious in the field of
chemistry is given annually by the Carolina-Piedmont Section of the
American Chemical Society to an outstanding chemist in the southeast.
Dr. Amma received a plaque and a $1,000 check.
A nationally known research chemist, Amma is the author or coauthor
of more than 100 papers on x-ray crystallography. His work in
the area of abnormal hemoglobins will likely be used in the future to
alleviate sickle cell disease, a blood disorder affecting many blacks.
Throughout his academic career, Amma has received more than
$500,000 in grant support for his research, much of which has focused on
the chemical bonding process of molecules. !
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Amma won the Russell Award for
Research in Science and Engineering at USC in 1970. He is a member of
the American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, the
American Crystallographic Association, the American Association for
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Woody sends sculpture skyward
Howard Woody, a professor of art at (JSC launched a major sky
sculpture June 7 in Washington, I). C. during the environmental art
exhibition of the 11th International Sculpture Conference, sponsored by
the International Sculpture Center at Princeton University.
The exhibition, "Placements and Performance: Works for
Washington," contained earth, water, sky, laser and performance
works rontrihutoH tn tho fnnfnmnon ? ?u
vuiuvi v-iivv. ujr el 1 LIS is dV.1 1>SS IIIC UlllltJU I
and around the world, including noted artists Rockne Krebs, Robert I
Morris and Vera Simons. j
Woody's contribution, "Tri-Striped Barricade," was made of
metalized polyester film. It was launched on the mall between the
National Art Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum, floating over the city
for several hours at an altitude of 4,000 to 7,000 feet.
Chosen as the leading sky sculpture expert, Woody participated in the
conference with major artists and new talents in the environmental art
field. He also present a demonstration on materials and sky sculpture
techniques. Woody originated and developed his art form in the late
1960s. He has given more than 130 presentations internationally,
exhibiting in Canada, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and
Austria and many American cities. This year, the USC artist has
launched sky sculptures at events in Richmond, Va., New Orleans and
at Eastern Ilinois University. He is a frequent lecturer and article
writer on sky sculpture. j
'Music-in-the -park'
Bluegrass, classical and ia7.7 mn?ir? ^ ...;u
j v-1/nv.v.i 1.0 win uc pi'CijtJIlieU OUl"
doors on the USC historic Horseshoe this summer in a musical series,
Musical Flavors, sponsored by the USC Cultural Series. 1
The three programs, each open free to the public and beginning at
6:30 in front of McKissick Museums, will feature talent from across the
state in an informal "music-in-the-park" setting. The Carolina Rebels
bluegrass band will perform tomorrow, June 12. Tfoe live-member band
has performed at state festivals, benefit parties and night clubs.
The Palmetto State Cloggers, under the direction of Pam Collins, will
perform with the Carolina Rebels. The group has traveled across the
United States and is planning a European tour to perform in folk
festivals.
The Charleston Symphony Orchestra string quartet will present a
concert Sunday, June 22. The performers, all principal olavers in th<> I
o^.M^uuiiy s cumeraia orcnestra, are Sarh Johnson and Heinaldo Couto,
I violin, Mark Cedel, viola, and Carol Beyer, cello. The quartet recently
I finished its first season series at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston.
I The quartet plans a program of light concert music for the outdooor
| event.
I In keeping with the series' theme, ice cream and lemonade will bei
I sold at each performance. Audiences should bring blankets or folding!
1 chairs for seating. 1