Jeanine Noce, A & E Editor
behrco!ls @ aol.com
Diamond is a girl’s best friend
by Erin McCarty
news editor
**lf it's true, as they say, that music can heal, let the
healing begin."
With this sentiment at heart, Neil Diamond graced a
10,000 plus audience with an electrifying two-hour per
formance on Tuesday at University Park’s Bryce Jordan
Center. Diamond played without intermission, cover
ing songs from all stages of his career.
In light of the events of Sept. 11, Diamond’s 2001-
2002 tour is decidedly patriotic in nature. The show
began with a large flag hanging down in front of the
stage. As the flag was raised, Diamond burst into
“America,” a hit which has enjoyed renewed popularity
since Sept U. The audience gave roaring approval to
the song, and when the lyrics demanded “Stand up for
America...today!” everyone complied.
Next, Diamond dug deep in his repertoire to sing “Soli
tary Man” Mid “Cherry, Cherry.” He made a few com
ments about college life along the way and slyly sug
gested that the administrators in attendance might see
to it that the attending students would be exempt from
morning classes the following day. His wit and charm
kept his rapport with the audience going when the mu
sic was silent. And while his stage presence magnified
the impact of his more energetic tunes, the slower songs
such as “Play Me” and “Girl, You’ 11 Be a Woman Soon”
flourished under his silky presentation.
The latter, in fact, turned out to be one of the show’s
greatest moments. Halfway through the song, Diamond
urged a young woman in the front row of the audience
to “come take my hand,” as the song says.
For the remainder of the song, he stretched out over
the stage, clutching her hand, as she turned varying
shades of red and fanned herself with one hand to keep
from fainting. As the song ended, Diamond separated
himself with an embrace and flopped down on the stage
as though he’d just gotten the wind knocked out of him.
Another woman in the front row offered him her hand
kerchief, which he gratefully accepted before singing
two songs from his new album, “Three Chord Opera,"
to “cool down.” This complete lack of a barrier between
performer and audience thrilled the observers, and the
unwitting participant in the song got a nice round of ap
plause.
Sadness is In the Bedroom’
by Daniel J. Stasiewski
staff writer
Some movies are just written for ac
tors. Such is the case with writer/di
rector Todd Field’s debut feature, “In
the Bedroom.” Sissy Spacek and Tom
Wilkinson star as grieving parents in
a performance-powered movie surg
ing with the rawest of human emo
tions. Though formulaic in structure,
the film is hardly your normal melo
drama.
After their son Frank (Nick Stahl)
is brutally murdered by his girlfriend’s
(MarisaTomei) ex-husband (William
Mapother), Matt and Ruth Fowler
(Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek) go
through very different periods of
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'Release Date: 3/1
mourning.
Ruth sees Matt as apathetic, while
Matt thinks Ruth is too bitter for her
own good. The clashing of grief pro
cesses nearly destroys their marriage,
and Matt will do anything to save it.
Upon leaving the theatre I couldn’t
help but feeling a little cheated. “In
the Bedroom,” in structure only, is
like a long Lifetime original movie.
Right down to the death of a child,
the film moves in the same direction
as those artificial tearjerkers. How
ever, the simple twists and turns grab
enough attention to force the power
ful performances right in your face.
“In the Bedroom’s” reputation will
be now and forever based on its tre
mendous performances. The an-
Video *
- ‘Jay and Silent
Bob Strike back 9
Bones 9
-‘The Musketeer 9
“I’m a Believer” was another big winner. The song that
he wrote for the Monkees a generation ago hit the top of
the airwaves again last year with Smash Mouth’s version,
which was featured in the movie “Shrek,” Middle-agers
and college students alike knew all the words. Some songs
required more audience participation than others. Dia
mond introduced “Forever in Blue Jeans” as an old famil
iar favorite and encouraged the audience to stand and sing
along and even go solo in a few places.
Likewise, “Sweet Caroline” was a stand-up-and-sing
along song, although when it ended, he quipped, “Beauti
ful job, that was lovely...but..why are you still standing?
