The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 26, 2003, Page 6, Image 6
Chingy's ‘Right Thurr’
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PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
Music artist Chingy perfoms a shortened set in front of a packed crowd in the Russell House
on Wednesday night. The performance was cut short by the building’s fire alarm going off.
Ragtime
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
deliver dialogue, but not very
often.
And although the play has a
strong message about racism
and discrimination in America,
that message — as well as the
plot — are always second to the
real star of the play, the ragtime
songs.
Particularly strong players
include Tateh (Chip Stubbs) and
Mother (Laurel Posey). Tateh is
entirely convincing as a Latvian
immigrant, and performs all of
his songs admirably—especial
ly his opener “Journey On” with
Mother and Father (Jimmy
Moon).
Mother is the most sympa
thetic character in the play, and
Ms. Posey imbues the charac
ter with the mix of strength and
uncertainty that the role calls
for. But the production’s
strongest scenes still belong to
-Coalhouse and Sarah. It is im
possible not to be moved when
they sing the love song “Sarah
Brown Eyes.”
Before the show, the vice
president of Workshop
Theatre’s Board of Trustees in
formed the audience that USC
has purchased the theater’s
land. They are raising capital,
hoping to move into a larger
building, and they do not know
how many more seasons they
will have at their current loca
tion.
Make sure that you make the
trip out to see “Ragtime” in the
next week, because it may be
your last chance to see
Workshop Theatre do so much
with very little.
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Crystal reprises role as Oscar
host for 67th annual show
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. - Billy
Crystal is planning a reunion with
Oscar. '
The star of “City Slickers” and
“Throw Momma from the Train”
said Wednesday he has signed on
to' host the Academy Awards for
the eighth time.
“Hello boys,” Crystal said at a
news confer
ence at the
Academy of
Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences after
leaping astride two enormous stat
ues of the Oscar figurine.
“I’m really excited about com
ing back,” Crystal said about re
suming his hosting job for the first
time in three years. “I’ve had a
nice, long sleep.”
He declined to offer any early
speculation about who may win
this year’s top awards.
“I don’t go to the movies,” he
deadpanned. “Have you seen what
they’ve become?”
Crystal, who often launches the
Oscar ceremony with a song-and
dance number poking fun at the
top nominees, has won Emmys for
his Oscar-hosting performances
in 1991,1992 and 1998.
Like the late Bob Hope,
who hosted the show 18
times, Crystal is a favorite
of TV critics who praise
his easygoing style as
master of ceremonies
Crystal last hosted and the touch of class
the Oscars In 2000. he brings along with
This will be his eighth the laughs,
time hosting. Since he last host
photo special to ed in 2000, when
the gamecock “American Beauty”
was the best-picture winner, two
other comedians have handled the
responsibility: Whoopi Goldberg
once and Steve Martin twice.
The upcoming Oscar show on
Feb. 29, 2004, will mark another
collaboration between Crystal and
movie producer Joe Roth, who is
overseeing the telecast. They pre
viously worked together on the
2001 comedy “America’s
Sweethearts.”
Roth told reporters that wh
he agreed to produce the 76th
Academy Awards, Crystal was
“the one and only call to make.”
Crystal said he has one tradi
tion whenever he appears at the
Oscars: He carries a toothbrush in
his jacket pocket.
As a child growing up on Long
Island, the 55-year-old said he’d re
hearse Oscar speeches in the bath
room mirror while holding his
toothbrush like an award.
“I always carry it” while host
ing, Crystal said. “It’s not the one
I grew up with as a kid - I’m do
ing better than that — but it’s a
great remembrance to not forget
where your love of performing
started.”
Harry Potter ads appeal
to people of every age
BY HILLEL ITALIE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The ad shows a
tattooed biker, scowling and shag
gy-haired, against a harsh back
drop of blue and black.
“Flying cars. Fire Whiskey.
Death Eaters,” reads the caption
above the picture.
At the bottom, next to the catch
phrase “We all have our reasons.
What’s yours?” comes the real
pitch:
“There’s some pretty tough
stuff in Harry Potter — bad guys
so bad they’re called Death Eaters.
That’s one of the wicked reasons
even bikers think Harry Potter is
cool enough to ride with them.”
