Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor
behrcolls@aol.com
hree
better
preview by Ryan Russell
staff miter
If someone said that three plays, one
titled "976-Lust," another titled "The
Pickup," and, the last titled "Sex Lives
of Superheroes" were coming to a local
theater, would it garner people's inter
est? What if those three plays were com
ing to Behrend, courtesy of the Match
box Players?
This Friday and Saturday, Behrend's
Matchbox, Players will be at it again, star
ring in three One Act Plays, less than one
weolt,after,it,biouccessful Improv
Niat.'' , Milibtfridll be performed in
the trusty Studio Theatre, and will start
at 8 p.m. an both Friday and Satuntlay.
The show is expected to run about an
hour and 15 minutes, and tickets are only
two dollars for students. So there will
still be plenty of tune and money to go
out with alter enjoying a night of laugh
ter.
in
nuendoes, the show is not centered on
the act," said Steve O'Donnell, dime
tor of "Sex Lives of Superheroes".
"Each play shares the common ground
of two individuals thrown together in
interesting circumstances for the first
time."
"Whether it's a phone call or a one
night stand, these couples are forced to
get to know each other."
Thetrst play, "976-Lust," written by
David S. Raine, deals with Brian, who
has just called a phone sex line for the
fast time and got more from it than he
bargained for. It turns out the girl he talks
to isn't even really &phone sex operator,
and some of the most hilarious and awk
Cable networks plan
'Queer Eve' parodies
by Daniel Fienberg
Zap2it.com
Launching this summer, Bravo's "Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy" turned conven
tional mainstream sexual power dynam
ics upside down. While not exactly
branching too far from traditional stereo
types, the show suggested the possibility
that after years of being mocked and di
minished in popular culture representa
tions, things had progressed to the point
where homosexual protagonists were free
to both mock and improve straight people.
Out of that fertile ground, two "Queer
Eye" parodies are set to emerge, both in
verting the Bravo show's formula by in
troducing a panel of straight men ready to
teach gay men how to pass for straight.
It may take a road map to tell the duel
ing parodies apart. Comedy Central is pre
paring "Straight Plan for the Gay Man"
for a February launch, while Bravo will
counter with the hour-long special
"Straight Eye for the Queer Guy," set to
air sometime next year.
The Comedy Central project will take
the form of pure comedy in its three epi
sodes. Four straight stand-up veterans --
Curtis Gwynn, Billy Merritt, Kyle Grooms
and Rob Riggle -- will be the Flab 4, a
group of experts in the ways of hetero
sexual masculinity. The Flab 4 will be
enlisted to help three gay men achieve
their straight dreams.
The gay subjects include Jonathan, a
fashion salesman who wants to understand
the life of a blue collar worker; Roger, a
yoga instructor who just wants to join a
pick-up basketball game; and Stephen, a
singer/dancer who would like to see if he
could become a ladies man. The Flab 4
will give each of these men a crash course
in straight male life, messing up their
clothes, stripping their kitchens bare and
encouraging false egotism, as they let
them pass as straight for a day.
It's going to be a bit like a fictional ver
sion of "The Man Show."
The first episode of "Straight Plan for
the Gay Man" will air Feb. 17.
The tone of Bravo's reversal, which is
ex ted to be a one-shot s t cial, is a little
plays are
than one
ward conversations ever to grace the
Behrend stage follow. The play is di
rected by Jared Semrau and will star
Clark Pease and Leah Burfield.
The second play is "The Pickup,"
also penned by David Raine. This
story centers around Marty Dixon,
who went to the bar last night and
woke up with a heck of a lot more to
deal with than the usual hangover. He
is tied to a chair under an interroga
tion light, and begins to think his
friends are playing a joke on him.
Then Claudia shows herself and de
cides to have some fun with poor
Marty before help arrives. "The
Pickup" is directed by Robert Frank
and will star Xenia Tomlinson, An
drew Evans, and a special guest.
The third stanza in the One Act
Plays trilogy is "Sex Lives of Super
heroes," authored by Stephen Gregg.
The show opens with an unusual day
dream that Michael is having about his
ex-shiftiend-turned-kleptomaidat
Lisa, before he is interrupted by a
ock at the door. The woman who
interrupts poor Mike turns out to have
an odd habit of her own, and as the
show plays out it becomes clearer that
some of the individuals involved need
a few adjustments and in the end may
need to learn something.
Woo
of
do
The final act stars John Stranahan,
Amanda Golia, Grace Quiggle, Leann
Bartomioli, Shea Moore and Tanaz
Balaporia.
