The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 29, 2003, Page 7, Image 7
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7
CONTACT US THEY SAIDIT
LOUIS PASTEUR: “In the fields of
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? observation, chance favors only the
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com - prepared mind.”
m YL1 \ *1*^1^*1 I j HVM
PHOTO BV JUSTIH CHAPPELL/THE GAMECOCK
Matt Pryor of The New Ameterdams performs at New Brookland Tavern on Monday night.
SHOW REVIEW
Get Up Kids front man Matt Pryor engages area fans
with his emotive, laid-back brand of indie Americana
* «
THE NEW AMSTERDAMS
New Brookland Tavern
★★★★ out of
BY JUSTIN CHAPPELL
THE (tAMKCOCK
The New Amsterdams, with an
indie Americana sound, enter
tained fans at New Brookland
Tavern.on Monday night with
songs of longing and learning. The
one-man band opened for
Stray light Run.
The New Amsterdams, quickly
becoming a well-established side
project of Get Up Kids front man
Matt Pryor, began the evening
with a local favorite, “Stay On The
Phone.” A song from Pryor’s sec
ond album, “Para Toda Vida,” it
portrays the difficulty of being an
on-tour musician and the stress of
not being around loved ones: “One
waitress/ Outside of/ Phone
booth, South Carolina/ Sits, keeps
killing time ... Why am I here?/
Why aren't I home?/ As the line
builds for the phone.”
During a brief interview, Pryor
said, “The majority of my songs
are written either for, or about,
my wife.” And with such lines as
“The end of the day/ I’m alone,
and so are you,” and “Still, I can’t
speak long/ The show has to go
on/ At best I might question/ The
focus of my attention,” it is easy
to see that his personal road life
fuses with his songwriting.
In “The Spoils Of The Spoiled,”
from “Worse for the Wear” — his
third full-length release — Pryor
touches on the maturation he has
undergone as a songwriter: “But,
I’m older now, and don’t/ You
know, I’ve figured/ Out the anti
dote.” He also references an emerg
ing realistic, hard-work approach
to his music
Pryor said being front man in
the Get Up Kids initially fueled the
formation of The New Amster
dams: “I needed something for my
own, something I could take sole.
ownership of.” And while he is
creating that one-man show, Pryor
said The New Amsterdams also
serves as an “outlet away from the
Get Up Kids... being away makes
coming back
and life: “Our
hopes and/
Plans are un
fulfilled ...
There’s a
proper place
anH time/
With an album titled
“Worse for the Wear” Matt
Pryor’s insightful songs
speak from experience.
that much
better.”
In addition
to writing
songs for his
wife, Pryor
coiH cnmn
Though the bags under your eyes/
They don’t lie.”
Clad in a red, white and blue
plaid shirt with double snap-shut
breast pockets — like something
from a country-Western store —
and outfitted with an acoustic gui
tar and harmonica, Pryor had a
disarming presence that estab
lished a sense of camaraderie
with the crowd. Between songs,
he told a quirky stories about a
past show and an incident with a
thrown shoe.
The story did not really go any
where, but it had the same appeal
as a midnight fireside chat with
friends. Fans shouted song re
quests, which he honored for the
most part, but in jest he would
throw out witty quips like, “What
is this, indie Rock Karaoke?”
songs are written “for friends and
my daughter.” But he never ad
mits to them that they are the sub
jects of his songs because “they
would beat me up.” Pausing to
think for a moment, he added
“Well, not my daughter — she is
only 18 months old.”
With a full-sounding acoustic
guitar, brief harmonica accompa
niments and exposed emotional
singing, it’s amazing The New
Amsterdams is a one-man band.
As Pryor let the last note of his
final song resonate through
the crowd, he stepped back
slowly and said with humble
ownership, “Thanks. I’m The
New Amsterdams.”
Comments on this story?Email
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
PLAY REVIEW
‘Menagerie’journies South
“THE GLASS MENAGERIE"
Theatre USC
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆*
BY GRAHAM CULBERTSON
THE CiAMECOCK
Theatre USC, after an excellent
production of Moliere’s
“Tartuffe,” has chosen to put on a
piece that hits closer to home—
Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass
Menagerie.” Regarded by many
as the greatest playwright the
South has ever produced,
Williams found his breakthrough
play in “The Glass Menagerie.”
It is a story of the South in ex
ile. The action takes place in St.
Louis, but revolves around a
^ mother, Amanda Wingfield, who
^P cannot forget her roots in the
Southern plantation system and
her two children.
