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/ \ V|:jS| [PEOPLE PLACES Prima donnas in USC corned Staff Report* who woi USC continues its 1994-1995 "Season ent of Women" opera lineup with the one- librettist act musical-comedy "The Prima Donna" The I Saturday and Sunday at Drayton Hall, tion feat Performances are set 8 p.m. Satur- sjc stU(j( day and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 for students. P 1 "The Prima Donna," written by e Domenico Cimarosa and translated in- *ac to the English by Talmage Fauntleroy, er> Chris director of Opera at USC, features an son as S 18th-century opera company impresario the troul who is faced with a dilemma: Two women The o in the company want the position of pri- USC stu madonna. ducted, The impresario must keep peace to . i .. i ?i . arm Kir ensure tne continued success 01 ms company. The plot thickens when another School o dynamic contender is intent on flirting For ti her way to the position, but can't decide 777- 245 rr?? Infiltrator of Israeli Investi Antrterrorist f fn ri rn r^us pr?grai I M I U III fees. People f fcttl Ui ties, please CkoIIii Program Uilo? 777 7 WHATNOT] lid be the most effective recipi- . | H f| | || sr flattery: the impresario, the IS I ||g Ifh,( $?'oK/- % : or the composer. .Jm >| ** ?!.. JSC Opera Workshop produc- | uresUSCundergraduatemu- | fj iT' \\ ints Katherine Seppamaki as . la donna, Leigh Ann Williams ^ I & scond lady, Noelle Miller as the I Whoopl Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew !y Jeff White asthe compos- | LIGHTSCAMERAREACTION i Wilburn as the poet, Jena El- | STEPHEN BROWN Stall Writer trabinio and Marc Rattray as . goys ON THE SIDE bled impresario. *v2(out of four stars) rchestra, under the direction of J After the'80s produced male buddy films like Ldent John Wentz, will DO con- | +}iav warp crmnor Ant r?f qH/Ip tViA *QOq arp nrruriHincr sy Daniel Hazan, Larry Kent | overkill of a different kind: Hollywood is bombardhard Yaklich, students in the . ing audiences with women's ensemble pictures, f Music's conducting program. Even though its creators borrowed all their plot ickets or more information, call devices from other recent female-centered movies, | "Boys on the Side" succeeds at dealing honestly with issues involving female relationships. Directed by Herbert Ross ("Steel Magnolias"), "Boys" becomes quickly bogged down by an over loaded agenda to bring issues of pregnancy, women with AIDS, lesbianism and domestic abuse to the I forefront. Whoopi Goldberg ("Made in America") blends her comedic, dramatic and musical talents as she plays the lesbian singer Jane, who is leaving New York to | relocate in California. I Jane answers a classified ad and agrees to drive the pristine real-estate worker Robin (Mary-Louise Parker of "Fried Green Tomatoes") to San Diego. All the igative Tighter 91 .vi3J99iBiBK99i9 r Barrymore bond In Warner Bros.' 'Boys on the Side.' Robin wants is a husband and children, and she at ing to signal first keeps secret the fact that she has AIDS in or- their accider der to believe that all is normal in her life. AIDS is the actresses the first problem Robin can't resolve on her own. Priceless Both women, filmed through a filtering window to uncontroll and silhouetted during a subsequent conversation, hope they sh are lonely and isolated. nection betw Joined by the witty, pregnant Holly (Drew Bar- jowg the ch* rymore of "Bad Girls"), a pathological seductress who combat theii accidentally kills her brutal boyfriend, the women ^08g ajg( hope that moving will change their lives and set off distant his on a course across America. Settling unexpectedly ^ latter s< in Arizona, the women start a new life. , Goldberg's singing adds to her acting as she charts . . her emotional course through her music. Barrymore , ksir|?111 sparkles as Holly, whose credo is: "I think there's flashbacks ? something beyond sex." And Parker is a delight as a enc the priggish Robin, who has a discreet way of get- them again ting to the heart of the matter. Her way of telling a Overall, man she hates him is; "You've got some real lika- portrait of a \ bility issues." points of th< Despite the film's searing drama, the actresses too much to create an atmosphere of buoyant comedy. Discussing drama that their childhood terms for genitalia, frantically try- featuring st: BF^ jWk^v >vJMKtMri^ > jKL' f diiliffTlit ' * * & . ^aMHjHL ilTMT i ?l?lll .ji^J-i M|^L . - k vjv ^ 4' ^9 I ^,jp **" *"* ^ to each other in crowds and reacting to ital killing of Holly's brutal boyfriend, i shine. expressions ranging from frantic faces lable giggles highlight the comfort and T> A i1. -if - 1 tare, noss porirays me emouonai coneen Jane and Robin realistically and aliracters to nurture each other as they r isolation together. ) successfully uses glass and mirrors to characters for the first half of the film, equences feature superb close-ups to the closeness the women begin to share, ig duet during the finale and a series of it the end are a bit calculated. Even if e finds the film moving, Ross reminds that they were moved, winning performances and an amazing voman coping with AIDS are the strongest i film. Despite being loaded down with say, "Boys on the Side" is a sweet melopaves the way for more original films rong women. ivy ' hf<ff'" IE JV \f y B If t HHH jm, ? ... ^HBEr!? AJR A ? ?Mfl| JnSHB