Sunday Night Alive offers safe, clean fun
BY JUSTIN BAJAN
THE GAMECOCK
Droves of people crowd outside
the Russell House Theater waiting
for the doors to open. Time ad
vances and patience dissolves as
the doors stay closed in defiance,
not taking into account the bang
ing, the begging and the shouting
that mob craves the doors’ cooper
ation like underprivileged kids
fighting for loaves of bread being
handed out by a Red Cross worker.
And then — a click, a creak and
the doors open like a scene remi
niscent of Willie Wonka opening the
doors to his coveted chocolate fac
tory. Twenty minutes later, after
the seats have been filled, the lights
go down simultaneously starting
the screams of the eager fans. No,
this isn’t a Backstreet Boys concert.
This is “Sunday Night Alive,” live
comedy with a purpose.
The show will begin its seventh
year and 14th season this semester,
which proves its popularity and
staying power. Comedy never gets
old and people always want to
laugh, which is something SNA
provides on a weekly basis.
Last year’s president, Wes Church,
has been a permanent fixture on
the show and participated in eight
seasons since his freshman year.
“I lead the ministry... I oversee
everything. I make sure that we’re
in track with our vision,” Church
said. The fourth-year public rela
tions student stated that he makes
sure the group is “meeting our
spiritual responsibilities.”
Of course, the show owes its in
fluence to “Saturday Night Live.”
“Except we keep our comedy
clean,” Church said. “We don’t
copy SNL. We try to not copy
them. It’s funny when we do a skit,
and they do something similar af
ter that. It makes us happy.”
The show derives its content
from college life. "Most of our skits
come from everyday experience. We
just adapt it on stage,” Church said
The show, like “Saturday Night
Live,” consists of sketches, music
and a host. The host, however, has
an additional task: providing the
testimony at the show’s end. Kurt
Brewer, a third-year biology stu
dent, hosted one show last
semester. He said he used the
stage to “show our separation
from God.” Brewer said, “I’m
thankful for the opportunity to be
able to share my faith in God on a
stage like that.”
His involvement with the show
allowed Brewer to have an expe
rienced look into the show’s sig
nificance. “I didn’t know at all
what SNA did. I was very im
pressed.” Brewer continued,
“They have a huge team of com
mitted members. Sunday night is
like the tip of the iceberg; there’s a
lotofworkintoit.”
Church further cemented the
testimony’s importance. He said
it “takes up five to 10 percent of the
time, but it is 100 percent why we
do the show.” Church said, “The
purpose of the testimony is just to
share with people the relationship
you can have with Christ; we’re
not looking to see conversion ex
periences every week. Church
continued, “We believe that the
only way you can have real joy in
life is if you have Christ. We want
people to come and be open to the
message. Hopefully, it will res
onate in their hearts.”
The show’s progress has al
lowed it to travel outside of USC.
The performers have traveled to
other South Carolina schools, and
they have even visited the
Juvenile Justice Department. “We
just go there and make them laugh
and show them how even in prison
you can have freedom,” he said.
Both Church and four-year SNA
veteran Paige Orman cite their in
volvement with SNA as an impor
tant part of their college career.
Orman said SNA “has been one of
the best parts of college for me. It
really allowed me to get connect
ed me to a core group of people
who had similar interests to me.”
According to Orman, “God has a
sense of humor; we just kind of tap
into that.” And if anybody is leery
of attending a show that includes
salvation as a message, Church
said: “We’re not doing our show for
a Christian crowd, we’re doing it for
anybody, any background.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
The spring 2002 cast of SNA takes a break to pose for the camera.
Theater plans classic season
BY CARRIE PHILLIPS
THE GAMECOCK
USC Theater's 2002-2003 season
will mark the 25th anniversary of
Longstreet Theater with four
plays, three classics and one con
temporary.
Director Jim O’Connor, artistic
director and chair of the theater
department, will bring
Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear"
to the Drayton Hall stage Oct. 4
through 12 to open the season.
November will see the Kaufman
and Hart classic "You Can't Take
It With You" in Longstreet
Theater. This play about an ec
- A
centric family won the Pulitzer
Prize in 1937 and runs Nov. 15
through 24.
After Christmas, "Rhinoceros"
by Eugene Ionesco will open the
spring semester Feb. 7 through 16
in Drayton Hall. The 1953 play tells
the story of Berenger, a French ev
ery-man, and his reactions when
all the people around him start
turning into rhinoceroses until he
is the only human left.
Diana Son's "Stop Kiss" will ap
pear in Longstreet Theater Feb. 28
through March 8. This contempo
rary play is set in modern day
New York City and follows a trag
ic love affair using converging
w A . A
timelines-the beginning of the
play is the end of the story.
"Stop Kiss" contrasts with the
season's closer, Arthur Miller's
"The Crucible." The Tony Award
winning play takes place during
the Salem witch trials and is a
unique expression of the spirit of
1950s McCarthyism in America.
"The Crucible" will round out the
season on the Drayton Hall stage
April 18 to 27.
All performances run Tuesday
through Saturday starting at 8
p.m. with Sunday matinees at 3
p.m. Tickets are available at the
box office in Longstreet Theater.
Student tickets are $9, faculty and
A A
staff tickets are $10 and general ad
mission tickets are $12 for all
shows.
The department will hold audi
tions for "King Lear" and "You
Can't Take It With You" on Aug.
22 and 23 with callbacks on Aug.
24. Interested parties may sign up
for an audition time on the day be
fore in the department office on
the fourth floor of Longstreet
Theater. For more information,
call the Department of Theater,
Speech and Dance at 777-4288.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
Rising
CONTINUED FROM PAGE B1
I American. Well, they are mostly
right.
The album does deal with the
Sept. 11 tragedy, but not in the
way the media would have you
believe. The fact is that the songs
on “The Rising” could be about
Sept. 11 or not depending on how
they are interpreted. It logically
makes sense to assume that they
are about Sept. 11, but the truth
is that they are never explicitly
blunt in their meaning.
The typical tragic, hard
working heroes and villains of
all of Springsteen’s songs are
now simply living in a different
world, and Springsteen makes
the appropriate changes. The
result is an album that is a
spiritual journey in itself, which
starts with feelings of loneliness
in the world and ends with a
convergence of faith and hope.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
▲ ▲ A A
Welcome Week
r □
August 20th:
• Imhe Super-magician
7:30pm RH Ballroom
• mike Rnthony-Hypnotist
9:00pm RH Ballroom
August 21st:
• meet Road Rules Cast
members SHANE &
Sarah tor a q&r
session about their
experiences
8:00om RH Ballroom
• SPIDERMAN
8:00pm RH Theater
August 22nd:
• Gran Torino-Uue music
7:00nm Dauis Field
• SPIDERMAN
8:00pm RH Theater
August 23rd:
• SPIDERMAN
8:00pm RH Theater
Are you interested in:
Meeting Celebrities?
Watching Movies? w A ^4
Burning Tigers?
;f . Having FunP r o .
Biversity?
a Wy Free Stuff? < V 1 1
t f A Homecoming? \l J
Spending Money? Of#
Listening tolive Music?
3? Planning Special Events?
IF SO. THEN CAROLINA
PRODUCTIONS IS
LOOKING FOR YOU!
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