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Page 10 ? December 3, 1984 Entertainment THE GAMECOCK Girl group O-Boi I Hfc%W*'i m "iSVftV^^^Hfe??? Va Va Voom ptw,?bv Eiot Cohw Zoe Shebelsky, 0 Boy's lead singer, performs at The Beat Saturday night. PL-' j." - . iviuubmi uimsudii piay gives Christmas message By Sherri Clayton "Celebrate Life," a musical drama about the life of Jesus Christ, flowed smoothly without any noticeable breaks in the music or drama Friday night at First Presbyterian Church. Under the direction of David Burrough, the choir and instrumentalists created a natural flow to the performance. Drama coach Steve Hendricks kept things smooth and steady throughoyt the evening. The choir, nervous during the beginning of the performance, relaxed during the sixth song, "There Is a Great Joy Coming," as they clapped and snapped their fingers. THE AUDIENCE was visibly shaken when Joe Caldwell (John the Baptist) jumped on the pew where he had been sitting and began shouting about repentance. The totally unexpected outburst began the performance by the 37-member in strument section. According to Caldwell, about 100 people attended the Friday night performance. They were mostly student friends and families of students in the play. A particularly funny line was the complaint by Jesus's disciple Mark, played by Pressley Sutherland. Sutherland tells a blue jean-clad Jesus (Jim Bush), "Come on. Lord, this isn't Food Lion, vnu know Thk k Firct Presbyterian Church." BUSH SENDS Sutherland and three other disciples, Matthew, Luke and John, played by Andy Thomas, Bobby Pruett and Pat Berry respectively, into the audience to find food to feed the multitudes. They return to the stage with Phillip Carter, who plays the boy who gives his lunch to Jesus. The audience was given bread, fulfilling their role as the crowd. I he ettectiveness of the modern drama was created by blue jeans and polo shirts worn by the cast. None of the other actors donned the traditional robes found in the nativity scenes at Christmas. Everyone spoke in modern English except Jesus. He appeared in certain scenes using the language of the King James Version of the Bible. This distinguished the disciples from Jesus, but interrupted the flow of the modern-day interpretation. THE SOLOISTS performed in front of the choir without rjicrophones. None were needed in the play except during these songs. The music, sounded like a Russian folk dance, and more ttian one person probably expected danicing cossacks to apo * o?n \J\~KXi ai any iiiv/iiiciu. Sutherland wore a black, curly wig with the big nose, black eyebrows and glasses of Groucho Marx. Thomas danced like a cossack needing a sword, and Reams was the only normal one in the bunch. As Larry, Curly and Moe finished their act with a leg-lifting cabaret dance, the audience responded with grateful laughter and applause. The overall production was ?ood. with a few more technical adjustments needed in sound and music. If captures By Ann Farmer The dance floor was packed at The Beat Saturday night, but nobody was dancing. Maybe the people were tired after a busy Friday night. Maybe they were mesmerized by the lights. Maybe they needed a few more beers. l nc inusi iiKciy cAjjiaiidiiuu, however, is that Columbia isn't ready for a band of the caliber of O Boy, easily the best band to play in the city this year. THE THREE girls who make up O Boy say they're not a technopop group, .but their sound features the multi-layered synthesizers that rhamrfpri/p cuch ermins. The girls say, "Call us technodelic." Their technodelic music begs to be danced to, and halfway through the first set, they introduced "our instrumental made for dancing," but few in the crowd took the hint. Wha* thev nroceeded to nlav was highlighted by loud, abrasive discord, but it worked. Such discord combines with computer-like effects to produce O Boy's distinct sound. IN A song called "Electronic Takeover," the band used extensive echoes that the crowd alternately loved or hated. The band used the song to argue against their technopop label. "We're not victims of electronic takeover; - /* * : . '"*V.V TO^HVCW r ^ ~53^^^Br x. ?Mr - , Getting into their work Cast members of 'Working' team up in a : 'Working' disp By Marisa Porto At times, even the best of us get depressed about our work, and USC's department of theatre and speech seems to understand that in their production of "Working." This performance by some very 4_i ^ i ? laieniea ana vocal individuals began Thursday night at the Drayton Hall Auditorium. Directed by Ann Dreher, the production about working people was one of the finest Columbians have seen in a long time. BASED ON a book by Studs Terkel, the USC company did their best to show the varied attitudes toward work that develop after time. Act 1 began with a wonderful rendition of "All the Livelong Day," which the entire company and the audience participated in. Despite strong language and a few Gestures fhat mav havp construed as offensive, the production works quite well, and the company shows not only their talent, but also their hearts. Some of the show is funny, and some of it sad, but most of all, it is one of the best productions the company has performed this year. Lee Anthony Williams shines as a respect of i we're just thoroughly modern girls," s they said, also claiming, "You'll all i become system victims." Unlike other new groups, O Boy isn't so fascinated with itself that it r can't appreciate old tunes, too. One of j their better deliveries was an in teresting interpretation of Lou Reed's j "Take a Walk on the Wild Side." Finally, confronted with something < they could possibly comprehend, more I people in the crowd started dancing. 