The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 03, 1986, Page 5, Image 5
Spotlight
Monday, February 3, 1986 * 5
Review
? Check into 'Hoi
By MARY JO MILLER
Spotlight editor
When you've got those low-down, tired of corny
community theatre blues, how do you spell relief?
II ~ # I n ? i . ! - -
n-vj-i-i u-a-i-i-i-in-o-r-e.
Or perhaps a better answer would be Reid Davis.
Davis, a USC senior, is directing "Hot 1
Baltimore," Lanford Wilson's award-winning play,
which opened Friday at Workshop Theatre.
Davis, who breathed life into Columbia community
theater last year with his production of
"Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You," is
doing the same again with Lanford Wilson's proven
script and a talented cast, drawn largely from the
k annals of USC's theater department.
Wilson's play is s?t on Memorial Day in 1973, in
the lobby of a seedy, flophouse hotel. Every city has
a Hotel Baltimore. It's the kind of place no one is
interested in until it's about to come under the
wrecking ball, and by then the only people interested
are antique dealers.
i nesc are the circumstances in which we meet the
residents of Wilson's imaginary hotel. The assortment
of hookers, transients and eccentrics who call
the aging Baltimore home have just received their
eviction notices.
Girl (Erin Thigpen), the youngest resident of the
hotel, is hit hardest by the news of the hotel's eminent
destruction. She is an exuberant teenage prostitute
who changes her name as often as she
changes her mood and doesn't understand why people
can't commit themselves to dreams.
Thigpen, a USC student, is both visually and
dramatically convincing as the romantic Girl.
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During the course of the day, she develops an attachment
for Paul Granger III (John Finley Emerson),
a handsome loner in search of his transient
grandfather. In most of his scenes, Emerson's
Granger is both physically and emotionally estranged
from the Other cacf mpmhcr?
Granger's spacial separation from the cast
members is especially effective in ensemble scenes,
such as the characters sharing a champagne toast
with a departing prostitute. While the hotel regulars
hold their glasses aloft with a cheerfully ironic, "To
us," he stands to the side, amused by their happiness
yet unable to capture their spirit.
Granger does establish a chemistry with Millie
(Peggy Beasley), the hotel's eccentric psychic.
Although Beasley delivers one of the play's
strongest performances, Millie comes across as a
warm and very sane woman.
This creates a paradoxical situation, however,
when Girl tells Millie she doesn't really live in this
world and sometimes can be "completely
crackers." This alleged instability is not evident in
Beasley's otherwise strong performance.
In addition to Girl, the hotel boasts two other
prostitutes: April (Nancy Pope) and Suzi (Lori
Calvert). Calvert's Suzi is a charmingly silly foil to
Pope's April, a foul-mouthed earth mother in
polyester mumus.
Other notable performances include Mr. Morse
(Gary Heilsburg), a crotchety, old widower in the
hotel; Jackie (Helen Baldwin) and Jamie (Arthur
Diehl Morton), a pair of emotionally disturbed siblings
following their screwy dreams; and Bill (Randy
Hanna), the desk clerk who lends a touch of sanity
to the hotel's chaos.
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Several people view "The Kings an
The display was sponsored by Budw
Fashion shov
A fashion show to benefit
South Carolina Special Olympics
will be held Wednesday at 8 p.m.
in the Russell House Ballroom.
Many top Columbia stores will
sponsor clothes modeled by both
students and models from Jenny
Trussell Modeling Studio Agency
in Columbia. Tickets arc on sale
until noon Wednesday and may
be purchased at Hair Performers
on 2131 Devine St. in Five
a Money
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Points, the Jenny Trusscll Modeling
Studio ARencv. Columbia
Hall's front desk and at the door
before to the show.
Tickets will be $2.00 for
students and $5.00 for the general
public.
The event is coordinated by
Hair Performers and Columbia
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In its fourth year, C.H.A.M.P.S.
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C.H.A.M.P.S. will hold its
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