The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 03, 1984, Page Page 10, Image 10
Page 10 ? December 3, 1984 Entertainment THE GAMECOCK
Girl group O-Boi
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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;
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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.
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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