-Collegian arts
Film Follies tomorrow night
A graphic festival on the screen
By JANET MAZUR
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
A multitude of visual delights will be the fare
tomorrow night when the senior graphic design class
Resents the Bth annual Film Follies at 8 in the Walnut
Building.
According to class member Robert DallaPiazza
(llth-art) the Follies, consisting of assorted slide shows
and film shorts, are essentially, “a distillation of
problems the class dealt with during the last two
.feerms.” . , .
* “It’s a way of publicly displaying our work,”
DallaPiazza said, explaining that the basis of this
year’s follies is the classes’ response to the following
four “problems”: a slide show illustrating the passing
of time, a 16mm film which makes a social or political
} Last Detail' is first choice
By JOHN WARD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The movies this weekend represent
two different evils, and I’ve yet to find
s(he5 (he lesser of them. Downtown we’ve got
he same old stuff, so unless you’re a
film freak who enjoys seeing the same
thing seven or eight times (i.e., a
“Rocky Horror” fan), there’s nothing
worthwhile downtown.
Things aren’t any better on campus.
sost of the films this weekend are
cjuickie make-a-buck jobs that almost
unanimously aren’t worth the celluloid
they’re printed on.
The shame of it is that the sole film
worth seeing on campus, “The Last
Detail,” is on view one night only
Ibnight. The screenplay is incredibly
vulgar, but that’s to be expected, con
sidering the plot. The film’s about three
sailors, two of whom are M.P.’s
escorting the third up north to begin a
jail sentence.
On the way, they treat the young
fspnvict to the best time he’s ever had,
Carousing, drinking and even setting
him up with his first hooker. Jack
Nicholson, as one of the salty guards, is
excellent. So is Randy Quaid, as the
naive convict. Both men won Oscar
nominations for their roles. If you’re
.ty'ree tonight, check it out in 102 Forum.
Sorry to say it’s downhill from here on.
“Revenge of the Pink Panther” makes
its campus bow in Waring Lounge. If
you’ve seen any of the earlier “Panther”
films, then feel free to pass this one up,
because it can’t compare. Peter Sellers’
Clouseau gags are starting to look worn
afd redone. His manservant foil, played
France-Cinema offers two
“Affecting, striking images” is how
&he New York Daily News described
Wim Wenders’ film “Kings of the
Road,” playing for the last time this
week at 7 and 10 tonight in 112 Kern.
Wenders, a German filmmaker whose
work includes “Alice in the Cities,”
. shown in Kern last weekend, and “The
Friend,” starring Dennis
Hopper, has been heralded as one of the
most fascinating young talents of the
’7os.
' “Kings of the Road” is about two men
who also meet rather incidentally, and
decide to venture across the North
German Plain for a couple of weeks. One
is a projector repairman who makes his
home in his van; the other is a linguistics
researcher who’s separated from his
wife. “It is precisely this sense of
anxiety T ridden transience, of fragility,”
wrote, “that has marked just
The Swiss mime troupe, "Mummenschanz” will perform in Eisenhower Auditorium Sunday night to a sell-out crowd
by Burt Kwouk, does well, but not
enough to save the film.
Dustin Hoffman turns in a rare dull
performance in "Straight Time,”
showing in 108 Forum. Hoffman
stumbles his way through the film as an
ex-convict trying to adjust to life on the
outside, but finding crime easier to
handle. Theresa Russell is his love in
terest. .
One goes from bad to worse with
“Thank God it’s Friday,” one of the
most blatant rip-offs I’ve ever seen. It’s
a disco movie patterned all-to-much
after “Saturday Night Fever.” The
film’s sole claim to fame is that “Last
Dance,” a Donna Summer song from the
soundtrack, made the Top 40. Big deal.
“TGIF” ’sin 119 Osmond.
For all you macho freaks out there, a
sagging Charles Bronson plods his way
through “Telefon,” on view in 121
Sparks. Chuck shows his age in this spy
yarn about KGB agents, bomb threats
and blackmail.
Paul Schrader, the ingenious writer of
“Taxi Driver,” is surprisingly off-base
with “Blue Collar,” starring Richard
Pryor and Harvey Keitel. I used to think
Richard Pryor can seriously act, but no
more. Pryor plays one of three buddies
on an assembly line (hence the cute
title) who come to grips over union rules.
The sparks fly in 105 Forum.