5 t "TAKE A Walk on the Wild Side" a la O Boy legitimized the group as 1 more than just keyboard cuties in the < Go-Gos mold. j "Beat the Rap" was the weakest song because of the vocalist. The same * 1 1 1 1 _ rr _ gin, nowever, redeemed iriai enori < with "Va Va Voom," and eat your 3 heart out, Duran Duran. ; The song, which may have also been < called "Cheesecake T and A," satirized MTV's view of women. t "We don't really want to be musi- 1 cians," the band said. "We want to be < groupies on MTV videos." 1 < "FEEL MY skin; it's so soft. Take it ? on, taKe it on. t The song drew cheers from the \ crowd and ended the first set. J The second set continued to show O Boy's versatility. The band played t songs that expounded on reggae, blues \ and even punk funk. 1 "Just a Little Respect," the best I song called 'Lovin' Al/ about a parking lot attendeni lays talent in mi steelworker who wants only to be recognized for what he does, and Bernard Addison adds a touch of humor with the song "Lovin' Al," about a parking lot attendant who has been in the business since age 15, but who still knows the meaning of fun. DIANE, A processing clerk r\lat/oH Ut/ Till D ombJ piu^vu %jy Jill l\ailMlI) Id aillUMIlg with her chewing gum and easygoing attitude, while Soissette Ricks beautifully portrays an editor with ambition who is not challenged in her work. Her lovely voice and emotion add much to a scene that otherwise could have been dull. Jimmy Flannery is excellent as Billy, a newsboy who tells of the :i? i ? *! c ? maia aiiu uiuuiauoiis OI COllCCUng his money. "Neat to be a Newsboy" is a cute little ditty about the joy of such important work ? watching the bushes go "boing" as the newspaper hits them. Jannette Buchanan plays Rose, a schoolteacher whose method of teaching has become, according to some, "old-fashioned." "Nobody Tells Me How" is a song explainine how she feels about new teaching techniques. One of the most poignant dialogues of the evening came from tudience ?ong of the second set, showed signs of ill three stvles. DESPITE THE crowd's call for nore, the band played only one encore ind let the crowd choose the song. "Va Va Voom" won almost by icclamation. During the encore, the band tried >nce more to get the crowd involved by Dointing the microphone at the people .urrounding the stage and asking them U Slllg. But the crowd at The Beat Saturday was a lot like the groupies O Boy sang about in the encore. They grouped around the stage and stared. THE CROWD of about 160 is one 3f the largest The Beat has had this /ear, employee Stuart Johnson said, surpassing even the club's expectations. Johnson said a report by The State hat the band would be playing Friday nad caused some inconvenience. He .aid some people from as far away as Florence and Myrtle Beach had showid up Friday expecting to hear O Boy after reading The State's preview of he performance. Some people showed lp Saturday not expecting to pay a B3.50 cover. Dili < r? rt /-I * ??! ? * UUI II1UOV, ?1IV7 Iliailll^CU l VJ IlltlNC 11 o The Beat heard good music by an jnaffected band. If The Beat coninues to bring such groups, it will be he best showcase in Columbia. H I [' 5 ~;% [l V;/ ?* |p#g^t 'V'v i i |^Sy >*$*jX 'W' :j ? IS j^.jv | -' HHHHMuK'': n Photo by Regflie Ross t and his work. usic, theater Harold Odom, who portrays a migrant worker. /\ rititKL oi poverty combined with a broken spirit aiid memories of his mother made this an excellent piece of work, literally. "If I had 'nough money, I would take busloads of people out to da fields and da camps. Then they'd know how dat fine salad got on their tables. Then they would know." "Un Mejor Dia Vendra" was beautifully sung by Pressley Sutherland and Edith Potter. Heather, a telephone operator played by Angela O'Hara, was numorous and well-pertormed. Heather speaks of her job with gloom, saying how hard it is for her to talk six hours straight. IRENE FINS AND NANCY. . POPE ended the first act with a moving rendition of "Millwork." The anguish in these two women made audience members thank God that they were not in the same position. Wendy Wolff, who portrayed Delores. a wnitrpcc cjnn "It'c , ? ouii5 ai r> an Art" with such case that the audience thought once again about See "Working" page 11