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Entert; 'Strai & ! g\ *Cl 0OQf, ? Ifl nUHBBSmSBBHBBH y ffl Ibssebssbssbs Beautiful jb * r L,ago 'coffe< By David Baker Film Critic With The Blue Lagoon, Director Randal Kleiser has taken banality out of the arid halls of Hollywood and intc the clear blue skies of the South Pacific. Based on the 1903 novel by Henry DeVere Stacpoole. which was filmed once before, in 1948, with Jean Simmons, Kleiser's followup to the megahit Grease is an unsavory cross between a Coral Sea travelogue and coffee-table porn.. Two children, cousins rather than brother and sister (we couldn't have incest ift this day and age, now could we?), are shipwrp^lfpH nn a HpcortoH tropical island. When the man who brought them ashore dies, they must learn to survive on their own. So, for the bigger part of an hrnir ujpVp cnhwtoH tn almost silent scenes of the kids growing up, swimming naked, eating guavas, swimming naked, building a split-level hut and swimming ' naked. Eventually, their skinnydipping leads to their havinc* spy and that nf course, leads to the girl's having a baby. Exciting stuff, especially for dirty old men and women who get their jollies out of seeing nude bodies writhing ; together, rather imnf?rsnnflllv nnH#?ru/at#?r But even the raincoat crowd ? the only audience \ that could conceivably I * . i ^ 1 . _~ ? i ^ _ r "\r ~ w i: _ / * : t;._: > -./-; ? ..:i -^-.--; } f J "j!- i jri-i :-r C--^- -%:; ^;"*:v". ? I- ' . ^ v^:,V:r,; v".! . E? . ; ' B ..... Atkms andShkti v ' ainmer ioe Be mt worthk on'adu _ j. -1. z-iau le derive pleasure from rubbish like this ? is bound to be taken aback by the sanitary way in which Kleiser treats sex. When our two vapid, suntanned mannequins get RnBSk-V I H 1 vVv - Mp& /> ;? >;X-.?: :: ''^ l Brooke Shields? beyond the heavy petting stage, Kleiser invariable cuts away to some outlan dish close-up of a tropical bird or turtle. Over and over again Kleiser states the movie'i thesis that sex is not dirty but he lacks the conviction t< mmaam *?'\ - -p'r - >dfello By Lisa Mil? Stan Writer Workshop Theatre's opening nig Bedfellows" went on as scheduled the production is a sure-fire succesi The play, set in the fervor c movement at the turn of the cent the lives of a household of gentler attitude adjustments as the pi Florence Ryerson and Colin Clemi Droblems faced and surmounted b suffragette struggle for the vote. The main characters, consisting who disagree about the female's : Bailey as Senator William Cronr played by Bette Herring, Hei wry sense of humor ana wisdom 1 deserves much credit for its succe Beth Burnside as Addie Hamp DuBose as her husband Gifford. characters to be won over to "the I communicating the personality o content to remain subordinate. SI 19th century version of an air-head Feminist leader Clarissa Crom strange bedfellow Matthew (David in their roles. The conflict arising f ff i f \n traveio porno gr persuade us that it's true. By ke< cutting away from the ms voiinstprs mnkino Invo ho only reinforces our deep- cy] seeded belief that sex is the Stc filthiest thing two human pic ^3S^-<s ;\r%'^ v?:W?&# < * I N % v . Manni^v 1 -' ' ->* :> x^HmSBR .-i ^pKH^ |Mm and Christopher Atkins star in ; beings can possibly hope to^ s r do with one another. n And if Kleiser was so inl tent on presenting us with s sex in its most innocent tl , form, why on earth would he ? ! Vi i i*n Di?aa1/a CUi a1 sir* fVi/t f > tin v/ jlji \a;ivu ouiuiuo lllc , Lolita of the 1980s ? as one a ) of his randy teen beach- v combers? With her beestung v lips, darting blue eyes and 4 seemingly endless array of 1 come-hither facial ex- s pressions, Shields is about as t I close to innocence as a c i Dragon Lady. \ t And as her lover, It Christopher Atkins looks t more like a young tennis pro 1 (and we all know how in- s Inoceni tney re supposed 10 be) than someone who has to forage through jungles every * I day in search of sustenance. i I I suppose Kleiser's errors J | in casting could be forgiven 1 I if either Atkins or Shields 1 I could act his or her 1 respective way out of a U..4 L * 4 At 1 ** (Ntpvr MUi aucu m IIUI uie ' case. To them, acting is 1 ws9 SI 18 V tl i.a j a. * r tint I! ni proaucuon 01 airunge I Wednesday evening and e 5. ^ ?f the women's suffrage ury, deals comically with % nen and women and their ay unfolds. Playwrights ents accurately depict the j y women (and men) in the 1 ; of three married couples right to vote, include Bob iwell and his wife Julia, i 'ring, whose character's makes the play a true joy, ss. torn is paired with Billy Addie is one of the last ? cause." She does well in f a well-bred lady who is he, too, is humorous as a well (Julie Britt) and her I Lee) are equally up to par rnm turn nnnncintf nnintc rtf * Vllt VTfV V|/|/VUIII^ VI que of aphy eping a straight face while iking pretty for the mera. I haven't seen phers like these since The >pford Wives and, in that :ture, the actresses were * l|r^ "' Si;.: v ^JS:'?;-r. 