The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 01, 1985, Page Page 8, Image 8
Page 8 ? February 1, 1985 E ntertainment THE GAMECOCK
Wendy Wolff plays the title character in Workshop Theetre's
upcoming production of 'Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for
Vnai '
'Purple Rain,' 'Th
highlight film scl
By Andy Duncan Stanley Dc
Mel Gibson, Marlon Brando, Woody Brides for Si
Allen and Prince are among the stars and Feb. 12. Nov
Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Alfred in this tale ol
Hitchcock and Mel Brooks among the direc- to town on tl
tors whose work will be shown in the Russell "An Office
House Theatre in February. for Feb. 13-1
Sponsored by the C inematic Arts Commit- story of a yo
tec of Carolina Program Union, the month potential thr
opens tonight with "Red Dawn," director Richard Gere
John Milius's vision of a Communist inva- and heroine,
sion of the United States. Powers Hoot he obligatory hi
plays a fighter pilot who helps a gang of Oscar for this
teenagers conduct guerrilla warfare from the A more r
mountains overlooking their captured town. "Purple Rail
Peter Weir's "The Year of l iving Ibis epic vid
Dangerously," which runs Feb. 2-3, embroils music and
Mel Ciibson and Sigourncy Weaver with in- prince, whos?
triguc and romance in 1965 Indonesia, l.inda !9K4's holies
Hunt, an actress playing the male role of
cameraman Billy Kwan, won an Oscar. AI.FKFI)
next week, w
VIVIKN I.FIOM is Blanche and Marlon III: The Se
Brando is Stanley in Elia Kazan's 1951 ver- scheduled for
sion of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar it, here's a hi
Named Desire." To be shown Feb. 4-5, this But the res
Oscar winner costars Karl Maiden and Kim Master of Si
Hunter. Birds," Hilt
Woody Allen's classic slapstick farce, what would
"Sleeper," is scheduled for Feb. 6. Woody friends go mi
wakes up from a minor operation to find tack on the c
himself in the year 2173. He has to contend the most chi
with 12-foot bananas,a dictator's stolen nose, nie," the sto
an automatic sex machine and other hazards will he showi
of 22nd-century life in this nutty tale that most contro
costars Diane Keaton. Hedren and S
"Eddie and the Cruisers" will be shown a Hitchcock c
Feb. 7-8. This story of an enigmatic rock of "The Mai
musician attracted attention only after it lames Stews
aired on cable TV, primarily because of a stumbles ont
fine soundtrack by John Cafferty and the "The Troub!
Beaver Brown Band. chcock's rar<
Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space of a corpse i
Odyssey," one of the milestones in screcn plicating the
and science fiction history, wiil be shown MacLaine a
Feb. 9b 10. Slow-moving and pompeus at others.
times, tJw overall effect h stweming, and the Feb. 25-24
special effects have never (teen nwyassed. tor, Francoii
Special credit is due Bttueles Rain as the FHayer" siwr:
atqtaer vetice of tfce 1momit oompuCer HAL ptsnfot in a
w* TV
of am adtoks
WM. 11 brings aa-tagmar Bergman doufete young Jean-I
feature. "Persona" casts Liv Ultmann as an Jim" is Trufl
actress who won't speak and Bibi Andersson romantic tria
as her nurse. "The Seventh Seal" is Serre and Jei
Bergman's world-famous masterpiece about February <
a 14th-century knight (Max von Sydow) who Brooks's con
stakes his life in a chess game with Death. dies," Feb. 2
Rounding out the evening is "The Dove," a Midnight
15-minute short spoof of Bergman's films, Theatre durii
starring Madeline Kahn. Fried Movie.
'Sister Mary' is
to Workshop pi
ay wnoy uuncan
One of the most controversial plays of recent years is coming
to Columbia, but the director says there's no cause for
alarm.
"Sister Mary Ignations Explains It All for You" and "The
Actor's Nightmare," both by playwright Christopher Durang
and both directed by USC student Reid Davis, open at
Workshop Theatre Feb. 6 and run through Feb. 17.
A special student night performance will be Feb. 5, with
ticket prices of only $3. All performances begin at 8 p.m. except
for the 3 p.m. matinee Feb. 17.
"SISTF.R MARY" premiered off-Broadway in 1981 to considerable
acclaim, and won an Obie Award for best play. Its
vitriolic portrait of a warped Catholic nun, however, has
sparKca protests irom eatnoncs almost everywnere
performed.
"I don't think it's a blasphemous play," Davis told The
Gamecock. "I think a lot of people would think it was sinful,
but I don't think it's dangerous.
"I think it's an important thing that we question our institutions
so they can stay in touch with people's needs."
Davis said the play opens with Sister Mary, a teacher at Our
Lady of perpetual Sorrows school, lecturing the audience on
her view of how the universe works. "It's Catholic dogma
filtered through her warped logic," he said. "It's a bizarre
view of reality."