So why these three short plays? The
answer is simple: High comedy plus
Innuendos can add up to a good time
for those in attendance.
"These three were the only shows
with common ground and over the top
comedy," said O'Donnell. "Realizing
their potential we went ahead with
them and the rest is history."
fuzzier. "Queer Eye" creators David
Collins and David Metzler will oversee
"Straight Eye" and they intend to main
tain the nonfiction framework.
"It's done in a fun spirit, a campy spirit,
in a way that allows the straight guys to
have a little fun with the Fah 5," Collins
promises
While the special is still in the earliest
planning stages. the producers speculate
The Fab 5 from "Queer Eye" could
be wearing flannel shirts and eating
Hungry Man dinners if Bravo and
Comedy Central get their way.
that the Fab 5 will be involved. They also
hope that the panel of "straight" experts
will include some of the men who were
made-over in the first season of "Queer
Eye."
"It's also a way to show that these two
worlds are not that far apart, so if our Fab
5 are teaching straight guys how to dress
and how to have better social skills, then
we feel the straight guys should have the
opportunity to show the Fab 5 how to
throw a football or how to enjoy a foot
ball game," adds Metzler.
While presumably the crash-courses in
heterosexual mores will go beyond pig
skin trivia and throwing the perfect spi
ral, the producers promise that the spe
cial will also include a mixture of valu
able real lessons and light-hearted humor.
"There is going to be some takeaway
information there," Metzler says. "There's
definitely going to be some things you're
going to walk away with that are infor
mative and there's gonna be some things
that you're gonna walk away with that are
just funny."
Friday, November 14, 2003
Adams doubles
music offerings
review by Greg Smith
contributing writer
You walk into your favorite record store. You're ready to
pick up the much-anticipated album from Ryan Adams, the
guy who's been called "the next Dylan." You can't wait to
hear those country-flavored vocals, love-scorned lyrics and
pedal steel guitar that you heard on Adams' 2001 smash,
"Gold."
Well, my friend, you're in for a big surprise
Ryan Adams traded in his acoustic for some pickups and
an amp on his latest official release, "Rock N Roll." Re
corded in the basement of a New York City bar, "Rock N
Roll" finds Adams summoning groups such as The Replace
ments, moving from his normal alt-country style to jangly,
synth-filled, 80s-style pop.
Adams starts off the album with four foot-stomping tracks
with raunchy distorted guitar that give "Rock N Roll" a prom
ising, but somewhat odd, feeling. The opening track, "This
Is It," fires on all cylinders and is followed by the bluesy-riffs
of "Shallow," which is the best track of the album. "1974"
hits you with authority as Adams goes all out on the great
rock chorus. "Wish You Were Here" is a solid track, but
Adams seems to get careless with the lyrics as they get a bit
thin (Everybody knows the way I feel about you / It's all a
bunch of sh*t).
"So Alive" is the first single to be released from "Rock N
Roll," and it's a poor choice. It follows "Wish You Were
Here" and is the point where the album takes a sharp turn
south. It's almost reminiscent of early U 2 with its quick riffing
and Adams' falsetto-laden chorus. The majority of the rest of
the album follows suit, with mind-numbing 80s guitar effects
and synthesizer. Adams and his recording band seem to act
like The Strokes on this album, and they're frankly wasting
their talent.
For the most pall, the lyrics on "Rock N Roll" work, but
Adams did sink a in the in that department compared to past
efforts. In an interview with VH I, Adams said he blamed his
love problems on everyone else on past albums and now real
izes there was a good chance he was at fault in many situa
tions. Most of the tracks from "Rock N Roll" seem to deal
with love issues, but has Adams really matured? In the tune,
"Burning Photographs," he sings "I used to be sad / now I'm
just bored with you.-
An artist's changes are inevitable, but I don't think this
record is a step forward for Adams. "She's Lost Total Con
trol- is a downright awful song. While there is some good
rifting on the album, and another incredible, all out rocker in
"Note To Self: Don't Die," Adams ultimately fails at this 80s
pop/punk attempt. But with a wide range of influences from
the Grateful Dead to Hank Williams to Black Flag, this al
bum was not a complete surprise from someone like the out
spoken Adams, who, for all we know, could just be doing it
to keep us guessing (the title track is, after all, the most mel
low track on the album).
