The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 24, 2006 Page: 9 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24,2006
7 mom TERROR
Sid cast sings sensationalist story sweetly
Julia Bursten
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Ever wonder what is really going
on behind some of the more bizarre
tabloid newspapers' headlines? If
the stories could actually be as
weird as they sound on the front
pages of the National Enquirer and
the Weekly World News? Suppose
the tabloid stories were all true,
and suppose a group of actors was
twisted enough to sing about them
for two hours.
'bat boy: the musical'
sid richardson college
rating ★★★1/2 of five
tonight and tomorrow, 8 p.m.
tickets $5/students
From that satirical scenario
came the idea for Sid Richardson
College's spring production, Rat
Boy: The Musical.
With a plot as frustratingly full
of holes as it is intriguing, Bat Boy
quickly evokes audience responses
similar to those of many tabloid
readers. Viewers are likely to walk
away guiltily, decrying the show's
lack of artistic integrity aloud while
privately wishing for just one more
chorus of "Apology to a Cow."
The show opens in a bat cave
worthy of Bruce Wayne, but this
is no superhero story. Instead, the
tension-building six-piece overture
ends when three adventurous
siblings make their way into the
depths of a cave — to stake out a
secret smokers' lair.
Led by Sid sophomore Drew
McUsic as Rick Taylor, the trio sets
the tone for the show's comic relief.
McUsic engages the audience
early, strutting around the stage
in a beautifully offensive hillbilly
imitation of Keanu Reeves in Bill
and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
A few minutes into the scene,
McUsic and his compatriots dis-
cover the bat boy (Sid sophomore
Daniel Williamson) in between
bong rips. As the kids and then
the gender-confused Hope Falls
townspeople react to the monstros-
ity, the melodic portion of the show
emerges, conducted aptly by Bat
Boy music director Sean Bayntun,
a music graduate student.
Shaiy-ruff Reynolds (I^ovett Col-
lege freshman Paul Early) drags the
bat boy through town in the midst
of a drawling, comical solo — part
of the disturbing opening number,
"Hold Me, Bat Boy."
The first act goes from weird
to weirder once the bat boy finds
a residence with the town veteri-
narian, Thomas Parker (Will Rice
College senior Diego Tucker), and
his family. The scripting hints, in a
painfully obvious manner, at a deep,
dark secret ruining the relation-
ship between Parker and his wife,
Meredith (Baker College senior
Hayley Brown).
The scene refuses to reveal ex-
actly what happened, and although
the second act sheds light on the
matter—in a pantomime re-enact-
ment that showcases some of the
production's best acting—this and
other revelations come too late in
the show.
Viewers are likely
to walk away
GUILTILY,
decrying the show's
lack of artistic
integrity aloud
while privately
wishing for just
one more chorus of
"Apology to a Cow."
While those frustrations with the
plot are distracting, it does little to in-
hibit Bat Boy's entertainment value.
The story progresses from the plight
of the town'scow population and the
impending visit ofa famous reverend
to the rehabilitation of the bat boy
into human culture.
Meredith and the creature,
whom the family names Edgar,
have a perfectly choreographed,
montage-y duo portion of a choral
number illustrating the latter's
See SI I), page 10
MATT CRNKOVICH/THRESHER
Edgar the Bat Boy (Sid Richardson College sophomore Dan Williamson)
confronts Dr. Thomas Parker (Will Rice College senior Diego Tucker) with
an accusation about both characters' pasts. Sid's production of Bat Boy:
The Musical closes this weekend.
DRAWING .4 BLANK
Menil Collection exhibit disappoints the inexperienced eye
Rachel Green
THRESHER STAFF
The Menil's latest exhibit, Eva
Hesse Drawing, offers an atypical
and often inaccessible approach
to understanding the influences
behind the work of the glam-
our-girl-turned-figurative-martyr
of post-Minimalist sculpture.
'eva hesse drawing'
the menil collection
through april 23
rating ★★★1/2 of five
One of the most intriguing artists
of the creative revolution in 1960s
America, Hesse earned recognition
both during her life and after it ended
tragically at age 34, although some
argue Hesse's fame stems not from
her work but from the legend around
her death. A woman in an inescapably
male-dominated art world, Hesse's
untimely brain tumor caused crit-
ics to popularize the image of an
eternally young and beautiful artist
whose future is forever unknown.
Since much of the study of
Hesse involves attempts to analyze
her life as "woman as artist" and
premature death a la Sylvia Plath, it
is surprising that little of the artist's
biography is mentioned in the exhibit
itself. Rather, viewers approach the
drawings with only the context of
Hesse's other works. This approach
emphasizes the role drawing played
in the development of the sculptures
for which she is best known.
The works in the collection vary
greatly in medium, tone and form,
ranging from dark and somber ink
washes to bright, gesticulating draw-
ings done with a quick hand to more
careful and deliberate geometric
studies. Later in the exhibit, sketch-
es and notebook pages denote the
beginnings of some of Hesse's m< >re
well-known sculptures, including
Contingent, Repetition Nineteen I
and Accretion.
The installation concludes with
her "window drawings," which are
somewhat more traditional paint-
ing-like pieces in gouache and ink.
These drawings recall attention to the
repetitive geometric forms appearing
earlier in her body of work.
Hesse's focus on the line in two-
dimensional space pervades the
collection, as do her means of trans-
lating it into her three-dimensional
sculptural pieces. Those familiar
with her sculptural works will already
know this transition. And it is made
obvious through the juxtaposition of
these linear drawings with mock-ups
and small-scale examples of some
of her early sculpture. Works such
as Tomorrow's Apples 15 in White]
highlight tiie transition so literally
that viewers may see lines actually
achieving three-dimensionality.
Much of the
study of HESSE
involves attempts to
analyze her life as
"woman as artist."
Eva Hesse Drawing is a carefully
constructed depiction of the pro-
cesses that contribute to the creation
of an artist's body of work. But the
collection is difficult to fully com-
prehend without prior knowledge
of the artist
Although the curators' attempt to
remove any outside influence from
the exhibit that might affect an ob-
server's perception was well-inten-
tioned, giving so little background
on the works simply isolates them
to the point of incomprehension. My
Hesse-inexperienced roommate's
reaction — "I don't get it" — ex-
emplified why this exhibit, which
would certainly have had even
more difficulty succeeding at a
more mainstream museum such as
the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
struggles to present itself effectively
to its varied audiences.
Geometry pervades many pieces in the Menil
Drawing exhibit, such as In this untitled work.
COURTESY MENIL COLLECTION
Collection's Eva Hesse
SO GOOD YOUR TOES CURL
Ckipotk
r
GOURMET BURRITOS i 1AC0S.
FANNIN I ORYOtN
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 24, 2006, newspaper, February 24, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443088/m1/9/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.