Don’t you know the song is.,.over? You mean you expect
me to go out there and do it again? I was just checking to
see if I had any choice in the matter...” He then took up
the chorus yet again, this time with great accentuation on
each note and hand gestures to match.
“Beautiful Noise” was one of the, well, noisiest songs
of the night, making full use of Diamond’s extensive back
ing band. Each section had a portion of the song to itself,
and by the time the song was over the audience members
felt like they had been transported to New York City,
Diamond’s hometown. Yet another highlight was “You
Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” a soulful duet in which Dia
mond shared the stage with Linda Press.
One of the show’s most poignant moments was the sing
ing of “Captain Sunshine,” which was dedicated to Vince
Charles, a member of Diamond’s band since 1977 who
died last year. The other was the singing of “He Ain’t
Heavy, He’s My Brother” to honor the nation’s true he
roes, firefighters, policemen and servicemen. The show
ended with “I Am, I Said,” one of Diamond’s defining
hits. He was not gone long, however, before returning for
an encore. A raucous “Cracklin’ Rosie” preceded an elec
trifying “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” and
the show officially ended with the lowering of the flag
over the chorus of “America.”
“It’s a good feeling to know that 1’ ve been able to bridge
generations and still entertain such a varied audience,
noted Diamond in his tour book. That certainly proved
true on Tuesday night, and audience members young and
old left the show assured that good music never goes out
of style.
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Music *
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-Tool (tribute)
Friday, March 1, 2002
guished couple, Spacek and
Wilkinson, is a duo to beat come Os
car time. Their performances drive
the film the same way Henry Fonda
and Katharine Hepburn fueled “On
Golden Pond.”
Spacek is hauntingly realistic as the
bitter and inexorable mother. For any
one who has ever been close to a grief
stricken parent in their own life,
Spacek’s performance only seems
more spectacular. The other perfor-
mance just as notable as Spacek’s is
that of her on-screen husband,
Wilkinson. While Spacek plays the
bitter one, Wilkinson grieves more
quietly. His silent suffering translates
into one of the loudest performances
of the :ar.
MTS&
ENT
‘I! True Hollywood Story’ brings out the
truth once again in ‘DifTrent Strokes’
The cameras, the glitz, the glam
our, and the celebrities now have a
place where they all can come to
gether in a show focused on expos
ing the truth from behind the scenes.
The cast members and celebrities tell
what really happened both on and off
camera as they present the flip side
of fame in “E! True Hollywood
Story.”
This show features the life stories
By comparison, other performers
had short screen time. Tomei’s bat
tered wife and struggling mother,
however, is a standout performance
from the featured cast. Her husband
on the other hand is quite disappoint
ing.
Mapother, the abusive husband. Field’s camera takes over. Subtle
can’t even break out of the thug role movements and short silent scenes
in independent film. His performance make the sentiment eerily authentic,
isn’t as mindless as his other roles “In the Bedroom” is a movie that
(mostly henchmen and cronies), but seems like nothing special in the be-
Harvey' hops onto PiaytWßse stage
On Nov. 1, 1944, the play
“Harvey” by Mary Chase opened on
Broadway. It went on to run an un
believable 1,775 performances,
making it one of the most success
ful plays in Broadway history.
“Harvey” also gained further fame
with the release of the 1950 movie
version starring James Stewart (who
had played the role on Broadway
during the run).
Along with Bugs Bunny and
Roger Rabbit, Harvey ranks as one
of the best-known show business
bunnies. Unlike those, Harvey was
six feet tall, wore a hat and was in
visible.
Harvey is the friend of Elwood P.
