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This Week in USC History 1995- McKissick Museum hosts “Muses’ Night Out”, with a poetry reading and coffee hour. ■» ■■■"— 1 m r r •" 1 .. ■ "" 1 Page 8 "mMmm \ HDflC (BtffllCCOCk Wednesday, September 13,2000 Broadway shines with ‘42nd Street’ by Jennifer Bowen The Gamecock Stand back and get your dancing shoes on - New York City has'come to Co lumbia. The Town Theatre, for the first show of its 82nd season, will present “42nd Street.” The musical is a picture in a pic ture: The plot involves setting the stage for a new musical, “Pretty Lady,” and all the trials and tribulations that come with putting on a hit Broadway play. . This refreshing musical wasn’t the second longest Broadway show for noth ing. The songs, which include such hits as “We’re in the Money” and “Lullaby of Broadway,” will leave viewers whistling the tunes all the way back to their cars, the dancers also do a won derful job of making the dance steps come to life with their radiant smiles and the tap, tap, tap of their shoes. “42nd Street” originally appeared on I Broadway in 1980 and won Best Musi cal Tony Award in 1980 and Best Musi cal at the Laurence Olivier awards in 1984. “42nd Street” started in Broad way in the famous theater, Winter Gar den, and finished its Broadway run at the St. James theater after 3,486 perfor mances. A dreams is the first thing that comes into the audience’s mind as it sees a new, young star coming into her own. Though she starts out as a chorus girl in the show, by a fluke of destiny, she ends up be coming the star of the play. The acting in this was superb, especially by Keith Marsh, who plays Julian Marsh, the tough-nosed, soft-hearted director who finally sees that Broadway isn’t just a job, but a dream come true. Lauren Hansen excelled in the part of Peggy Sawyer, the main character, who comes to the big city'with only dreams and danc ing shoes. " Hansen does an excellent job por traying the naive girl from Allentown, Pennsylvania who laters becomes the next big star of Broadway. “42nd Street” also showcases USC talent, which make it even more en dearing to campus theatergoers. Kim Dickerson, a 1999 graduate of the the ater, speech, and dance school, and Steven Hillard are in the ensemble with local talent from Dreher High School, Lex ington High School and Irmo Middle School. The Town Theatre does a wonderful job with this classic musical. It’s defi nitely a show worth seeing. Tickets are $15 for adults with dis counts for students and senior citizens. For anyone who’s tired of studying and doesn’t have transportation to go to the movies, “42nd Street” will put the song back into your heart and the skip back into your step. So, in the words of the musical, “Come on along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway.” Come see “42nd Street.” -« The spotlight desk can he reached at gamecockspotlight@hotniaiLcom. . 1 Special to The Gamecock Lauren Hansen, a USC theater student, plays an ingenue who rises to the pinnacle of Broadway in “42nd Street.” ‘The Watcher’ is worth a look Special to The Gamecock Retired FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) hunts down a charming, devious and elusive serial killer David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves) on the streets of Chicago in The Watcher.’ by Meredith Davis The Gamecock OUT OF ^ > ft “The Watcher,” starring “The Ma trix” veteran Keanu Reeves as - gasp! - a serial killer, is surprising as a suc cessful thriller with fine editing, some realistic performances and an under lying theme with substance. While this thriller struggles at times with technicalities, overall, it’s worth a look. “The Watcher” features Reeves as David Allen Griffin, a former Los An geles resident who goes to Chicago to track down his nemesis, a former FBI agent. James Spader, also known as the too-cool kid front “Pretty in Pink,” plays retired FBI agent Joel Campbell. After leaving a murderer of 11 vic tims free to roam in L.A., Campbell flees to Chicago to hide front his past. But Griffin, the killer, misses trau matizing and manipulating Campbell, so Griffin finds him, stalks hint and starts mailing hint pictures of girls who he says have only one day to live. Un less, that is, Campbell can find them first. The most intriguing