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HSP'c corn By John Vaughan Parallels between USC's current theater offering and a past university stage bomb are glaring, and the temptation to compare is just too great to resist. USC's production of Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer," which opened this past weekend at Longstreet Theatre, is a disaster. Similarities between it and last year's worst presentation, "Idiot's Delight," are striking and embarrassing ? because "Suddenly Last Summer" is even worse. BOTH PLAYS, though authored by acclaimed playwrights, were dubious selections for the university theater season. Although Robert Sherwood earned a Pulitzer Prize for "Idiot's Delight," he won it in 1935 and the material seems quite dated a half-century later. Williams' play suffers from extremes he avoided in such works as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Decirr " Both shows were produced as the second of the season. Both are peopled by sharply diverse characters. Both enjoyed grand, towering sets designed by USC's gifted Susan Gratch. Both plays also failed on a grand scale for clearly the same reason: both had the misfortune to be misdirected by USC professor Russell Green. GREEN SIMPLY gave up on "Idiot's Delight," failing to exert any directional focus and lpnvino his nprfnrmcrc to wanHpr diminutively beneath the huge set in a real disappointment. This time around his presence is very obvious, but suffers from an almost myopic misconception. The result is beyond disappointment; it's a fiasco. Wrapped in Williams' hallmark aura of brooding, unsettling shadow, "Suddenly Last Summer" centers on a troubled young woman named Catherine, who was the sole witness to her cousin's shocking death in a foreign country. Violet Venable, Catherine's frightening Qiint hoc L* /-* **! * /-\ n uuin, I1UJ vwiuiiiiliwu l I IV- 511 1 IU CX .VIIIHUI HUH and is pushing to have her lobotomized ? she insists Catherine's fragmented, hysterical story be quelched. WHY VIOLET refuses to bend and the haunting mystery of Catherine's broken recollection are sifted out in Violet's eerie tropical garden, as a probing neurosurgeon endeavors to bring the dark secrets to light. I I L!- I Junes ana nss uo^ i w1 "4He9En $ v : :mgB. '< I ' , ^ * ?W H tW&K . JHB ?8S?iIi 'Nothing hotter once you've had the best' So croons .Geofge-Jones and his boys at the Tow Fnfprtn i ind play sii Those dark secrets are rooted in the playwright's surreal imagery. Concepts of alienation, religion, moral decadence, materialism, maternalism and the base of evil are irrevocably woven here into Williams' disturbing dissection of the human condition. The playwright's thematic intentions demand an adept touch with his imagery, from the lush garden to the consuming blaze of ci111i 111v. o v,iiiuatiit i^vciauuud. Instead of perceiving any degree of surrealism with detached horror, however, director Green has blown the itr* ial to almost hyperbolic proportions, shr. it at the audience and milking oi. ?ive caricatures from his cast. SADLY, THIS wastes some very fine technical foundations. Set designer Gratch has devised a monolithic gazebo that adds creative interpretation to Williams' work. It puts the players under imaginary glass for the audience to study, and a vaulted ceiling sets up a psychological vortex for the play's higher sights. Gratch has thoughtfully graced the stage with lush plants, a few pieces of ornate furniture and a trickling fake stone fountain. Wisely, more responsibility for color contrast was left to lighting designer Eric Tishman. Tishman's work is beautifully and subtly wrought, capturing the viewer with shadow and fire. Where the production was supposed to crescendo, at least the lighting meets the moment with a bath of white-hot rays. LIKEWISE, ALLEN Smith's costuming is visually pleasing and artistically perceptive in each case. In retrospect ? and in all seriousness ? the show would have been superior as a design production. Smith could have arranged and costumed mannequins and let the lighting and sound effects dance in svm phony on the crafted set. Certainly this reviewer would have been more entertained. I was truly disappointed the show could crumble so quickly with such strong technical support. CRUMBLE IT did though, soon after Fredrica Lawlor, posturing in one of the silliest makeup jobs I've ever seen, made her entrance as Violet Venable. With the catatonic Steve Earnest as Dr. Cukrowicz, the seams split early on, even as I fs perform to foo Sfif??V\ ;Sv iship Thursday night. iff or o mierlir II IUI U IlllWtlBB } :*:. r^T\_:2~fJf~-~J~-^ ~ ~yi y^K^E^tr l|?r> jHHH^BH^^BQ^^^381BB8^^^8^roB?B^9H^^S^^K v.?31BI ? V?"1 lis -r1 ^ J- 5 "|^B | ^|K^: sn Dr. Cukrowicz (Steve Earnest) holds Catherine (I In USC's current production of Tennessee Williams' "S resolutely awaited entrances of additional characters that might turn the thing around. " No such luck. But this reviewer cannot see bi the value of disparaging individual actors h; when each poor performance owes so much to Green's directorial decisions. is Let it be enough to say it's difficult to ti< believe all but one actor are graduate se students in theater. w THE DIRECTOR has his performers fair- se !y screaming at us, and his pacing leaps immediately to a high pitch without any strong forward thrust. It never changes levels and W prevents any real emotional crescendo at the m conclusion of an interminable hour-and-a- m half. L t-stomoin'. hand-clai I I crowu cnccrcd lou ilf Once You've Had v t stomping songs. I) ^ a little mo re t ha n 11 ? crowd, however, crowd's country n ection il - fPiirm^^WmffMii > WL i _ . Photo by Shtun Koh Mary Ann Baldwin) uddenly Last Summer." When Dr. Cukrowicz intones at one point, I think a quiet atmosphere will get us the est results," one wishes intensely that Green ad recognized that virtue. Perhaps the best we can wish for, however, that thp nrnfPCCAr nllrvu/ c/Amn nmnrcfi inui iiiv pi vivjjv/i nm anun auuiv, 3U};gi air on and not choose to repeat history with the icond offering of next season. Just in case he has crossed a black cat or alked under a ladder; if this curse lasts ven years it's going to be our bad luck. "Suddenly Last Summer" continues Wednesday through Sunday, with perforlances at 8 p.m. except for a 3 p.m. latinee. For ticket information, call the ongstreet box office at 777-2551. spin' crowd ed up. Dt country music played to a packed house hursday night. espite having a case of the flu, was greeted on from the andienrp Iotip*; alnno with hiv Jones Boys, opened the show with a hit lo Show George," which describes traits of isic stars, including Jones' own trademark t appearances. orming his own material, Jones gave the portunity to play other songs. Before Jones e backup group played country standards Blossom Special," to which the crowd >ped. Throughout the night, Jones took ry other song, while the Jones Boys enterONES appeared tired at first, the excitelce sparked an energetic performance. The dly for every song Jones played, including "The Race Is On" and "Nothing Better the Best." On," many fans raised lit matches and e dimly lit theater aglow. les Jones played were slow ballads, but the red as loudly for these as it did for the footuring one of the ballads, "He Stopped Lov(hp auHipnrp cnno alnno ,>^anro/) MIVU5 Mil V* VIIV/V1 LU Cl\J;nd of the concert, Jones expressed his ap;rowd's reaction. "You're the best I've ever nes was a Columbia-based group the Rob i quintet's powerful country rock sound met ; applause and cheering. The band recently :ssful six-week tour of Germany, where it >f originals and classics, justas it didThurs^elatively short, with the entire show lasting wo hours. Judging from the cheering of the the night proved to be enjoyable. The uisic star had showed up.