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-entertainmen Longstreet i From Staff Reports "Buried Child," | Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the decline and fall of the American dream, opens tomorrow at Longstreet Theatre. The play, which ran off-Broadway in 1978 and '79 and was awarded the 1979 Pulitzer for drama, is set in the heartland of America ? the farm country of Illinois. The characters are all members of the same family, with one exception. Four of the family members live on the farm and the fifth returns for a visit, accompanied by his girlfriend. No one recognizes him. THE PLAY'S title is a reference to a dark secret in the family's past. Dodge, the elderly father of the group and central character in the play, is often drunk and frequently confused about what's going on around him. His eldest son, Tilden, proves just as crazy as the play moves along. The controversy in the drama is stirred up by Vince, the son who has returned home after a six-year absence, and his girlfriend Shelly. Vince is quickly sent off by Dodge to SBET H n ng iifXingnr rijE Mfed Y v illW* ihh ilw \ Utopia is (clockwise from upper left) Todd Ri Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton and Willie Wilcox, Film adds to a n _ i* n ?i oy uoug neti Cinematically speaking, this has been disappointments. "Inchon" was enough to so disposition, and even promising films ? "1 Favorite Year," "Monsignor" ? have pro) satisfying (if not wholly disastrous, in the last And now "The Missionary" should be appei Written by and starring Monty Python v< Palin, "The Missionary" aims for th; irreverent, ribald brand of humor the Pytl fee ted and popularized. Last year I criticized "Time Bandits" (\ wrntp) fnr its "nv#?ru/rnii0ht nutrntfMuion? Missionary'" proves that an extravagant ba ordinary bad idea hands down. "THE MISSIONARY" is about an earnest the Rev. Charles Fortescue (Palin), who retu England (circa 1900) after spending a dec* Africa tending to the spiritual needs of savage ? Upon his return, he finds his childhood swe< Nicholls), to whom he has long been ' blossomed into a mousy, stupid creature whe in life is in keeping an immaculate filing syste When Fortescue's bishop (Denholm Elliot) 1118 new auues ? to set up a mission m JLona convert prostitutes ? the missionary is bash But it doesn't take long for him to realize ant fringe benefits of his newly assigned endeavoi And then there's Maggie Smith as Lady millionairess who has an inexplicable case Fortescue. After summoning him to her coi "official Church business," she seduces him nose of her blustery, bigoted husband (Trevoi AS THIS rough synopsis suggests, Palin hi t stages Pulitz get liquor, which the old man isn't supposed to drink. Shelly is left talking to Dodge and Tilden and is incredulous that they have apparently forgotten ? or blocked out ? Vince's existence. The conversations become more and more complicated until the truth finally comes out. The result destroys the myth of the farm and the family as ideal partners in life. USC'S PRODUCTION features Ray Kinney as Dodge, Michael Dowell as Tilden, Scott Baker as Father Dewis, Fredrica Lawlor as Halie, Robert Hooker as Vince, John Brasington as Bradley and Elizabeth Tucker as Shelly. Rick Rottschaefer, a USC graduate student, is directing "Buried Child." Last year Rottschaefer directed "Grease" at USC and "70, Girls, 70" at Workshop Theatre. Those were musicals; "Buried Child" will be his first drama. "Buried Child" is a showcase production, which means it runs for a shorter period than a mainstage production. The USC Band fail ^ A ?V Ware Fink At a time when most rock ^ album of new tunes each y mediocre4 'Swing to the Right, m inferior "Utopia," which cont \ *our *s merely "filled" with th< J "Utopia," the sixth album J Rundgrcn on guitars, Roger ^ J Sulton on bass guitar and Willi / songs and runs under 50 mini / than four minutes. I While Rundgren has been _y/ rockers as disparate as Grt Oates, and Psychedelic Furs Bk egocentttc excursions on his s( Rk "UTOPIA" IS another exan ruin, as this album is face! Although "Utopia" is clearly release of earlier this yea imagination of4 'Adventures Ir Somehow a few cuts are a le /here are mainly about failed r? pleasant rather than angry, hu "Libertine" features Rundg keyboards as a backdrop, whi the call-and-response chorus ( songs open and close side one, Side two is the shabbiest, sh< and virtual re-mixes of side . Heart" stands out, as it is th ndgren, an(j contains slicker electroi collection. utumn crop of in autumn of ' ^ ir any viewer's empest," "My ? en only partly uase). some amusing bits of detail. E ded to that list. Palin nor director Richard L teran Michael scattered pieces into a unified t outrageous, No Pythonian claims to be ? on troupe per- the troupe's style. But the p episodic and sluggish that 1 Dftltvk trtanr/it* to Iaa oIaawi* +?