The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 24, 2003, Page 7, Image 7
“ THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, October 24, 2003 7
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Hanging on by a
thread — several of
them to be exact — the
marionette version of Victor
Frankenstein stars in Columbia
Marionette Theatre’s version of
“Frankenstein.” The production
has been reprised for a second
season, bringing a
Halloween theme to
the world of
puppetry.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO
THE GAMECOCK
BY MEG MOORE
THE GAMECOCK
Recently, Frankenstein has
been feeling a little strung out.
Not only is Halloween just around
the comer — man-made monsters
are in high demand this time of
year — but Columbia Marionette
Theatre has been keeping
Frankie on a tight string. Ah, the
curse of scream-inducing celebri
ty
The classic Mary Shelley
^character takes center stage dur
ing the theater’s second annual
adult puppet show,
“Frankenstein.” Combining
marionettes, life-size hand pup
pets, special effects and live mu
sic, the innovative production
showcases the talents of pup
peteers Lyon Forest Hill,
Andrew Quattlebaum and
Robert Padley, as well as the mu
sical talents of theater executive
dir ector John Scollon.
Shattering the typical precepts
associated with puppet shows,
“Frankenstein” does not target the
usually youth-centered audience
— in fact, only 18 and older will be
admitted. The adults-only policy
adds an element of maturity to the
evening and encourages
Columbia’s of-age crowd to get out
and experience a unique form of
theater.
Capitalizing on the produc
tion’s avant-garde appeal,
Columbia Marionette Theatre is
holding the Mad Science
Masquerade on Saturday. The
theater also is inviting area resi
dents to a preshow costumed re
ception and following the
evening’s performance with a
sculpture exhibition at The Art
Garage next door.
Hill, a visual artist himself,
. will judge the exhibit, endeavor
ing to single out works that em
body the evening’s deranged am
biance. A mad scientist squirrels
away in secrecy, obsessing over
creations that will either bene
fit mankind or bring about its
end.
“I’m looking for artwork that
reflects this spirit of creation,”
Columbia Marionette Theatre .
recreates"Frankenstein ” by hand
— hand puppets, marionettes and
shadow sequences, that is
Hill said on the Art Garage Web
site.
The event serves not only to en
courage area residents to become
more involved in the local arts
scene, but also as a fundraiser for
the theater, a nonprofit organiza
tion.
president and vice president, re
spectively, of the Puppetry Guild
of the Carolinas. The group rep
resents a growing regional inter
est in the uncommon form of the
ater, celebrating puppetry as an
art form rather than simply as an
alternative to Saturday morning
* j >
Columbia
Marionette
Theatre plays
host to shows for
the expected
puppet-show au
dience — chil
dren. The castle
shaped building
on Laurel Street
puts on two
shows every
Saturday and an
afternoon per
formance on the
Bringing together
professional and
part-time
puppeteers from
South Carolina and
North Carolina, the
guild connects fans
from across the
region.
Bringing to
gether profes
sional and part
time pup
peteers from
South Carolina
and North
Carolina, the
guild connects
theater fans
from across the
region.
Atlanta is
the puppetry
epicenter of the
uiiii u ivxuixuaj' ui
each month. Touted as all-ages —
“from birth to 90-plus years old”
— the theater’s current produc
tion, “Space Pirates,” runs
through Nov. 8.
Pulling strings in Columbia
and beyond, Hill and fellow staff
member Toni Turbeville serve as
uiineu oiaies.
The city’s Center for Puppetry
Arts, which opened in 1978, re
mains the largest puppet-theater
centered group in the country.
Such recognizable figures as
Kermit the Frog have made pup
petry a mainstream interest, al
beit a lesser-recognized one.
Audiences seemingly forget that
skilled puppeteers manipulate
those Muppets from behind the
scenes.
Although the eponymous Jim
Henson creations may exemplify
the public perception of puppets,
Columbia Marionette Theatre’s
star characters are decidedly un
fuzzy. The figures in
“Frankenstein” may not be hug
gable, but they are indeed works
of art. Among his many other
puppetry-related skills, Hill
sculpted the marionettes himself
— one of his constructions of
Victor Frankenstein is being auc
tioned off Saturday evening in an
attempt to raise more funds for
the theater.
Puppetry as a genre has evolved
throughout civilization. Like the
ater in general, puppets have
changed across cultures and gen
erations to reflect the needs and
interests of society. Today, they
continue to entertain and intrigue
everyone from young “Sesame
Street” enthusiasts to those young
at heart.
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Toast and Jam strive to
perfect the unexpected
BY CARRIE GIVENS
THE GAMECOCK
w
v It’s totally spontaneous, com
pletely unplanned and bound to
make you laugh and laugh some
more. Most of us have seen
“Whose Line is it Anyway?” but
not so many of us have been in the
audience of an improv show. Well,
now you have the chance.
Tonight and Saturday evening,
the theater group Toast and Jam
will be performing at USC’s
Benson Theatre in a show that
will lampoon the sci-fi genre.
The group’s nine performers
will take on different roles and im
provise classic comedic mono
logues and scenes. To begin, the
audience will suggest a problem
for the performers to solve, and
from that, a two-act show will un
fold.
r Improv relies on the audi
ence’s reactions. USC alumnus
1 Ben Compton, a veteran of the
group, says improvisational the
ater is indescribable. In improv,
just “walking on stage with noth
ing and creating something based
on the audience is an empower
ing thing.”