The play’s central conflict
stems from Wingfield’s indelible
attachment to memory. Her son,
Tom, is disgusted with her re
fusal to let go of the past, as she
keeps retelling the old stories of
her days as a Southern belle.
Tom Wingfield is the younger
of the two children, but he is the
only family member who inter
acts with the real world. He is
also the play’s narrator and tells
us in the prologue that we are
witnessing a memory play.
Brian Schilb, as Tom, rises to
the challenge as narrator and
performer. Throughout the char
acter’s narration, Schilb domi
nates the theater with his pow
erful voice, demanding the audi
ence’s attention. However, when
he interacts with the other char
acters on stage, Tom seems more
restrained and less open.
Sarah Barker, as Amanda
Wingfield, ultimately anchors this
production with her powerful per
formance, one that leaves no
doubt about Amanda’s status as a
fallen Southern matriarch.
Obsessed with the idea of “gentle
man callers” and desperate for her
slightly handicapped daughter to
lither start working or get mar
ried, her greatest fear is that her
daughter will become a spinster.
Barker embraces the contradic
tions in Amanda’s character as
she bemoans her choice of a hus
band— a telephone man who fell
in love with long distance and
hasn’t been seen since—even as
she speaks of her love for him. The
scenes in which she berates, moth
;rs and genuinely listens to Tom
ill ring equally true.
Playing the daughter, Laura,
Kay Allmand captures her char
icter’s slight limp and paralyzing
shyness. Far more interesting,
lowever, is Jim O’Connor (Steven
Penley), a friend and co-worker of
Tom’s. Finally caving in to his
mother’s memories, Tom invites
Jim to dinner as the long-awaited
gentleman caller whom Amanda
has always wanted for her daugh
ter. Fenley, who is excellent as the
villainous title character in
“Tartuffe,” gives an even better
performance in “Menagerie.” He
refuses to play Jim with either the
traveling-salesman smarminess
or the boy-next-door earnestness
that the role could exude. Instead,
Fenley manages to effectively im
bue his performance with ele
ments of both.
In the end, the play still belongs
to Tom and Amanda. By this point
in their lives, the only thing they
have in common is a shared affec
tion for Laura—Tom works all
day in the warehouse to support
his family and goes out every
night to get away from his moth
er. Both of the actors shift seam
lessly from one aspect of their
characters’ personalities to the
next, going from yelling at each
other in one scene to being united
in concern for Laura the next.
Both Schilb and Barker, speaking
with perfect Southern accents, not
only bring Tennessee Williams’
characters to life but make us gen
uinely care about them.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
TOP 10
The 10 most-played new releases on
WUSC for the week of Oct 19-26.
1. “CUP OF SAND”
_Superchunk
2. “STREETCORE"
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
3. “TRANSLANTICISM”
__ Death Cab for Cutie
4. “CHUTES TOO NARROW"
Shins
5. “BIKINI STYLE”
_ Popular Shapes
^ 6. “BEFORE EVERYTHING AND
w AFTER"
MXPX
7. “DEAR CATASTROPHE
WAITRESS”
_Belle and Sebastian
8. “CONTINENTAL STOMP”
Hot Club of Cowtown
9. “IN KEEPING SECRETS OF
SILENT EARTH :3”
Coheed and Cambria
10. “TELL BALGEARY, BALGURY IS
DEAD”
Ted Leo and The Rharmacists
American market
adapts British TV
for new audience
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
THE ASSOCIATED I'RESS
LOS ANGELES — Americans
have been watching British TV
shows for years, even if they
haven’t realized it.
When British television is in
terested in an American show,
it usually just buys and broad
casts the original. U.S. televi
sion, meanwhile, has a long his
tory of translating British
shows into Americanized ver
sions — although the results
have been mixed.
Lost in translation so far has
been NBC’s “Coupling," about
six friends negotiating their
love lives amid a sea of ex
lovers.
The original BBC series is
critically acclaimed and
preparing to start its fourth
season, while a DVD collection
of its second season went on
sale Tuesday in the United
States. The original is also
shown regularly on the cable
channel BBC America.
But NBC’s “Coupling” has
met with tepid critical and fan
reaction, and it temporarily
has been pulled from the air
— a sign of waning network
confidence.
Even from the start, the
show faced changes by cross
ing the Atlantic. Some of the
spicier sex jokes were cut, and
the half-hour episodes were
shortened eight minutes to in
ject commercials.