But fans should not despair if "Rock N Roll" isn't their
style. In another surprising move, Adams also released the
first of two EPs (the second is due Dec. 9) containing his
aptly titled, scrapped studio album, "Love Is Hell." Put on
TUNIC
tells a
by Roger Moore
The Orlando Sentinel
In the end, Tupac has the last word
Rapper and "thug life" revolution
ary, artist and articulate spokesman
for his art, hard-hearted criminal and
mama's boy, the many sides of Tupac
Shakur have fascinated documentary
filmmakers since his 1996 murder.
But "Tupac: Resurrection," directed
by Lauren Lazin and produced by
Shakur's mother, is the rapper, speak
ing of his hard life and music, his mis
takes and triumphs, and even his im
pending death, in his own words.
That family cooperation means that
this Tupac doc is full of his music, his
videos, his home movies and family
photos. Every audio or video inter
view he ever did was available.
And even though the result is some
thing of a valentine to a guy who was,
in essence, a brilliant poser whose
death seemed triggered by his believ
ing his own tough-guy hype, the many
blunders and missteps he made are thor
oughly documented. Lazin doesn't sugar
coat Shakur's run-ins with the law, both
as a victim and guilty-as-sin punk who
brought grief on himself and others.
documentary
poignant tale
Unlike the other Tupac docs, such
as Nick Broomfield's notorious
"Biggie and Tupac," this one doesn't
concern itself much with who killed
him or why he died. Lazin's film cel
ebrates the life and lets him tell his
own story. This is how Tupac saw
himself -- mercurial, arrogant, ambi
tious, with talent to burn and "a re
ally big mouth."
His close relationship with his
Black Panther mother is shown. He
talks about his influences, which will
shock most -- Don McLean's folk ode
to Van Gogh, "Vincent," was a favor-
ite song.
He charms. He flirts. He seduces.
And he's wicked quick with quip. He
shows off the marks from a police
beating to a TV interviewer.
Of course, the quintessential "hard"
man wouldn't be too pleased to show
that picture of him in ballet tights. But
as paranoid and violent as he seemed,
he started life on a star search, writ
ing poetry, break dancing and rapping
until he got his break.
And he wasn't done, yet. A genu
inely charismatic movie star, Shakur
was just emerging in Hollywood
when his police troubles and then his
Ryan Adams' album "Rock N Roll" hit stores on Nov. 4
hold by his record label because it was too dark, "Love Is
Hell, Part 1" features Adams in his most mellow setting yet.
To call the album dark is an understatement; it's flat-out mo
rose at most points. It's like an intensely dramatic film with
little comedic relief. But that doesn't mean it isn't a strong
effort. With every listen the EP has grown on me more and
more.
Adams' songwriting talent really shines on "Love Is Hell.'
If the title isn't clue enough, you can sense his heartfelt pain
in the pure darkness of the 8 tracks. The opening song,
"Political Scientist," starts out slow and somber but builds,
like many of the tunes, into a brilliant and thoughtful end
ing. Adams recalls love memories on "This House Is Not
For Sale" with lyrics like "You were holding me honey, shak
ing my soul." Again, the title track is the most "upbeat"
tune on the album and is really the standout track. Surpris
ingly, you may find yourself listening to the title track and
smiling a little, despite the downer "love is hell, love is hell"
chorus. Adams also skillfully puts a dark, sad twist on a
cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall," a version that is superior to
the original.
Adams' lyrical stylings are much more sincere and heart
felt on "Love Is Hell" than on "Rock N Roll." Although
"Love Is Hell" is not his best effort, it is the first half of an
emotional and excellent record, and I'm very much antici
pating Part 2.
Adams is an interesting and gutsy character, enough so to
release two completely different albums on the same day.
murder stopped a promising new ca-
Lazin's film presents Tupac Shakur
as a Lenny Bruce figure, persecuted,
attacked by the system and probably
murdered by it. Journalists have
pointed the triggerman's finger at
cops, and "Biggie and Tupac" film
maker Broomfield lays the blame for
the murder on Death Row Records
honcho Suge Knight. The police don't
seem to care.
Some of the sound in the film feels
edited, as if Lazin flipped around the
wording to make Shakur seem more
prophet than pop star. But it's hard not
to see a singer who rapped "Who will
mourn me," and "looking at my life
through a rear view mirror ... time to
die" as prescient.
And she utterly glosses over some
of his criminal activity -- the time he
shot a couple of cops is barely men
tioned.
But this is it, the complete "thug
life," everything you wanted to know
about the man, his history, his music.
Knowing that its brilliant subject died
at just 25 makes "Tupac: Resurrec
tion" as poignant as it is informative.
The Behrend Beacon
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