SISTER MARY is interrupted by four of her former
students, who tell everyone how Mary's teachings ruined their
lives.
iq Dirrlc'
iijf MII ua ^|
)ncn's famous musical "Seven I'- : /; ;v/.
even Brothers" will be shown
vard Keel and Jane Powell star \^J7--~"v~ -T
r a fur-trapping clan who come -
ic prowl for women. j :
r and a Gentleman," scheduled r
4, is the enormously successful ^^|RhuA|
ii nit mmk who reaches his true
ough .
and Debra Winger arc the hero ' .' "'7 /and
Louis Gossett Jr. is the
liHying sergeant; he won an
. Directed hy Taylor Hack ford.
ecent box-office blockbuster,
l," will he shown Feb. 15-17. 'jflwfrff
vehicle for
magnetism of pop supei.star
: soundtrack album one of '
IIIKIiaX K dominates the *!&%$;.
ith the exception of "Star Trek t
arch for Spock," which is P?:
i:?u ">n ->-* if u ?i ^ ' ?Vfi4
rcu, x11 yuu iuivcii i !BfriFc'v l
in: They find him. ,
l of the week is devoted to the
nspense. Feb. 18 brings "The
.hcock's horrifying vision of
happen should our feathered
irderously amok. The crows'at- Music superstar Stevie W
hildren leaving school is one of backstage at a gospel conci
lling in screen history. "Mar- Little Richard, the Clark Sis
ry of a beautiful kleptomaniac,
r? Feb. 19. one of the director's
versial works, it stars Tippi
>can L.onnery. fen. ZJ-Z4 nrings m
iouble-fcaturc. His 1956 version Y M fHfl O 41 f \ I
^ Who Knew Too Much" stars U | IIIUwlw'
irt as an innocent man who S w
o an assassination plot. And - I
le with Harry" is one of Hit- X ^ I" Pi 0 0 I** Cl
: comedies, involving the story IU B O \J) 1*1 fl O
that just won't stay put, cornlives
of John Forsythe, Shirley By AaaaaMad Prats
nd Mildred Natwick, among L&S ANOKLE8 ? A son
American rack and movie
spotlights another matter duec- starving in Africa will not
5 **?** ,hc P March, but those involv
s i harles AniavMr as a timid estimating it may help raise
seo??td-rate cafe. 'TKe 400 miMion for rdief effoits.
affatH's autotoiographicai study Afler the sHlg|e .<We Ar
co?t s coming of age, starring released, a recording fe?t<
Piarre I.caud. And "Jules and unreleased songs by many o
faut s acclaimed handling of the participated will follow, st
ngle, with Oskar Werner, Henri personal manager for Lionel
anne Moreau as participants. nv RoHCrs. two artists :
:nds on a high note with Mel project
nic masterpiece, "Blazing Sad- Kragej, who organized ,
Richie and Harry Hclafonte
movies in the Russell House ,he jo-hour recording sess
ig February include: "Kentucky marketed.
The total effort could rais
>n't blasphemy
lay s director
"It's hilarious, and it's also pretty terrifying," Davis said,
likening it to "Dr. Stangelove." "It's a very, very dark comedy,
but it's really funny.
He said leaders of the state's Catholic Church had requested ^
that Workshop cancel the production, but the theatre believes
"that the play is important and needs to be done."
- - - ? ?. _ - f r _ ? 1 A *? ? ? I A ? *
uavis saia nc nimscu is noi ^ainunt, uui wiai i uun i
think Sister Mary is an example of any nun. She's just an extreme,
extreme example of what a person in a position of
power can do. We're not trying to condemn.
"THE CHURCH will survive this play and anything else
that comes up against it."
The companion piece, "The Actor's Nightmare," opens the
evening. It's the story of accountant George Spelvin, who
finds himself backstage in an unfamiliar theater just before
curtain time with no knowledge of his lines or of the play he's %
about to star in. He winds up onstage, floundering through
parodies of plays by Noel Coward, William Shakespeare and
Samuel Beckett, among others.
The same cast performs in both plays. Wendy Wolff, a USC
student known for her performances in "Cloud 9," "Working,"
"The Club," and "Fifth of July," plays Sister Mary,
and John Emerson plays Spelvin. Other cast members include
"Cloud 9" alumni Debra Leopard and Robin Roberts, as well
as Karen Harmon and 8-year-old Andy Seay.
This is Davis' first major directing effort, but he says he's
not nervous. "I trust the play; the play's proven. And I trust
my own sense of comedy. And the cast is very good.
' ++
^ > v 'iSnnBH
?4K
ELLIOT COHEN/Th? Gimtcock
ondar poses with 'Pops' Staples, laadar of tha Staples Singers,
irt at New York City's Beacon Theater. The recent show starred
ters and the Steples Singers.
1 t
m
en, Dylan, 4d more
song to aid hungry
combat starvation in Ethiopia and elsewhere
g recorded by 45 in Africa, Kragen estimated.
stars to aid the Quincy Jones produced the single by 43
be released until stars.
ed are already The session began Monday night after the
as much as $300 American Music Awards show. The group
was caHed United Support of Artists for
e the World," is Africa-or USA for Africa.
wring previously
if the artists who Also participating was Irishman Bob
lid Ken Kragen, Geldorf of The Boointown Rats, one of the
I Richie and Ken- organizers of another Ethiopia-Aid record,
nvolved in the "Do They Know Its Christmas," by a collet";
tion of British rock stars known as Bandhe
sesssion with Aid.
, said a video of The Band-Aid single has sold an estimated
ion will also be 7 million copies worldwide. ^
The American single should be out in W
c $200 million to March, said Kragen.