Page 6
The Behrend Beacon
Behrend professor a Playhouse star
by Daniel J. Stasiewski
a&e editor
When John Kerwin first arrived
in Erie two years ago, one of the
first things he did was search for
local theatre companies
Next Thursday, the
assistant professor of
communication will
star alongside James
Gandalofo in the Erie
Playhouse production
of "Inherit the Wind."
Kerwin has been
active in acting since college, but
after spending much of his time
as a writer, director, and producer
in Los Angeles, he left the stage.
In the past 12 years, he got the
itch to hit the boards, again.
"You have something inside of
you that says, 'l'd like to get out
there and perform,'" said
Kerwin.
So, when he auditioned for
"Inherit the Wind" last spring,
Kerwin was able to grab the
leading role of Henry
Drummond.
In "Inherit the Wind,"
Drummond is a lawyer in the
1920 s who comes to the defense
of a young teacher after the
teacher violates a law by teaching
evolution. Kerwin said it was the
idealism represented by
Drummond that drew him to the
role.
In fact, the role has such a
strong lure that acting greats such
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Wild fear
6 ____ du jour
10 Easy run
14 Flooded
15 Hashanah
16 Glowing review
17 Greek letter
18 Italian noble
family
19 Smell
20 Check out
21 Luminous trail in
the sky
23 Sign up
24 Church part
25 Orders back
27 Atter-bath
powder
30 Emmet
32 Japanese
honorific
33 Place to get a
brew
35 Shocked
39 Brew holder
40 Unit of work
42 Nick of filmdom
43 Hurting the most
45 Gave
recompense to
47 Victory sign
48 Helm dir.
49 Wanamaker and
Waterston
50 Mouseketeer
Funicello
54 Family chart
56 Destine to
tragedy
57 Dragged forcibly
59 Health resort
62 Up to the task
63 Feudal serf
64 Theater worker
66 Blueprint
67 Beatty film
68 Raccoonlike
carnivore
69 Camp shelter
70 Coin receptacle
71 Concluded
DOWN
1 Leaf
2 Absent
3 Designate
4 Distinctive
doctrine
r
I We want to hear from you!
Write a letter to
I
behrcoll2@aol.com
as Spencer Tracy and Jack
Lemmon have played
Drummond in the past. Both
actors, however, were in their
60s and 70s respectively when
they played the role, but Kerwin
is not 60.
"You have to envelope the character and let the Kerwin is
character envelope you."
fire," said Kerwin. And the fact
that legends like Tracy and
Lemmon have taken on the role
does not scare him at all.
"Do I think that I can do it
differently and as well? Yeah,
otherwise I shouldn't be up on
stage," said Kerwin. "Do I
compare myself with them? No."
Kerwin has confidence that he
can make the role his own. With
a co-star like Gandalfo, he thinks
it will be that much more
entertaining, even if they are an
unlikely pair.
"He auditioned. I auditioned.
And [the director] saw the
potential for chemistry," said
Kerwin. "Sparks gotta fly."
Sparks do have to fly,
especially with the tense
dramatic moments and the
tongue-in-cheek humor. Even
though he sees the role as a real
challenge, Kerwin's year-long
preparation for the role has given
t 2003 Tribune Medis Services, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Solutions
5 Schroder film
(with "The")
6 Facade
7 Be vanquished
8 "The Maltese
Falcon" co-star
Mary
9 St. of Avila
10 Fatal gift
11 Gaseous
element
12 Egg-shaped
13 Gulls' relatives
22 Jacob's sibling
24 Success
26 cum laude
27 Pravda's news
agcy.
28 Choir member
29 Suggestive stare
31 _ Haute, IN
34 Beginning 44 Animal restraints
36 "Mephisto Waltz" 46 Existed
star 50 Adjust
37 Pipe part 51 Lordly
38 Kennedy and 52 Pitcher Ryan
Koppel 53 Atelier stand
41 Most lamblike 55 Elicit
"I'm playing him with more
58 PC command
59 Roe source
60 Seeger or
Sampras
61 Desiccated
65 Chip off the old
block
FEATURES
& FUNNIES
Friday, April 4, 2003
him a chance to live with
Drummond
"It is going to be me on stage,
so I had to take it home," said
Kerwin. "You have to envelope
the character and let the character
envelope you."
