The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 1997 Page: 10 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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This Weekend *
Bob Marley
festival
Rock out reggae-style with
21 live bands, food, arts and
craft "vendors and extreme"
skate jam.
Mhrch 1 and 2.
Buffalo Bayou Park.
Allen Park Way and Sabine.
(713) 688-3900.
Free (Donations will go to J as a
House, a domestic violence
center).
wednesday
' S P! c-0 - R am a ' *
Spic O Rama is a biting
comedy about a host of
different characters played by
one actor.
Opens March 5 at 8 p.m.
TBH Cultural Arts Center.
333 S. Jensen at Navigation.
(7:13) 869 892 7.
$12. some seats $5.
saturday, march 8
Royal Crown
Revue
Royal Crown Revue swings at
the Satellite lounge. *
March 8.
For more information, see
review on this page
3616 S. Washington.
(713) 869-2665.
18 arid up $12.
21 and up $ 7.
Next Weekend
' ,
'LES INFANTS DU
PARADIS'
- Considered by some critics
the greatest film ever made,
Marcel Carry's Children of
Paradise is to French cinema
what Gone With the Wind was
to American cinema at the
time: a summing-up of a
period.
March 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Rice Media Center.
(713) 527-4853.
$5. $4 with Rice
ID.
Baker College will present A
Winter's Tale for its 27th year of
Shakespearean drama. Joseph
"Chepe" Locked, this year's direc-
tor "Has worked on the creative side
of Baker Shake lor 10 years — over
a third of all Baker Shake produe-
' lions ever. When asked why he has
exhibited such exhaustive involve-
ment, Lockett replied. "I've done it
because 1 love Shakespeare."
Currently a Hanszen College as-
sociate, Jjockeft matriculated at Han-
s/en in .198(5, the only year in frhicH
lit; did not work with the'production.
Initially a physics/classics double
major, Lockett discovered in his jun-
ior year that he "liked talking about
physics, writing about it and explain
ing it more than I liked doing it." and
subsequently became an Lnglish
major. This decision came, not sur
prisingly, during his first year with a
lead role in a Baker Shake produc-
tion. "1 find that Shakespeare ap-
peals to both sides of me, both the
Scientific and artistic," lx>ckett said.
"Puzzling out the text is very much a
scientific puzzle ... the meter, the
rhythm, the sounds of the vowels....
We're doing a lot of that here in A
Winter's Tale."
Part of the reason that Lockett
enjoys directing Shakespeare at Rice
is that in some ca^es he is teaching
Shakespeare to students who have
never studied. Shakespeare before.
Lockett said, "I've warned the^ ast
this year thai there are two danger-
ous paths one can tread down. You
can go down this completely literary
pathway, in which it gets abstracted
to a text completely divorced from
t he stage and all you're worried about,
... are very abstruse kind of issues
that don't, at all, involve the stage
work At the same time, you can go
down this wholly emotional sort of
pathway. Pauses are something
MUSIC
you have to be wary of in
Shakespeare. So much of our mod-
ern acting is devoted to emoting
feeling between the lines rather than
on the lines. Especially in "a meter-
based text like Shakespeare, if you
do that, it fragments the line — it
defeats the purpose of it.
"One of the interesting parts of
training actors with modern experi-
ence is to avoid that that natural
instinct we have now from watching
films. Many plays you see now have
that sort of "Captain Kirk Acting' in
an exaggerated way. Act on the line,
not between them; that's what 1 keep
Saying fib my cast]," I-ockett said.
A Winter's Tale shares similari-
ties with soyie of Shakespeare's,
other plays but aMo is very different
in other respects. Like many of
Shakespeare's plays, "there are cues
there to puzzle out above and be-
yond just the story, and at the same
time, it's a play.... I've found it is the
best of tWb worlds."
A Winter's Tale is an intellectual
and artistic play," Lockett said. It
differs from the typical classification
of "tragedy," "history" or "comedy"
in that it is considered one of
Shakespeare's few "romances."
I JX'kett stresses, however, "this does
not mean it's all lace and dim lights."
I AK'kett goes on to say that A Winter 's
Tale, "containsthe most t ragedy and
comedy, in the most pure forms, but
mixed together, in the canon. ... Il
also has very Strong female roles,
and Rice is particularly blessed with
great actresses right now. We've
done hard work On this play to save
the women from being weak, frail,
cutesy beings that many directors,
either intentionally or unintention-
ally. do."
Of all the plays in Shakespeare's
repertoire, A Winter's Tale is cer-
tainly One at- the lesser-known.