For pure romantic schlock, take “The
Other Side of the Mountain Part 2”
please. It’s a continuation of the tear
jerker about skiier Jill Kinmont, turned
invalid in an accident. This film is in
valid as well, in 10 Sparks.
about everything Wim Wenders has
done, and it looks like an extraordinary
offering to say the least.
MOVIES
Also playing in the France-Cinema
series this weekend is Philippe De
Broca s “Dear Inspector,” a very recent
film billed as a “romantic comedy
murder mystery,” at 7 and 9 tomorrow
night and Monday night in 112 Kern.
De Broca also made the celebrated
“King of Hearts,” both graced and
guided by the very gifted Genevieve
Bujold and sexy Alan Bates, and “In
spector promises to be just as bubbly.
statement, the metamorphosis of a simple geometric
shape, and raw film stock, illustrated without the use of
emulsion instead by way of bending, bleaching or
tearing it.
The work appearing tomorrow night has been chosen
“democratically” by the 18-member class.
“We’ve trimmed 90 to 100 pieces down to 30,”
DallaPiazza said.
The invitation to the Follies is punched full of holes.
Inside is a plastic bag filled with tiny paper circles and
the message: “Dotsof Fun for Everyone-.” -
Dalla Piazza explained the gist of graphic design,
“It’s not just pretty pictures, though psoters are a part
of it. Graphic design is visual communication, a
balance between image and type. ”
However, DallaPiazza cautioned that his craft is not
—by Diana Younken
Outlaws-style rock is what local band Tahoka Freeway is best known for.
Tahoka currently plays at State College bars but is ready to start touring this
spring.
Children's theatre on Sunday with Readers
Penn State’s University Readers may be said to be
suffering from an identity crisis. “What do you do,” a
confused student once asked a member, “just sit
around and read?”
Actually, the University Readers is an oral in
terpretation group which periodically presents
chamber and readers theatre productions. Lynn Miller
(grad-speech communication), faculty coordinator of
the readers, explains, “Chamber theatre is a technique
developed at Northwestern University to bring fiction
to the stage.”
Single character shows, such as Julie Harris’ por
trayal of Emily Dickiinson, Henry Fonda as Clarence
Darrow, James Whitmore as Harry Truman and Will
Rogers, all are readers theatre. So are several scenes
from the hit musical “A Chorus Line.” Readers theatre,
contrary to the usual conception, is not defined by the
presence or absence of a script, though in many such
to be confused with film-making.
“We’re not filmmakers, we’re graphic designers, and
our approach is such,” he said.
While films are the principal attraction of the
evening, the event involves more than just these visual
presentations, according to Lanny Sommese, associate
professor and head of the graphics option in the art
department and the innovator of the Follies.
He explained that the graphic students design not
only the films, but also the atmosphere in which they
are-presented.” -■ - -
Sommese began the Follies after joining’tlie faculty
in 1970. Previous Follies were held in the Zoller Gallery
but this year’s event has been moved to the Robeson
Cultural Center in order to accommodate a larger
audience.
shows a script is used during the performance.
Some recent readers’ productions have been an open
reading hour, a science fiction reading hour, and their
highly successful production of Kurt Vonnegut’s
“Welcome to the Monkey House.”
Sometimes, individual readers direct productions in
which they have a special interest. Cindy Garren (12th
theatre) is directing a production of children’s
literature this Sunday, Feb. 11, in 102 Kern.
The free show “Not Only For Children” is a special
project of Garren’s combiningspeech communication
and children’s theatre. She is assisted by Miller and Dr.
Helen Manfull of the theatre department.
Selections will be read from Margery Williams’ “The
Velveteen Rabbit,” Norton Juster’s “The Phantom
Tollbooth,” Louise Ritzhugh’s “Harriet the Spy,”
whimsical poetry by Shel Silverstein, and original
music transitions.
Masks make it
different mime
By GAIL STRAMA ,
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
How many ways can you use toilet
paper?
You probably wouldn’t use it to make a
facial mask, but that’s what the three
performers who comprise the Swiss
mime group “Mummenschanz” use it
for. They use other such ordinary
household items for their masks and
these masks are what set them off from
ordinary mime troupes. By definition,
mime, traditional or “Mum
menschanz,” is a way of communicating
ideas through facial expression with
gestures and movements.
Performing this Sunday atB:3o p.m. in
Eisenhower Auditorium, the trio will
present a two-act program which
promises to be unusual. Unfortunately,
for those without tickets, the show is sold
out. However, ticketholders are in for a
truly extraordinary mime experience.
The first act will be a visual story of
man’s evolution, and the second will deal
with human relationships. The program
is the only one the trio has developed so
far.