'The Blue Lagoon.' upposed to be portraying nachines. Kleiser has mentioned in tsverai recent imerviKws hat what goes on in The Hue Lagoon is "natural." In act, "natural" is the key idjective in the film's adertisihg campaign. But v i t h the accent on 'natural," how could Cleiser have included the icene wherein Shields gives >irth? I could not possibly :ount the number oi hoots l leard when Shields squated, as if to relieve her )ladder, only to have the )aby fall out. No fuss, no ness. And it falls right into a iwaddling blanket! I'm sure that somwhere, it snmp timft a movip as worthless as The Blue Lagoon has been flashed (pun intended) across a theatre screen, but if so, I was lucky enough to miss it. What I wouldn't give to be able to say I missed this one, tOO. ' ? iccessful iew and the love that surmounts it is obvious, especially hrough Ms. Britt's characterization. She effectively comnunicates all of Clarissa's logical emotions: her frustration, xhaustion and determination, whether directed towards women's suffrage, her marriage or her own sense of identity. Satin furnishings, sashed draperies i nd voluminous costumes commented on the excesses of the Vic _ _ m ror/an Mge. Drucilla Brookshire, who plays a prostitute reminiscent in dress and demeanor of Belle in "Gone with the Wind," is superb. She builds into her character a dimension of honesty and integrity through her inability to be anything other than herself. Just admiring the set was a pleasure. Luxuriousness exuded from every corner of the Senator's parlor. Satin furnishings, thick, sashed draperies, expensive assessories that glittered under stage lights and breath-taking, voluminous costumes commented on the excesses of the Victorian Age. It appears that Workshop Theatre has begun its second season in its new theatre with a success. "Strange Bedfellows" will run through September 21. i : 1 Great Jazz By Robert W. Brazell of sorts; he u&es the staff ?vyrhar words and natural Tuesday night is jazz rhythms of a song to night at Greenstreets. perform a novel, That's when five in- nnnfrf ?vi *-*1 r>rlvr f Uof to I ^IICI IIICIUUJ tiidt to dividuals, known gone before the audience collectively as the Dick realizes what hit them. Goodwin Quintet, stand, sit or slouch on stage and Percussionist Hall make some of the best complemented every lick jazz heard in this city ancj tempo change with anytime. imagination and taste. Last Tuesday night I fhe multitude of accents. walked into Greenstreet's style changes and timbre I and was very pleased changes made me realize >mth what I saw and every member of the heard. The 'group' - quintet must be a Dick Goodwin on professional with many trumpet, Jim Mings on years of experience. Hall guitar. Jim Hall on supplies a sturdy and percusssion, singer Jim entertaining musical TTprunsnn anH .Tnhn r i_i: D iuunuauon. Emche on piano ? sat onstage dressed in ritual r . ..? . ! jazz attire and played Last, and possibly best, with a casual air that was guitarist Jim Mings. surprising ? considering munj jma S the thoughtful sounds everything he did sound they were producing. Not easy, even his rapid-scale one note was out of place improvisations (which at or too prominent; every ^ne were tlying sound produced had a from his instrument so Duroose fluidly I began to wonder One of the first things I ,j?s were Play^g the noticed about the quintet world s first push-button is that they "play guitar). Emche said together and stav Mings is west coast in together." For example* stVle. but added "He's so one of the tunes played everything else, too. The was "Scrapple From The n's? incredibly verApple," a Charlie Parker satile. 1 _ r a. ' 1 t song wun a iranuc oeoop solo at the beginning. The solo, played on SotTfG Or tho DBSt trumpet, piano and hvarH in thi<5? guitar, was almost ' nBafu til IMS flawless. Another CltV BnVtimB. example of the tight playing exhibited by this group was also my Versatile is, in fact, the I personal favorite of the way to' describe the evening, * /\n me mings Goodwin Quintet as a You Are," an excercise in whole. While there is attack and release that heavy #op influence in was performed ad- this group, they could just mirably. For a precision as easily slip into Latin, music fan it was an rhythm and blues or just earful. about any other style. I Although Emche This most certainly claimed he was "out of makes the quintet apit," he did not play that pealing to people with way at all, particularly varying musical tastes, when he was improvising. Emche built his im- Although rock and punk provisational solos from fans might be disapthe ground up, using pointed with the Dick rhythm, melody and Goodwin Quintet, anyone dynamics to the greatest who wants to hear a fine advantage. group with a tight perThe same can be said cussion sound and a close, for the vocals of Jim easy personality is urged Ferguson, who sane the tn pn tn r.r<>pnctrw?>c n?vt I therne to the old Tuesday night and hear television program, the quintet for them"Route 6G." Ferguson selves. I know I'll be could he called a jazz poet there.