Ixjckett is not concerned about audi-
ence turnout, however. He plans to
offer several treats, one of which is
an arena performance. Performing
v...*-'*
Vertical Horizons show
features acoustic style
Anand Prabhakar
The fact thai a small, unheard-of
band would record a live album hints
lfiat, their major selling point, must
be their live shows. However, this
was not the case for Vertical Hori-
zons, at least when they performed
at the Satellite Lounge in support of
their Live Stages album. Perhaps it
was due to the club itself,' which
seemed to be more conducive to
drinking than dancing.
i
Vertical Horizons
Rating:
(our of five)
Vertical Horizons, an acousti-
cally-driven rock band, hails from
Washington, D C., where guitarists
Matt Scannell and Keith Kane at-
tended Georgetown University. The
band, which originally only con
tained two acoustic guitars, eventu-
ally added bass player Ryan Pisksr
and lid Loth on drums to form Ver-
tical Horizons,. With
influences such as
James Iaylor and
Simon and (iarfunkel,
the band brings back
good, old-fashioned
acoustic pop.
Lor the past year,
t he band has been ex.
tensively touring in
the U.S.. opening for
such bands as^the
Alhnan Brothers and
■ .Better Than Kzra. Vertical Horizons
has developed an almost-culti§h fol ..
lowing.
The show at the Satellite Lounge
was entertaining, and it was evident
that the band played its heart out to
the less-than-ideal audience. They
repeatedly appealed to the audience
to "approach the stage" which could
be loosely translated into a request
for them to to put down their drinks
and enjoy the quality band. Unfortu-
nately, only a few members of the
audience really showed their appre-
ciation.
Vertical Horizons performed well,
although Scannell and Kane's stage
presence was not very good. The
bassist was the most lovable mem-
ber of the band; he was dancing and
feeling the beat of the songs.
Kane and Scannell ended the set
the way they began their band, play-
ing their acoustic guitars as a duo
and singing quiet lullabies. Unfortu-
nately, by this point in the show, the
audience had dropped to less than
20 people.
Vertical Horizons may be played
first on college radio stations then
eventually on rock stations. Al-
though they are going to develop
mor# slowly than other bands. Ver-
tical Horizons tarings back an often
ignored style of rock. Their unique
style will eventually pay off.
Live Stages captures the Intensity
and emotion of Vertical Horizons'
cajiahilities as a li ve band They seem
to thrive on the emotional energy of
an audience. If you get a chance to
see Vertical Horizons, definitelytake
advantage of that opportunity.
Joseph "Ghepe" Lockett will direct A Winter's Tale this year for Baker Shake.
in the round has been a tradition
somewhat neglected at Rice during
recent years, buH.ockett intends to
bring it back. The performance will
be in the center of the Baker Com-
mons. "I think it's a complicated play
that is hovering somewhere between
modern psychological drama and
fairy tale. ... It's a delicate play, ai^l
we treat it with respect."
In addition to his involvement
with Baker Shake, Lockett has di-
rected the Houston premiere of
Woman in Mind (the Rice Players),
directed A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum (Hanszen
College), assisted in the direction of
the Houston Shakespeare Festival
and has worked with the Alley
Theater's Houston Outreach pro-
gram. Although he has been involved
With Baker Shake before, he has
found his role in this year's produc-
tion .especially rewarding. Lockett
said, "I'm getting to try out a lot of
things I've wanted to do for quite
some time, and it's good to be back
directing again.... It's been too long."
Eric Motor
Asst. A&E Editor
Let's talk alternative. No, not
Green Day or arty of ksimitatorsr"
Ut's talk about real alternative
— swing alternative.
The Royal Cirown Revue's :
Mugzy'sMdve is just such music.
Their debut album is a throw- ■
backtoan eraof big band, hepcats
e^id pachueos.
TThie septet includes both .a
tenor and baritone sax, guitar,
trumpet and string bass along
with a singer and percussionist
Album: Mugzy's Move
Band: Royal Crown Revue
Rating: it it it-kit
(our of Five)
RCR is first and foremost a
band playing swing the tikes of
which have not been heard since
Bobby Darin and Willie Dixon.
Yet their influences cover a much
wider range.
Most of the members had pre-
vious experience playing every
thing from punk to skiffle, and
although these sounds are not
always apparent in RCR, they con-
tribute to the band's state of mind.
Playing swing 50 years after its
heyday takes quite a bit of cour-
age, yet RCR has continued to
play.
The band came together in
1989and has beentouring
since, slowly refining its sound
into what it is today.
'• b
♦The album's first track, "Hey
Pachuco," debuted in a dance se-
quence in the movie The Ma$k,
"Park'sPlace" and "Zip Gun Bop"
retain the same fast and funky
feel. Other songs slow down into
more mellow grooves.
"Hie Infectious tunes on this
album do not stop. Every Song
has its own unique style and feel.
RCR cannot hie criticized for be-
ing sloppy or loose. The faster
tunes remain tight, making the
songsthat muchmoreenjoyable.
The band has a cohesivehess
that has been achieved through
hard work and steady touring.
Although simply listening to the
album gives a sense of what RCR
is all about, it is impossible to
understand them without seeing
them. The energy and precision
with which they engage.the audi-
ence is something that maay per-
formers cannot do these days.
The music has a catchy sound
andit ishard to fight the urge to
dance. The opportunity to dance
to it should not be missed.
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Beard, Marty & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 1997, newspaper, February 28, 1997; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246562/m1/10/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.