Auditions planned, preparations made for
"The Pirates of Penzance" spring musical
by Kristi McKim
features editor
For those students, faculty, and
community members who have been
anxiously anticipating Behrend's
production of a musical, the wait is
now over. This spring, with the up
coming "Pirates of Penzance," Be
hrend will produce its first musical
in over ten years. For those who are
interested in becoming a part of this
delightful endeavor, auditions will be
held in upcoming weeks.
Directed by Tony Elliot, this Gil
bert and Sullivan comedic master
piece promises to be an extremely
interesting, thoroughly challenging
piece for the Behrend community to
perform. There has been a great de
mand for a musical production here
at Behrend, and plans for this have
been developing since last year.
Elliot chose this particular musical
because — The Pirates of Penzance'
is very popular and at the same time,
very challenging." Instead of spot
lighting only a few outstanding stars,
Acting and
Good As It
by Kristi McKim
features editor
James Brooks' As Good As It
Gets provides a thoroughly enter
taining portrait of the universal
problems which afflict nearly ev
eryone at some point of his/her
life.
Sort of a quirky take on the tra
ditional romantic comedy, this film
offers intelligent and funny dia
logue—quite a rare combination to
find in these days, where every
film seems either to consist of
purely shallow, no-brain conver
sation, or of heavy, poignant rheto-
ACROSS
1 Massachusetts
cape
4 Indian guitars
10 Landlocked
African nation
14 Individual
15 Decorative bush
16 Ear part
17 Running around
19 Alternative to a
saber
20 Dutch flower
21 Jumps tracks
23 Hearings
27 Actor Cariou
28 Family car
29 Actress Mimieux
33 Sweet potato
36 Tender spots
38 Destine to
tragedy
39 Actress
Thurman
40 Check grabber
43 Sailor's drink
44 Tillis and Torme
46 Roller blade
47 Time period
48 National song
51 Spiral-horned
antelope
53 One of Frank's
exes
54 Liberated
58 Desert Storm
gear
62 4000.9 ms ) Palst?
63 Comic Rudner
64 Go to bed
68 Biblical garden
69 Spookier
70 Contend
71 Mountain
passes
72 Laundry
machines
73 Begley and
Wynn
DOWN
1 Charges
2 When actors
enter
3 Bargains
4 Most sugar
coated
5 Verb-forming
suffix
this musical has, says Elliot, a "nice
feeling of ensemble."
Extensive measures and plans are
being taken to ensure that this pro
duction is nothing less than top
notch. A musical director and cho
reographer, with professional expe
rience, are being brought in from the
community to strengthen the many
elements of musical production; and
the Academy Theatre of Meadville
has generously offered to lend all
necessary costumes for the perfor
mance.
The cast has yet to be selected, and
auditions are open to everyone of the
Behrend community: faculty, staff
and students. There are openings for
fifteen men (predominantly roles of
policeman and/or pirates) and ten
women.
While the main characters for
women are Mabel (a young fair
maiden) and Ruth (a nursemaid to
Frederic), the lead roles for men are
those of the Major-General (overpro
tective father of many daughters), the
Pirate King (leader of all pirates),
Brooks' well-written script allows
for the simultaneous presence of
smart conversation and natural,
"lighthearted" witticism.
A great script can't carry a movie
in itself, though—and Helen Hunt,
Jack Nicholson, and Greg Kinnear
wonderfully bring Brooks' quality
dialogue to life, as they so perfectly
portray these well-written, care
fully-created characters.
Jack Nicholson naturally plays the
obsessive-compulsive romance
novelist Melvin Udall, an "absolute
horror of a human being" with sur
prisingly quite a "soft underbelly."
