The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, October 26, 2001 Page: 18 of 28
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THE RICE THRESHER
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2001
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Tori Amos returns with
'Strange' cover album
Carly Kocurek
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
If Tori Amos ever decided she
wanted to own a piano bar, the mu-
sic would likely sound something
like Strange Little Girls. Amos' most
recent album is filled exclusively by
powerful and occasionally creepy
covers of songs written by men.
mostly about women.
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'strange little girls'
Tori Amos
Atlantic Records
Rating: **★ (out of five)
Tori Amos plays at the Aerial
Theatre (520 Texas Ave.. $29.50-
$40.50) at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
For each of the 12 songs, Amos
takes on a different female charac-
ter. The liner notes feature shots of
Amos made up to look like each of
the characters, from I he Kiss fan
who sings "Rattlesnakes" to the cop
who sings "I Don't Like Mondays."
This concept album is a bold at-
tempt for someone whose career has
largely been defined by her talent as
a songwriter. Most of the time, Amos
hits her mark dead on. She turnstile
Velvet Underground's "Now Age"
into a lonely morning-after anthem
of desperation.
The potential of the album comes
through most on Amos' creepy re-
interpretation of Eminem's "'97
Bonnie and Clyde." Originally sung
from the point of view of a man who
has just murdered his wife and is
trying to comfort his young daugh-
ter. in Amos's half-whispered voice,
the song sounds like the dead wife
eerily talking to her daughter. The
strings and piano tracks combine to
create a haunting atmosphere.
Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Si-
lence" makes for a neat piano and
voice lounge-type number, as does
"Real Men," which showcases Amos'
voice and has an exceptionally warm
piano track.
"I Don't Like Mondays" arguably
ranks second behind "'97 Bonnie
and Clyde." The track was originally
written by the Boomtown Rats about
16 year-old Brenda Spencer, who
killed two people and wounded nine
more by shooting into the schoolyard
of the elementary school across the
street from her house in 1979. When
asked why, she said she didn't like
Mondays.
While the original version of the
song was well-written, it sounds
hopelessly dated, tied to a period
whose death is lamented by classic
rock fans. Amos gives the song an
emotional candor it may never have
otherwise possessed. Carried by
Amos' amazing vocals, the song be-
comes a touching treatment of child-
hood innocence lost.
The inherent weakness of the al-
bum is that Amos can only improve
upon or change the original songs to
a limited extent. She shouldn't have
touched "Happiness is a Warm Gun,"
which lacks the power of the origi-
nal and becomes an irritating over-
produced mess.
Strange Little Girls may have its
weak points, but when the album
works (which it does more often
than not), it delivers the type of
haunting, beautiful music that lis-
teners should expect from a talented
performer like Tori Amos.
Joint production mellow
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another, but they manage to avoid
cliche and unnecessary bombast
until the final scene.
In any given song, and indeed the
course of the entire play, there is a
lot to take in. At times, the audience
may feel bombarded by the constant
and seemingly erratic movements
on stage, as well as by the excesses
of the hippies themselves (e.g. drug
use, racial slurs, swearing).
It becomes difficult to give ad-
equate attention to the action on
stage while trying to process all the
various fragments to get a sense of
exactly what's happening. The danc-
ing is very good, but there is so
much happening in such a small
space that one's focus can be easily
diluted.
There aren't many scenes with
extended dialogue or action — the
play is mostly musical numbers —
but the scant amount of acting is
very well done. Hanszen Resident
Associate Lucky Sahualla is very
amusing in his brief cross-dressing
role as Margaret Mead. The excep-
tion is Ichikawa's Claude, who is at
times over the top and unbelievable.
There is some good singing and
some not-so-good singing. Sid fresh-
man Kristin Jefferson almost steals
the show as Ronny with her superb
vocals, particularly in the "Aquarius"
and "Electric Blues" numbers. She
doesn't have many lines, but the
songs that feature her are, to my
ears, the most agreeable.
Mueller and Sid junior Lauren
Aronson, as Berger's girlfriend
Sheila, are only adequate in their
featured numbers. Ichikawa's sing-
ing is solid and rather enjoyable.
The Spartan stage, designed by
Sid senior Dustin Eshenroder. is ef-
fective in its ability to keep the atten-
tion on the actors. Anything more
would make it impossible to stay
focused during the dance numbers
— at times, it's hard enough even
with the simple stage.
The lighting, under Jones Col-
lege senior Chris Donica's direction,
is arranged well because it's not over-
used. The only major llaw with the
lighting is in the final number of the
first act, which includes frontal nu-
dity. This potentially powerful scene
is stripped (no pun intended) of its
poignancy because an image that
should be thrown into our faces —
that of the six nude bodies behind
Claude — is kept in the shadows.
Chaivre and his staff didn't pull many
punches, but this one takes away
from what could have been a very
compelling scene.
The orchestra, conducted by Sid
senior Emily Landis, is amazing. This
play is as much about the music of
the '60s as it is about the hippie
ideology. The orchestra captures the
spirit of '60s rock brilliantly. There
are times, however, when the mu-
sic, written by Gait MacDermot,
overpowers the singers' voices.
These instances are rare, but they
are annoying because the lyrics are
at least as significant as the music.
This and other problems of the
synchronization of music and action
will probably improve with each per-
formance. Opening night may be
ever so slightly rough, but by the
third performance, I think all these
difficulties will be ironed out and the
performance will be smooth and
seamless, and quite enjoyable.
I
3
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, October 26, 2001, newspaper, October 26, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443159/m1/18/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.