Andres Bossard, Bernie Schurch, and
Floriana Frassetto comprise the mime
Gutsy country
with Tahoka's
By PAT McMICHAEL
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Country rock .. . Texas swing .. .
country boogie . . . whatever you wish to
call it, Tahoka Freeway plays it.
Tahoka Freeyvay is a iocal band which
plays at favorite State College bars like
The Brewery and The Phyrst.
The name Tahoka Freeway came
from the name of the town up the road
from Lubbock, Texas, where the wife of
guitarist Fred Curdts lived.
Lubbock, Curdts explained, was a dry
town and the only way to get beer was to
travel to Tahoka (by way of the
freeway).
Curdts plays both lead guitar and the
banjo and also provides background
vocals.
Before forming Tahoka Freeway,
Curdts played with another local band,
Morningsong, in which another local
favorite, Randy Hughes, was a member.
About the same time Morningsong
broke up, still another local band, the
Rounds Brothers, split, leaving their
bass guitarist, Big Daddy Bish, without
a band.
Big Daddy Bish, described by Curdts
as a “bish that plays bass” played for
the Rounds Brothers for seven years,
and all seven years at the less than
modern Brewery.
The lead singer for Tahoka Freeway is
Terry Whitlock, who started his career
in New Jersey as a single act before
coming to State College to join what was
to become his first band.
Whitlock is a gutsy vocalist who plays
The Daily Collegian Friday, Feb. 9,1979
troupe; all originally began as members
of the traditional “white face” mime
troupes. Looking for something new,
they developed their individual style of
mime in which facial and body masks
are substituted for the white-face mime
trademark.
Although admireres of the famous
Marcel Marceau, the group has no
desire to imitate him. They feel that
classical mime is of a dream-like nature,
and regard their mime technique as
more modern.
The trio is a strictly do-it-yourself
group, making their own costumes and
props. They rented a kitchen to use as a
workshop, and there devise their
unusual masks out of relatively boring
things such as vegetable containers.
Each member of the group helps
develop all aspects of a production, not
just writing or choreography.
No music or other form of sound, in
cluding voices, is used during the entire
performance. Even the printed
programs are done by means of pic
tures, without words.
The show is presented by the Artists
Series. “Mummenschanz” is on their
fourth annual tour of North America.
good acoustical guitar and acts as the
group’s spokesman.
Another member, Andy Jackman,
came from Australia and his excellent
drumming seems to fit well into the
country format of the band.
What separates Tahoka Freeway from
other country bands is the fine pedal
steel guitar playing by local Wayne
Addleman.
The band formed in August, 1977 and
played their first job in October. Now,
Curdts feels, the band is ready to tour.
“It takes a while to get a band tight,”
Curdts said. “Now we’re ready.”
The band will begin touring during
spring, starting in South Carolina and
working their way up the coast.
Last year Tahoka Freeway played
over 300 jobs and in the summers they
average 13 jobs every 15 days.
Playing mostly Outlaws’ style of rock,
the band’s most requested songs are
“Waitress, Oh Waitress” (described as
the ultimate truck-drivers’ ballad),
“Choo Choo Chaboogie” (a fast-pace
country boogie), and some other lesser
known tunes like “I’m Glad to be an
Asshole from El Paso” and “Red-Neck
Mother.”
“Most people,” Curdts said, "come
down to the bars to get happy, and that’s
what we try to help them do.”
The group has also written songs,
including “Willie,” written and sung by
Big Daddy Bish. He describes it as a
“story of the lost” and the song provides
for some soft lead guitar with the steel
guitar in the background.
Cast members are: Barbara Bisbing (7th-theatre),
Donna Pharo (Bth-theatre), Margie Martz (10th
broadcast journalism), John O’Hara (Bth-theatre),
Mark Shaw (graduate-speech communication), Neal
Hemphill (6th-liberal arts), and Jeff McLaughlin
(graduate-theatre).
Ginny Queen (graduate-speech communication) is
directing Henry Miller’s “The Smile at the Foot of the
Ladder,” a free reader’s theatre presentation 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14, in 102 Kern. Cast members are
Queen, Martz, and Elyse Goldstein (llth-speech
communication).
“Our name is a drawback,” one reader admitted.
“We’ve thought of other names, but they don’t sound
nearly as good when we’re sober.” Lately, the group
has been describing itself as the University Readers
Theatre to alleviate the problem.
sounds
music
—by Mark Hannon