Nicholson quite vividly brings a cer
6 Black goo
7 Forty Thieves'
leader
8 Tear
9 With wisdom
10 Tidied
tf Ariiona natives
12 First victim
13 Sandra and
Ruby
18 Shoot wide
22 Gun it in neutral
24 Smell
25 Nostrils
26 Sport shoe
30 Ripped
31 Junket
32 Austen novel
33 Arizona city
34 Grace ending
35 Brewer's barley
37 Past prime,
breadwise
41 Latin list-ender
42 Subscription
extenders
45 Tribal healers
49 Gabor sister
writing truly
in Brooks' film
Gets
answers on
next page
50 Converted into
pulp
52 Speaker's
platform
55 Toil hard
56 Spanish hero
57 Levees
and Frederic (young pirate appren
tice). All roles, whether lead or sup
porting characters, include a consid
erable amount of stage time.
Elliot emphasizes the need for stu
dent/faculty/staff involvement; he
hopes for a strong turnout for audi
tions: "we need to see a lot of
people... it is our job to make it
work."
Anyone interested in auditioning
should sign up on Mr. Elliot's door
for an audition time; a two-minute
song, which shows range and char
acter should be prepared in advance.
A piano player will be available to
accompany the vocal portion of au
dition (sheet music should be pro
vided by those auditioning); scripts
are available in Mr. Elliot's office for
reading prior to auditions.
Anyone who would like to audi
tion but does not have music or a
scheduled appointment time should
come to the Studio Theatre at the end
of auditions (around 9 p.m.) and
some piece of music will be provided
for them. Monday, January 26 and
tain "realness" to Udall's character,
as he evokes both an affection and
loathing from his fellow characters
(and from the audience as well).
As Carol Connelly, Helen Hunt
beautifully demonstrates her broad
capabilities as an actress. Much like
her Mad About You character,
Hunt's likability lies in her charm
and cuteness. But, beyond the
boundaries of the small screen, Hunt
injects her character with a greater,
depth, which partly can be credited
to Brooks' writing, but mainly stems
from Hunt's eloquent portrayal of
Carol Connelly.
Though Connelly's uneducated,
paranoid character seems hard to be-
58 Diver Louganis
59 Verdi heroine
60 Part of a plan
61 Dyeing vat
65 Attempt
66 Deadlock
67 One of the girls
Features
Tuesday, January 27, auditions will
be held at 6 p.m. in the Studio The
atre. Judges will stay as long as nec
essary to hear all interested persons.
For those who would like to be in
volved, but are more inclined to
work behind the stage, Elliot is also
looking for stage managers and as
sistants for all elements of produc
tion. Interested individuals, or any
one with questions, should contact
Mr. Elliot in #145 Academic or at
898-6279.
Ultimately, "Pirates of Penzance"
is an extremely silly, completely fun
show which is quite popular with au
diences. Set in England during the
mid to late nineteenth century, the
action of the play is almost
cartoonish in its farcical, hysterically
entertaining themes and dialogue.
Whether as a part of the cast, a stage
assistant, or an audience member,
those musical-lovers of the Behrend
and greater Erie community will be
greatly anticipating the "Pirates of
Penzance" performances, scheduled
for March 26, 27, 28, and 29.
lieve, considering that Hunt's
smartness and perceptibility are so
undisguisable, Hunt nonetheless
grants her character a refreshingly
honest likability. Hunt's grace and
eloquence pervade the typical role
of frazzled waitress, concerned
mother, and lonely woman—and
provide even more depth to this
welt-constructed character.
Greg Kinnear is fabulous as
Simon, the struggling artist who has
enough problems to deal with, let
alone neighbor Udall's homopho
bia. Though this character is
Brook's most poorly written,
Kinnear overcomes this shallow
writing to provide a genuinely lik
able character with whom Udall and
Connelly, as well as the audience,
can empathize.
Although his role is rather minor,
Cuba Gooding, Jr., wonderfully
plays Frank, Simon's partner and art
dealer; the scenes with Gooding are
some of the film's most humorous.
Frank Sachs (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) (Left) and artist Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) prepare to con
front neighbor Melvin Udall about throwing Simon's dog down the garbage chute in the TriStar
Pictures Presentation of the Gracie Films Production "As Good As Good It Gets"
Sell it...