element of this movie is its concentration on the scent ing impossible - lhat a person in dan . ger could be easily overlooked, ignored, or even worse - forgotten. In one disturbing scene, a photo enclosed in Campbell's packtige shows a young woman who is unknown and virtually nameless. News programs show her face, but no one in the city of five million knows her. Someone asks, “How can tliis hap pen in the communication age?” The audience is forced to wonder if they, too, could ever be unknown to society, and - in the cases of these women - be easily stalked and unable to be saved. Rookie director Joe Charbanic is surprising in his ability to endear his audience to the threatened clraracters, who are introduced quickly and in formally. Not even “Kiss the Girls,” where the time spent with the endangered women is much more intimate and de veloped, could inyolve the viewers in the fear within the women as well as Charbanic’s technique does. In addition to this, Charbanic dis closes the killer from the beginning se quence, thus depleting any “whodunit” speculation. Consequently, the film does not end with a forced unveiling, like “Scream 3” and “The Bone Collector,” but instead gives its audience some re spect. Visually, the opening visuals con sist of smeared siren lights and a run ning silhouette. A dramatic, tense mu sic plagues the credits, making the remaining 90 minutes seem harrow ing. They aren’t, though the last 30 minutes demand a suspension of dis belief that some viewers might despise. Reeves opens the movie with a vi sual reminiscent of, although not near ly comparable to, De Niro’s trademark in “Taxi Driver.” A stunning Rob Zom bie metal song permeates the scene, intensifying the viewers’ first im pression of the “bad guy.” Unfortunately, when Reeves opens his mouth, out comes his infamous surfer accent. If he were playing one of his vic tims’ boyfriends, it could be written off as a rite of typecasting, but in this role, he should have changed it to gar ner some respect. To his credit, though, Reeves is charismatic to his lonely, introverted victims, and is convincing as a Don Juan to those he meets. Thank goodness Marisa Tornei (“My Cousin Vinny”) steps in as psy chiatrist named Polly, and adds an extra level of vulnerability to the al ready-pathetic Campbell. Together, they balance the Reeves factor. The soundtrack is a modern mix of psychosexual mood music that works for the subject matter. Some contri butions include Sharkftn’s “Can’t Say That” and Jacqui Lynn’s “Driven to This.” If the score hadn’t overused its pressing, tension-ridden sounds, the cohesion of the soundtrack would prompt people to buy it. True, “The Watcher” might have used the style of Denzel Washington’s “Fallen” to show its audience life through the eyes of a psycho. And yes, it did manage to get away with some major discrepancies re garding SWAT teams, license tags and fire hazards, but waiting for video would be a loss. Though not Keanu Reeves’ best moment, for all other reasons, The Watcher should be watched now. The spotlight desk c:w be reached at gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com. Colossal Film Crawl brings filmmakers, culture to Columbia by Mackenzie Clements The Gamecock Columbia’s fourth annual Colossal Film Crawl will feature a one-day inde pendent film extravaganza in five Vista venues, beginning 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Scheduled films include a range of documentaries, animated shorts, historical portraits and fiction films. Art Bar, Alley Cafe, City Art, Encore and Steamers Seafood Co. will present the films, with Steamers kicking off the crawl. “The festival seeks to encourage the growth of regional alternative and inde pendent filmmaking by providing a needed venue for these efforts,” Free Times editor Ten Tynes said. Coordinators accepted entries shorter than 30 minutes from filmmakers liv ing or working in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and other Southern states. The film search committee actively solicited some films to be shown at the festival. hi addition to seeking films about culture and artists in the South, coordina tors paid attention to films that use new technologies and films that debuted through non-traditional means, such as the Internet. The festival will sell wristbands