Having already conquered the
children’s market, Scholastic, Inc.,
the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling’s
multimillion-selling series, is tar
geting adults, ages 18 to 35. Potter
ads featuring bikers, skateboard
ers and couch potatoes will appear
in Rolling Stone and other maga
zines throughout October.
“We felt we needed to think out
of the box and reach out to read
ers who would not normally pick
up a copy of Harry Potter unless
somebody placed it in their
hands,” Barbara Marcus, presi
dent of Scholastic Children’s
Books, told The Associated Press
on Tuesday, a day before the pub
lisher was to officially announce
the new campaign.
Besides Rolling Stone, the pro
motions also will run in US
Weekly, Outside Magazine and
Time Out New York, the only one
of the four magazines in which
Scholastic has advertised before.
The image is new, but Marcus
says the covers of the Potter books
will not be changed.
“We think the covers are great,”
nounced print run of 9.3 million
and approaches the 11.3 million
hardcover total of Potter IV,
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire,” published three years ago.
And grown-ups have long been
an important market for the Potter
books, with a consumer study re
leased in 2000 showing that 43 per
cent of purchases were made by
iviaxuuo oajo.
just want the ad
campaign to pique
the interest of adult
readers enough so
that they pick up
the books.”
Rival publish
ers say they have
never heard of a
“We just want the ad
campaign to pique the
interest of adult readers
enough so that they picl
up the books.”
BARBARA MARCUS
PRESIDENT OF SCHOLASTIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS
“But
there’s i6 i
strong 18 to
35 demo
[ graphic that
may not have
come into
contact with
Harry, peo
UUUUiCll & UUU1V uc
ing advertised in such a way, but
praise Scholastic for doing so. “It
sounds very funny and witty,”
says Lisa Holton, senior vice pres
ident and publisher of Disney’s
children’s books division.
“I think it’s fabulous Scholastic
is going after that audience.... A
lot of us, I would think, are rooting
for Scholastic to do really well.”
Statistics released Tuesday by
Scholastic make you wonder how
many readers are left to reach.
Sales for “Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth of a
planned seven Potter books by
Rowling, have reached 11 million
just three months after publica
tion. That well exceeds the an
pic W 11V_/ pi \_>u
ably don’t have children,” Marcus
says.
“What we’re saying is: Harry
Potter is for someone who likes to
shop, likes to read gossip columns,
likes to have fun with their
books.’”
One ad shows a dark-eyed wom
an wearing a sheer, sleeveless
dress and shopping for shoes.
“There are some pretty styl'
things in Harry Potter — inv.j 5*
bility cloaks, i.e., the only item
that goes with everything in a
girl’s closet,” the caption reads.
“That’s just one of the fabulous
reasons so many fashionistas are
totally cool with being seen toting
Harry Potter.”
46th Grammy Awards
to return to Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (AP) - After
shifting to the Big Apple, the
Grammy Awards are coming back
to the City of Angels.
The National Academy of
Recording Arts and Sciences an
nounced Tuesday that its 46th an
nual ceremony honoring the best
of music will take place at the
Staples Center arena in Los
Angeles on Feb. 8.
Mayor James Hahn said the an
nouncement was “great news for
our City of Angels and reaffirms
our place as the entertainment
capital of the world.”
The Grammys, which once fre
quently bounced back and forth
’S' , *
between the two cities, settled in
Los Angeles for four consecutive
years, from 1998-2002. That was
due in part to Michael Greene, the
former head of the Grammy orga
nization. He had a much-publi
cized feud with former New York
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had
accused Greene of unleashing.a
stream of obscenities at a mayoral
staffer in 1998.
Within days of current Mayor
Michael Broomberg’s 2001 elec
tion, Greene began talks to return
the show to New York, and the
ceremony took place in Madison
Square Garden last February.
Greene himself has since
stepped down amid investigations
of alleged sexual harassment, even
though the Grammy organization
said he was cleared at "
wrongdoing. ,
Current Grammy chief Neil
Portnow said in a statement he
was “delighted” that the show is
back in Los Angeles.
Along with an economic boost,
the Grammys also bring a month
long series of festivities before the
telecast that includes perfor
mances, exhibits, workshops and
educational events.
CBS will telecast the Grammy
Awards live. Nominees were to
be announced Dec. 4 at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly
Hills.
October-6,8,15,20,
22,&27
(7-9 pm)
Brought to you by.
Pre-Professional
Advising
803-777-5581
*Ca? to Regsterby October 1st