“It’s easier doing it over
here,” laughed U.K.-based pro
ducer Sue Vertue, who collab
orates on the BBC’s “Coupling”
with writer-husband Steven
Moffat. “We don’t have the
same ... I think ‘interference’
♦ BRITISH TV, SEE PAGE 8
Ballet bites back
Reprising “Dracula: Ballet with a Bite”for the lOth-consecutive
year, Columbia City Ballet combines Halloween with high art
BY CAITLIN COKER
j THE GAMECOCK
Columbia City Ballet’s produc
tion of “Dracula: Ballet with a
Bite” returns to the Roger Center
for the Arts this weekend. This
lOth-anniversary production is a
popular adaptation of Bram
Stoker’s “Dracula,” the classic
vampire thriller.
The story begins with Jonathan
Harker, a British lawyer, travel
ing to Transylvania to settle real
estate dealings with Count
Dracula. Harker takes the audi
ence to a spooky world where mu
sic and lights All the scenes with
eerie suspense. Harker sleeps in
the count’s castle, only to be awak
ened by three seductive demon
maidens lusting for his blood.
Harker flees Dracula’s castle
and returns to England, but the
count follows him. The drama es
calates as Dracula transforms one
of Harker’s patients into a vampire
and targets Harker’s daughter
next.
Not only is the subject matter
alone unusual, but the manner in
which William Starrett, artistic
director of Columbia City Ballet,
has created the adaptation is also
delightfully eccentric.
Much of the costuming and
choreography is untraditional, de
veloping a visible, onstage contrast
between the townspeople of
England and the vampires of
Transylvania. The demon-maid
ens wear bra-tops and sheer dress
es as they writhe their torsos in a
very un-balletic fashion—all en
pointe.
- “It’s all classical ballet with an
overlay of house music and house
moves,” said Sydney Miller, the
general manager of Columbia City
Ballet.
“Dracula” successfully invokes
the suspense of any Halloween hor
ror film. The score is spine-tingling,
utilizing wolf howls and eerie heart
beats. The action centers on the
macabre—for example, in one
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Columbia City Ballet’s “Dracula: Ballet with a Bite” will begin
this weekend at the Koger Center for the Arts.
scene a vampire chases Harker’s
daughter in a creepy, zombie-like
manner, thirsting for her blood.
The show involves death, and
consequently, there is blood ev
erywhere. Children are encour
aged to attend the shows, but
parental discretion is advised.
The Columbia community is
fortunate to have one of the only
two professional ballet companies
within South Carolina right in its
backyard. On top of this,
Columbia City Ballet is the only
professional ballet company be
tween Florida and Washington,
D.C., that performs its own full
length, original ballet.
“It is a big deal that Columbia
has a million-dollar ballet compa
ny in it,” Miller said.
Company members range from
university students to artists from
all over the world. Katie Smoak, a
fourth-vear advertising student.
and Allison Bergman, a first-year
public relations student, are both
company members.
In “Dracula,” Peter Kozak, a
principal dancer of the Joffrey
Ballet of Chicago, will be perform
ing the role of Jonathan Harker.
Kozak, a former Columbia City
Ballet principal dancer, returns
year after year to perform in the
company’s original productions.
With four performances sched
uled, “Dracula: Ballet with a Bite”
runs from Thursday through
Saturday. Ticket prices range
from $7 to $40 and can be pur
chased at the Coliseum Box Office
and all Capital Ticket outlets, by
phone at 251-2222 or at
www.koger.sc.edu. For more in
formation, call 799-7605.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
CD REVIEW
‘Theft ’ makes honest emo debut
“THE FIRE THEFT”
The Fire Theft
★★★★ out of
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
Even after Sunny Day Real
Estate’s two breakups, the band’s
members can’t seem to stay away
from one another. But unfortu
nately, you can’t seem to get them
all in one place anymore.
The Fire Theft reunites three
fourths of Sunny Day Real
Estate’s original lineup: singer
and guitarist Jeremy Enigk,
drummer William Goldsmith and
bassist Nate Mendel.
Obviously, because of the mu
sicians involved, the album begs
for a comparison with Sunny
Day’s material. Many times,
Enigk’s melodies and phrasings
don’t stray too far from the Sunny
Day formula. The album most re
sembles Sunny Day’s final album,
“The Rising Tide,” an album that
had a few shining moments but
was generally bland.
The Fire Theft’s debut, howev
er, is much stronger because,
♦ THE FIRE THEFT, SEE PAGE S