The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 29, 1982, Page 8, Image 8
-entertainmen
'Idiot's Dei
By John Vaughan
Perhaps one would be too harsh in
describing "Idiot's Delight" as idiotic ? but
it is hardly a delight.
Currently playing at Drayton Hall, USC's
first mainstage offering of the season is an
exceedingly lackluster production, with
technical work that attempts to be grand
and succeeds only in further diminishing the
poorly delineated characters.
"Idiot's Delight," a Pulitzer Prize-winner
for Robert Sherwood in 1936, is an anti-war
commentary that poses some challenges for
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production does not rise to most of these.
THE PLAY unfolds at a ski-resort hotel in
the Italian Alps near Switzerland and
Austria on the eve of World War II. Hotel
guests symbolically represent several
nations. The guests are eager to leave facist
Italy, but are temporarily blocked from
obtaining visas.
The obvious challenge for the players is
the mastery of various accents; herein lies
most of the actors' shortcomings. Cast
members make valiant efforts at German,
French, Italian, Russian and English accents,
but no one is particularly convincing.
ttven me aciresses portraying six American
chorus girls lapse into predictable "dippy
Brooklyn blonde-ese."
Some of the accent problems are not as
bothersome as others, as some players turn
in otherwise decent performances. Lucinda
Opera troupe
Boris Goldovsky, artistic director of the Gold
Grand Opera Theatre, will direct the company';
performances of "La Boheme" in the Carolina
Coliseum.
Writer/humorist
By Fletcher Johnson
He claims in his tongue-in-cheek
biography sheet he was thrown out of a
Manhattan advertising agency for "making
jokes, saying bad words and being insane."
For a guy who was selected Class Comedian
at Long Island's Roslyn High School, that's
not a bad way to make a living.
Chris Miller, humorist, author and
screenwriter, regaled a Russell House
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imaginative tales.
By Miller's own admission, his material
was far to the left of the film "Animal
House," which he co-wrote. "Only the most
liberal of 12-year-olds should attend my
lectures," Miller replied when asked if his
lectures were suitable for the entire family.
W^DNIKSHAV NIf HIT'S faro #>ntit1nH
"Chris Miller's Adult Story Hour," ranged
from a couple of twisted short stories to
reminiscences about the making o! "Animal
House," to questions from the audience and
a short outtake from "Animal House."
Miller, a 1963 Dartmouth College
graduate who holds a master's degree from
the Amos Tuck School of Business, began
his creative writing career after his release
t, _
ight' certai
Hamrick as the Russian woman, Irene,
infuses grace and stvle into her role She is
joined, with only slightly less success, by
Avon Stephenson as Quillery, a radical
French socialist. Stephenson's confidence
and intensity are nice to see among the
general dullness of the action.
Probably the best performance is given
by Robert Johnson as Achille Weber, an
amoral munitions expert. Johnson's stage
presence and voice are quietly powerful,
and he rivets the audience as a thunderous
whisper among tinny, forced noise.
JOHNSON AND Hamrick have the only
really good scenes in the show, especially
the one where the pair plays alone. Irene
confronts Weber with her view of his dirty
business in an emotionally-charged
monologue. Weber in turn asks her: "Who
are the greater criminals ? those who sell
the instruments of death or those who buy
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answer to that!"
Playwright Sherwood, of course,
disagrees with that cop-out, and his drama
steadily improves as it gets underway;
Sherwood had some important things to say,
and he said them well.
Director Russell Green, however, does not
bring out Sherwood's statements with much
sensitivity or style. Green is working with a
beautiful, grandiose set, but it merely
towers over the small-scale characters ?
and this does not seem intentional or
"symbolic."
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perrorms la d
From Staff Reports
"La Boheme," a four-act oj
English by the Goldovsky Gram
tomorrow at the Carolina Colisei
The performances open the
series.
"La Boheme," Giancomo Puc
love story set in Paris.
BTHE 50-MEMBEK Goldovs
derstudies, but alternates sing
principal roles. The company
chestra.
The company is on its 24th na
direction of Boris Goldovsky, ?
Called opera's most articulat
porters, Goldovsky admitted he
24 years old.
While studvine at thp Cm
^ 0
Goldovsky was called upon to
class. He said he saw a stage w<
the addition of appropriate mus
Since then, opera has been (
his work with his company, he
York's Metropolitan Museum oi
PERFORMANCES may be
subscriptions to Carolina Conc<
Subscrintions arp $15 and ar<
B Other series events are the I
, Nov. 15; Shi Ki, a Japanese
,VS*Y performing "Shiro," Jan. 26; >
Symphony, March 12; and the
Theatre, April 1-2. All perform
Coliseum.
makes his livirn
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f V . ~ ? " -- | _ :iW$- ; ' ' I
Photo by Mkhael Beikcr
Comedic writer Chris Miller relates his
zany humor in Russell House Ballrnnm
Wednesday.