Performing without a script
isn’t always easy. Performers nev
er know what is going to be said
next or what someone might do.
As Compton said, “Sometimes
there’s nothing to do but shut up
and go along with it.”
He said it helps that all the cast
members are friends because fel
low performers “can save you on
stage in a bad scene.”
First-year computer science
student and cast member George
Pate said, “Toast is challenging,
but I am very prepared” for what
ever the audience might suggest.
In prepa
is strictly improvisational.
Compton described performing
improv as “an immediate
adrenaline rush.”
In fact, Compton said, Toast
and Jam performers “are not re
ally theater kids ... most of us
have fallen in love with the audi
ence connection.
ration for
the show,
cast mem
bers have
been practic
ing for over
a month.
“Every
night we
come up
with a sug
“Walking on stage with
nothing and creating
something based on the
audience is an
empowering thing.”
BEN COMPTON
use ALUMNUS AND VETERAN OF TOAST AND JAM
fun, humor and in
timacy of improv.”
Only tviro per
formers are actu
ally theater stu
dents. The others
are majoring in
such subjects as
English, business
and chemistry.
But that does not
gesuon aim uu a 1 un-unuugn,
explained Pate.
The audience suggestions can
range from mild to racy. It is “ev
erything from sex toys to fuzzy
bunnies,” Compton said.
Pate says that sometimes “it
can be hard to keep a straight
face” and that he has to find some
thing else to focus on to keep from
laughing on stage.
This is the improv troupe’s
fourth year at USC. Just last
year, it switched from perform
ing short-form improv — such as
that performed on “Whose Line
is it Anyway?” — to long-form
improv.
Toast and Jam shows are nor
mally a combination of sketch
and improv; however, this show
mnaer the actors connection
with each other or the audience.
The players have developed an al
most innate sense of how to act
on stage.
“Most of us cannot even re
member specific points of the
show because we’re operating on
instinct,” Compton explained.
The improv show will start at 8
p.m. at Benson Theatre, across
from the Bates House parking lot.
Student and faculty members tick
ets are $3 and general admission
is $5.
Compton says this type of im
prov is “fairly unheard of in South
Carolina.”
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CD REVIEW
O A.R. grows beyond its roots
"IN BETWEEN NOW AND THEN”
O.A.R
★★★★ out of
BY SHAWN ROURK
THE GAMECOCK
It’s a grass-roots band that has
a grass-roots following. It travels
around America, coming
straight out of Rockville, Md.,
rolling through Ohio State
University with a sound that is
filled with both infectious pop
riffs and laid-back reggae. Its
songs contain ska beats that
make you get up and dance, fig
uratively floating you down to
the beach to watch the sun set on
the Caribbean islands.
O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) is a
quintet with a very unique
sound. It recently released its
major-label debut, “In Between
Now and Then,” a great mix of
several musical styles that the
band describes as “island-roots
rock with pinches of ska and reg
gae.”
Each song on “In Between
Now and Then” is complex in na
ture — combining the quintet’s
three guitars, saxophone and
drums — into a sound that is sel
dom heard in pop music these
days. All the while, it recalls
some of the great songwriters of
the past, telling stories through
its songs.
Lead singer Marc Roberge
works themes such as love, wan
derlust and freedom into his
songs. One of the new release's
strongest points is that each
song has its own feeling, yet they
all come together to give the
whole album a very different
vibe.
Many of the tracks seem like
a sonic train wreck — the band
likes to switch musical styles
halfway through its tunes.
Songs such as “Dareh Meyod”
and “Revisited” change from
more typical, straight-ahead
rock tracks into reggae-tinged
breakdowns.
Such switches can be unset
tling to the listener; however,
the individual talents of the
members whine through the
somewhat-confusing shifts in
sound from measure to mea
sure. The changes in musical
styles are also so sudden and
sometimes so subtle that the lis
tener does not get the chance to
really notice that the song has
changed before it progresses
into the next verse.
Tunes like “James” and “Old
Man Time” capture more of the
band’s rock sound, showing off
the talent of the guitar players,
Roberge and Richard On, who in
corporate jazz and blues struc
tures in their playing. Their riffs
are somewhat complex and re
semble much of what is heard
from artists like John Mayer.
However, the tones they choose
on each track maintain the play
ful manner of the songs.
Such stylings drive the songs
while keeping a light feeling to
the music. These types of pro
gressions are also found in the
songs “Anyway” and “Road
Outside Columbus,” a song writ
ten by Roberge about leaving his
home in Maryland and moving
to Ohio State University with the
other band members.
Overall, O.A.R. seems to have
done things right on its major-la
bel debut. It had four indepen
dent albums under its belt before
it made its latest release, and
songs such as “Hey Girl” and
“Risen” were in fact borrowed
from previous albums. On the
group’s new disc, it managed to
avoid over-producing anything,
staying true to the sound that has
garnered its grass-roots follow
ing.
The band’s latest release also
features a DVD, giving people
some insight into its live shows
and offering fans a little some
thing extra. The DVD features
three live songs as well as a be
hind-the-scenes documentary.
Not only do dedicated listen
ers get a good album in “In
Between Now and Then,” but
they also get a healthy dose of
O.A.R. concert footage.
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