for $5, which can be purchased until 30 minutes before each film’s showing. Films will start on the hour and half-hour at the restaurants and bars listed. Each venue will show repeat viewings of films late Thursday. Tynes said, “[The films] are staggered so you can go to any venue and get a wristband and join in.” Audiences, up to 400 people in past festivals, view the short films at one lo cation before “crawling” to the next. Concerns about low turnout don’t seem to bother Tynes. “Columbia is one of those university and government towns like Austin and Madison with a lot of intellectually curious professionals,” she said. The second annual Colossal Film Crawl showcased 30 films by 22 filmmak ers, according to Tynes. “They all said they’d had a great time, largely because they were encouraged to mingle and talk and crawl together.” The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com. The Films of The Colossal Film Crawl Steamers 931 Senate St. 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m. Taxi Dan Silvers Moves J (Joey) Hall A Growing Experience Jeff Lyon Global Wanning Alan Geoghegan Alley Cafe 911 Lady St. 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. A Step Removed Radha Vatsal Ivan: Rgormortis is not a big deal Megan Holley Falling Back to Earth: TomatiHo Pamela Turner The Rockwells Jennifer Willis Shake it Up, Shake it Down Tracie Anjanette Levert Art Bar 1211 Park St. 8:30 p.m., 10:15 p.m. Music Video: Don Bravado Wade Sellers The Trifling of Hugh Mann Steve Daniels 186 Days Tom Smugala The Secret of Passionate Love Narcel Reedus Encore 808 Lady St. 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Dixie’s Last Stand Wallace Beckham Vehicle Bethany Springer Crisp Mark Alan Dull City Ait 1224 Lincoln St. Heritage in Clay Les Stringer Man of Vision Tim O’Donnell Remembering Ed Tom Stanley & Steve Warren Emmy Winners Winners of major honors at Sunday night’s Emmys: Drama Series: “Tlie Wfcst Wing,” NBC. Comedy Series: “Will & Grace,” NBC. Actor, Drama Series: Janies Gandolfini, “The Sopranos,” HBO. Actress, Drama Series: Sela Wird, “Once and Again,” ABC. Actor, Comedy Series: Michael J. Fox, “Spin City,” ABC. Actress, Comedy Series: Patricia Heaton, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS. Miniseries: “The Comer,” HBO. Made-for-TV Movie: “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays With Morrie,” ABC. Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Jack Lem mon, “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays with Morrie,” ABC. Actress, Miniseries or a Movie: Halle Beny, “Introducing Dorothy Dandridgc,” HBO. Variety, Music or Comedy Series: “Lite Show With David Letterman,” CBS. Variety, Music or Comedy Special: “Sat urday Night Live: The 25th Anniversary Special,” NBC. Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Sean Hayes, “Will & Grace,” NBC. Supporting Actress in a Comedy Se ries: Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace,” NBC. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Richard SchifT, “The West Wing,” NBC. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Allison Janney, “The West Wing,” NBC. Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie: Hank Azaria, “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays with Morrie,” ABC. Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Vanessa Redgrave, “If These Walls Could Talk 2,” HBO. What’s Happening Wednesday, Sept. 13 Billy G’s-Meniory Dean Elbow Room- Dark Wednesday with Praeoccupor Morte Five Points After Five- Weekend Excur sion 6:30 Gold Rush- Acoustic open mic with Rick David Mac’s on Main- Skipp Monterrey Jack’s- Lee Barbour Quintet Nonnah’s- Pianist Drake Reilly Roadrunners - Open Jam with Rick Stevens Wings'and Ale- Tokyo Joe Talk Show Guests Wednesday. Sept. 13 Good Morning America: Sally Field Leno: Dennis Rodman, Kate Hudson, The Coors f Letterman: Sally Field, Eddie Irvine ; Rosie: Sally Field, Yolanda Adams The View: Renee Zellweger * i Thursday. Sept. 14 Conan: Jamie Foxx Kilbom: Ryan Stiles Leno: Renee Zellweger Letterman: A1 Gore, Supergrass Rosie: Cheryl Ladd The View: Jamie Foxx, Peter Frampton ; Friday. Sent. 15 Conan: Fastball Good Morning, America: Gwyneth Pal trow Kilbom: Juliette Lewis, Eugene Levy Leno: Penelope Cruz Rosie: A1 Gore The View: Greg Kinnear 4