-- I _
niy not ue
Captain Locicero (Bryco Taylor, left) meets si:
guests of the Hotel Monte Gabriele in "Idiot's I
Finally, at the close of the play, the
audience is jolted by loud bombing noise.
Alter a plodding production with minimal
special effects, these bombs are really
dropped on an unsuspecting audience ?
coming off as a last-ditch effort to wake up
dozing viewers.
oheme' [Live:
? ? hp , h Devo
pera, will be performed in
d Opera Theatre tonight and From Staff Ri
am. ;
1982-83 Carolina Concerts The first
featuring th<
cini's most famous work, is a W*N be showr
The concei
from the Be
ky company uses no un- will air at 10
jers of equal stature in the to attend in c
"also provides its own or- The even
tertainment
tional tour, under the artistic United State
i native of the Soviet Union. sponsored a
e champion by opera sup- Contempora
1 Hncnicnrl Ar\n?*o until tuno HPVH t
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Mothersbauj
rtis Institute in the 1930s, several hit r
play for an opera workshop The group v\
)rk could be embellished with group gettin
ic. (see related
joldovsky's passion. Besides Tickets foi
is a frequent lecturer at New for students
r Art to $7 and
floor of Russ
! attended only with season
erts, a series of five events.
i still available through the
5rague Symphony Orchestra, By Marc Finh
music and dance company 777
/ictor Borge with the Atlanta . : ?!.
Alvin Ailey American Dance n n?3'
ances will be at the Carolina
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from an ad agency where he created the
"Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" campaign,
among other gems of the advertising industry.
His short stories eventually caught the
eye of the late Doug Kenney, editor and cofounder
of Notional Lampoon. Miller
eventually worked his way up to a contributing
editor position on the magazine.
According to Miller, his position means
"they just put my name in a different place
on the masthead."
Confessing to being a somewhat unfaithful
reader of National Lampoon now, Miller
said, "The Lampoon is as different now as
the 19Rfts are different from th#? ^
whole different world."
Shortly before Miller took the stage in
Russell House, I asked him about his
relationship with Kenney, his editor and a
co-writer of the "Animal House" script. "He
was one of my best friends. I loved him. He
was way too young to die," Miller said.
W1IKN ASKKI) by an audience member
about Kenney, the 40-year-old Miller said,
"Doug Kenney is dead. Went off a mountain
in Hawaii a couple of years ago. That's what
?
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lightful
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k American chorus girls who arePhoto by chip lowc"
Delight."
"Idiot's Delight" plays through Sunday,
with performances at 8 p.m. except for a 3
p.m. Sunday matinee. Tickets are $4 for the
general public, $3 for USC faculty/staff,
senior citizens and military personnel and
$2 for students. For more information, call
the box office at 777-2551.
3-D concert brings
into Township
tports
live 3-D video event in history, a concert
5 musical groups Devo and Wall of Voodoo,
i via satellite tomorrow at The Township.
*t. entitled 443-Devo." will hp transmittpH livp
verly Hills Theatre in Hollywood. The video
p.m. at The Township. "Concertgoers" plan
ostume.
t is being handled by the Campus EnNetwork
(CEN), and 15 colleges across the
s have subscribed to the network. The event is
it USC by the Carolina Program Union's
ry Sounds Committee.
he quintet of Alan Meyers, Bob and Mark
gh and Bob and Jerry Casale ? has produced
ecoramgs ana nas worked in several media.
Mil be fronted by Wall of Voodoo, a four-man
g attention for the release of its third album
review).
r the event are $6 for the general public and $4
in advance. At the door, prices will increase
.50. Tickets are on sale today ori the second
;ell House.
album review
)odoo is an experimental pop band from Los
t wins a strong reception for its third release,
West."
See "Voodoo," page nine
ie loves most
he's doing. John Belushi is similarly occupied."
Miller is that kind of guy. Very flip, but
there is a lot of age in his eyes.
He rambled on Wednesday, answering
questions and telling stories. His images
painted pictures drawn only from the mind
of a gifted individual. "My writing," he
said, "has no message at all, other than to
have fun. Just have fun, be the best 'you'
possible."
Miller has achieved the writer's dream:
he does what he wants to whomever he
pleases and makes fine money doing it. He's
made the transition from New York to Los
Angeles with relative ease. "L.A. is such a
sweet, curvy, warm, sexy place," he said.
THE TRANSITION from college
fraternity madness to a position of
responsibility in the "grown-up" world has
been different. "What transition?" Miller
asked. "I'm still the same."
Wednesday night he wore expensive
cordovan leather boots and a leather jacket
that was no throwaway, either. But he also
wore a pair of straight-legged Levis and a Tshirt.
1 kind of respect him for that.