After reading the script and
doing
plenty of
research,
Drummond,
however, will not be Kerwin's
last job at the Erie Playhouse.
"As long as [the Playhouse]
does plays that I think I can fit
into, I'll do them," said Kerwin.
As he begins work on "Inherit
the Wind," Kerwin is awaiting
the announcement of the Erie
Playhouse 2003-2004 season,
and auditions later this spring.
Regardless of the season's line
up, Kerwin won't pass up a
chance to get on stage
"To say [acting] is rewarding
is so trite," said Kerwin. "It is
really an adrenaline rush that you
seldom get in everyday life."
"Inherit the Wind," starring
John Kerwin and James
Gandalfo, will be performed Apr.
10-13, 24-27, and May 1-3 at the
Erie Playhouse. For tickets and
show times call 454-2852.
Unfortunately, Crazy Newspaper Face is back
by Crazy Newspaper Face
a not-so-
serious contributing writer
I'd like to write again to let you
all know about the over
whelming response to my
last article. After the article
about my plight as Crazy
Newspaper Face was pub
lished in the Beacon, many
people here in our commu
nity contacted me to let me
know that they were here to
support me, and my kind
The Multi-Cultural Coun
cil was perhaps the first to
contact me. They let me
know that they were start
ing up a new committee to
confront and combat dis
crimination against all
newspaper faces. The name
of this new committee is
SAD BITCHES (Students
Against Discriminating
Bigots - Intolerance
Taskforce Changing Hierar
chical Esteem Systems).
The second to call was the
alumni association. They
called to inform me that
they were setting up a new
scholarship program that
would benefit future students of
my race.
They said the scholarship would
be awarded on a point system ba
sis. I guess you get points for be
ing a newspaper face, and other
academic achievements.
Brandi Hovis, the president of
SGA, told me that SGA was out
raged that people like me were
PROSTITUTION? NO PROBLEM AT ALL
A woman graduated from law school and, on her application to be
admitted to the Kentucky bar, mentioned that she had once been
arrested for prostitution. Her run-in with the law happened in 1997,
when she worked for an "escort service."
But the Character and Fitness Committee ruled that this in no way
should prevent her from becoming an attorney.
THE SHORELINE SEEMS TO BE MOVING
A woman got drunk while celebrating International Women's Day ink
St. Petersburg, Russia, and tried to walk across the frozen Neva River.
Alas, the ice on which she was walking broke off and started float
ing, stranding her. So she took a nap until rescuers came and got her. I
THERE'S SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS HERE
I An unemployed man robbed a Pennsylvania bank of $Bl,OOO and I
Igot away clean. But he was ultimately caught because he and his wife I
I went on a major spending spree, paying cash for a Lincoln Continen-
eager to get
on the
stage
I I
J
L_
DITHERED TWYTS
receiving that kind of treatment on
our campus, and stated that she
and her fellow SGA members
were drafting a resolution that
would foster a better environment
for people of my heritage. She
wspaper
also said that she understood be
ing discriminated against because,
of course, she is in the Irish
American Society. She said she
would be willing to help me in my
cause as long as I attended 12
training meetings regarding the
resolution drafting process.
And finally, Jack Burke met
with me personally to discuss how
Through the looking glass
by Mike Pingree, KRT Campus
tal and two other cars as well as furniture and appliances
.41!
. wool
I . a rare
ce poses
Karl Benacci, Features Editor
we could better the environment
on this campus for people of my
creed. We talked about increas
ing enrollment of newspaper
faces, establishing clubs and or
ganizations to represent my na
tionality, and we talked of ways
in which my kind could fully ex
perience the college experience
without the discrimination and
hate that I experienced before my
article was published. When I
asked him how he felt about
newspaper faces, he replied,
"Some of my best friends are
newspaper faces."