*<> iuv.ii i <11 in uu- to tw w m y iu II js." But "The Even the most important s I idea beats an import, seem fuzzy, impreci: sequence where a perfect con is when the forgetful butler, roung minister, dern), leads Fortescue on a < ns to his native front door to the parlor. de in remotest The film contains some It tribes. English countryside. These theart (Phoebe stagnant plot and give one >etrothed, has filmmakers are stalling for tii je only interest n. AS I'VE explained before, intorms him of numer; it teeters always c >n to house and precipice. When it balances, i fully reluctant, bit off, it's dreadful. "The J appreciate the astray somewhere between pastoral photography. fVmes, a bored of the hots for Anyone interested in d ntry palace on comedies should not miss "1 right under the plays at 2:30, 7 and 9 p.m. t< Howard). George Cukor, Katharine He Stewart were an unbeatable t s come up with dimmed their dazzle a single1 :er Prize-win theater season includes three more mainstage productions and two more showcase presentations. 0 Mainstage shows will be "The Amorous Flea." a musical version of Moliere's "School for Wives," Dec. 7-11; "Fifth of July," LarJord Wilson's powerful play about love and family in America, Feb. 2227; and "Everyman," considered the greatest of the English morality plays, April 12-17. SHOWCASE PRODUCTIONS will be "As You Like It," Shakespeare's classic comedy, Jan. 24-30; and "Bent," a violent ' ' . ' '' : " ' . 1 I && vV" ^s - 4 mmmmwwm . ? ??>.l , The Carolina Cxq&mtto* a.wftpMttlg > VS^ft>?paSrtment ^pusi# : faculty members, will perfoipi #8 $jj*| ? tomorrow at GambreU IM1 > " -* - * Usj11**'i I'*1 iriiiY-M s with second bands can barely release one ear, Utopia has followed the " released this spring, with the ?? ains only three sides ? as side THE GRO s songs on side three. to kick off sii by the group featuring Todd pop tune re< Powell on keyboards, Kasim and the psj e Wilcox on drums, contains 15 Rundgren's utes. Only one cut plays more side strikes c . "Utopia" praised for his production of openly as th< ind Funk Railroad, Hall and even Billy J , he has been condemned for band from tl )lo and earlier Utopia LPs. than this. There is li iple of Rundgren on the road to deliveries o less, flawed and forgettable. Utopia sing better than Sulton's banal solo sounds so ali r, it lacks the charm and Dubbing tl i Utopia" from 1980. as one of tht vel above the dross. The lvrics nhviniis nnti Nations hips, but the delivery is weak cuts ai irt or despairing. priced doub] ren's stunning solo, with subtle two releases le "Say Yeah" is redeemed by Music" earn ["say what, say yeah"). These respectively. "UTOPIA Dwcasing a bunch of slow songs flexing, but i ( one. Only "Hammer In My "Too Late J e hardest rocker off "Utopia" fourth fine a nic effects than most of this "Utopia" i in which hon fir a ' ? nops m eview lut bits are all they are; neither lp; oncraine manage to gather the framework. ' x strict structuralist; that is not lot of "The Missionary" is so halfway through the film the' ^ jfQfPBffl lake sense of it. cenes, in terms of their comic rSBPM 3e and thrown away. The only ?SfltJ09 lie tone is struck and sustained lES?8Bi Slatterthwaite (Michael Hor- |y|l toss country journey from the llplpljj ish, but unnecessary, shots of simply slow down an already me curious teeung that the ^jjppj|..: Tie. M Palin has a curious brand of >n the brink of a precarious KffiK t's hilarious; when it's the least Smfl Missionary" goes irretrievably its ponderous script and its WSmm:' azzling, brilliant and funny ["he Philadelphia Story," which ?|j||S ^ >day at Russell House Theater. |?|| jpburn, Cary Grant and James earn in 1940, and 42 years hasn't J"8 "BV0f volt. And it's free. given a cha ininn Hrama ii 111 ly ui UIIIU look at the treatment of homosexuals in Duchau, a Nazi concentration camp, March 23-27. "Buried Child" will run through Sunday, with performances at 8 p.m. except for a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee. Tickets for individual shows will be available for two weeks prior to opening night. Mainstage show tickets are $4 for the general public; $3 for USC faculty /staff, senior citizens and military personnel; and $2 for students. Individual showcase tickets, including "Buried Child," are 50 cents less for each category. * h '''' Tfce group imtwm Jfcrng <*ra3Nam Erie '.frj'i.A,J>.v.,; 11m11fnvi'i'i ? - f i ii ' ^'Vt? 1982 release album review UP manages to put two good songs back-to4>ack ie three. "Princess of the Universe" is a snappy calling "One World" from the "Swing" album, 'chedelic "Infrared and Ultraviolet" features brain-blitzing guitar leads. But the rest of the nit. is influenced by the Beatles ? though not as s group's album "Deface the Music" was ? and foel, especially in "Neck On Up." Hundgren's tie late 1960s, Nazz, put out three albums better ttle variety in the melodies, arrangements and f the songs, and though all four members of lead vocals and harmonies, the singing here ke it seems clone-ish. tie same songs on side three onto side four ranks ; worst examples of musical excess in 1982. Two ons would have been to cut three of the many id release a regular LP, or to create a specially le album with choice cuts from the group's last ? neither "Swing to the Right" nor "Deface the ed monumental sales on a previous label. " TRIES for pleasant pop with a bit of muselei is outclassed by such 1982 releases as The Act's \i 20." the Clock's self-titlwi rfohnt anH Sh/VMS' Ibum, "Boomerang." s a headlong plunge into boredom, an excercise logeneity replaces harmony. 1^ Ms* " \ IfcM&a* i ; ;: :: ;Bfe^B|; - - -r^ : ' - V '^.-; ' ?1^ lend Charles Foitescue (Michael Palin) it longing assignment in "The Missionary."