Good Will Hunting, directed by
Gus Van Sant, proves to be a worth
while film about the value and spirit
of giftedness. The fine directing,
quality acting, and realistic, natural
writing work together to form .a
lovely piece of art.
Often, in films such as this, where
the central subject is one character's
self-discovery, directors and
scriptwriters tend to employ tradi
tional, expected "coming-of-age"
methods to convey the thematic rite
of passage.
In this case, however, Good Will
Hunting holds all of the emotional
impact which a movie such as this
should contain; yet it (thankfully) re
frains from falling into the cliched,
over-used expectations for movies
such as this.
Impressively, the script was writ
ten by co-stars Matt Damon and Ben
Affleek, real-life childhood friends.
Their ear for natural, believable dia
logue shines through as their charac
ters (best friends in the movie, also)
engi,ge in purely honest, extremely
funny, often-raunchy conversations.
Good Will Hunting's script is incred
ibly fresh.
Matt Damon acts perfectly as Will
Hunting, a janitor at MIT who pos
sesses tremendous inherent intellec
tual talents; Hunting's delinquent
lifestyle and mischievous behavior
inhibit his own realization of his po
tential. Damon superbly injects his
character with a true sense of won
der and charm.
And Simon's adorable little dog,
Verdell, cannot go unmentioned, as
his importance as a character in this
film is undeniable.
As with most movies with many
layers of plot and meaning, complex
stories, and round characters, this
film consists of moments of medi
ocrity followed by scenes of smart
humor or sincere poignancy. At
times, the movie seemed to drag—
but before you can check the time
or drift into sleep, a one-liner grabs
your attention and encourages you
to keep watching.
If you're looking for a light
hearted, often hysterical, depiction
of the seriousness of life, then this
movie is a definite must-see; there
is something for everyone here. As
in the Behrend Classifieds
Thursday, January 15, 1998 The Behrend College Collegian - Page 7
Good Will Hunting a
worthwhile film
by Kristi McKim
leaf:trey editor
This movie's only flaw, and small
at that, is the slightly-less-than-per
fect photography. Often, the scene
or shot would he cluttered in a way
that detracted from the Jilin's beauty;
and, though his few shots of the land
scape were appreciated, Van Sant
should have made more use of the
contexts which the bustling small
suburbs, the crisp natural setting, and
the classical university landscape
which Boston could provide.
But, for its meaningful themes,
light-hearted humor, refreshingly
natural dialogue, and superb charac
ters, Good Will Hunting is one you
don't want to miss.
Hunting's circle of friends, who * *
behrcoll4@aol.corn
frequent Boston's bars, portray the
genuine familial closeness which
bonds this hunch of young friends,
together they add a further dimension
of tender, light-hearted warmth to the
film.
Much like his role of Mr. Keating
in Dead Poets Society, Williams is
natural as the wise inspirational psy
chologist, who offers sound advice
and insight to the curiously-ener
getic, problernatized Hunting. Will
iams acts wonderfully in this role of
the mentor who encourages a sincere
appreciation of all aspects of life, be
yond merely the intellectual.
In a supporting role as Skyla, the
fun-loving, • warm-hearted med stu
dent from Harvard, Minnie Driver
also presents a genuinely admirable.
truly helie',•abl.
The soft, lolkish music with appro
priate lyrics contributes significantly
to the film's overall impact. is do the
great shots of the Bostonian land
scape.
a film about the ins-and-outs of re
lationships, the aloneness and lone
liness of being single, and restor
ative powers of generosity and love,
everyone can, on some level, iden
tify with one or more of the situa
tions being presented.
As Kinnear's character states and
the film proves, "if you look at
someone long enough, you discover
their humanity." And the film's por
trayals of such discoveries provides
for an interesting and delightful two
and-a-half hours of entertainment.
For its realistic depiction of the
complexities of relationships, and
for the witty, funny and intelligent
dialogue within those relationships,
this fil th As Good As It Gets.