Dowd played by Ray Flynt. Elwood
enjoys drinking, has spent his life
fighting reality and has obviously
won the battle, for his best friend is
an invisible rabbit. Elwood’s dot-
DVD*
- ‘Jay and Silent
Bob Strike Back 9
-‘Bones 9
-‘The Musketeer 9
-‘Madame
Butterfly 9
‘Diff'rent Strokes’ is about the misadventures of a riel
hattan family, who adopted the children of their late African
American maid.
by Autumn Brown
staff writer
of people who made a great impact
on American society and popular cul
ture. Every weeknight at 8 p.m. for
at least one hour, different people,
shows, and movies shed light on
Hollywood’s elite.
“E! True Hollywood Story” often
tells the stories about “the demise of
child stars” and their bittersweet sto
ries. In the late ’7os the comedy
“Diff’rent Strokes” was an instant hit
and ruled television.
“Kids identified with these kids. It
was fun for everyone,” Ray Rich-
this chance to break out was just the
usual typecasting mess.
While “In the Bedroom” is mostly
an actor’s movie, Field’s directorial
achievements don’t go unnoticed.
When the actors aren’t expressing
emotions through gestures or words,
ing and loving sister Veta, played by
Tracey Harris Hall) decides it is time
to have Elwood committed to a local
sanitarium and through comedic
events finds herself the recipient of
that commitment and from there the
play spins out of control.
Flynt is making a return visit to Erie
from Washington D.C. to play
Elwood P. Dowd. Hall has been seen
in “Nunsense” and in “Bye Bye
Birdie.”
“ Harvey” is the longest-nmnino
Pulitzer Prize play of all time. An
interesting fact is that “Harvey” pre
miered during World War II and
Antoinette Perry directed the original
production. She died during the run
of the show and her fame in the the
atre community was shown when the
Broadway awards were renamed
‘Tony” after her.
Over the years, many great actors
The Behrend Beacon
mond TV critic said.
However, what the public did not
know the cast was filled with angry
childhood stars, Gary Coleman, Todd
Bridges, and Dana Plato, who had
stories to tell. “Diff’rent Strokes”
found itself in the “E! True Holly
wood Story” spotlight in a show en
titled “After Diff’rent Strokes: When
the Laughter Stopped”.
As viewers found out the young
actors on “Diff’rent Strokes” were
pushed to keep the show on sched
ule. They worked non-stop with
weekends off while also attending
school on the set.
They were like a real family who
had real family problems that sur
faced both on and off the air. While
Coleman dealt with his alter ego, his
two other co-stars constantly battled
with drugs. It’s ironic that former
First Lady Nancy Reagan made a
guest cameo to promote her famous
“Just Say No!” campaign and the
same stars that appeared with her se
cretly did drugs.
In 1999, Plato’s battle with drugs
ultimately killed her. With the help
of archival video footage, reenact
ments and interviews with celebrities
“E! True Hollywood Story” brought
out the truth to all the fans of the
show.
Finally, here’s an Emmy nomi
nated documentary that puts all the
rumors aside and tells the story of the
show. Learn the inside stuff about
your favorite shows that will make
viewers see reruns in a new light. Af
ter all, as the show says, “the best
stories in Hollywood aren’t necessar
ily the ones that make it on the big
screen.”
ginning, but quickly gets under your
skin. Any film flooded with so much
pure emotion is something extraordi
nary. The grief shown “In the Bed
room” could only be more genuine if
someone really died.
7k' ★ 'k 1/2
out of 4 1
have brought Elwood to life. The
original was Frank Fay, then Jimmy
Stewart, Art Carney. Donald
O’Connor and many more.
■ Show dates and Times:
■ March 1-3, 7-9
.Thurs. 7:30 p.m.
■p.m. - Sun. 2 p.m
J Sat., March 9-5 p.m
I Ticket Prices:
[Thurs. and Sun. - $l7 adults, sl6l|
I seniors, $9 students 1
| Fri. and Sat. - $l9 adults, $lB se-|
| niors, $9 students |
| Location: I
| The Erie Playhouse, 13 West 10th ■
| St., Erie a
■ Box Office: ■
J 454-2852 x 41 J
| Website: J
lwww.erieplayhouse.org Jj
- Fri. and Sat. 8 j
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