arts
The legendary jazz and blues artist, Ray Charles, gave a rousing perfor
mance last night in Eisenhower auditorium. “Busted,” “Don’t Change on
Me” and a rockin’ version of “Some Enchanted Evening” highlighted his
show. The Raelettes joined him in singing “I Want Your Love,” a hit from the
70s.
French sees the theater
as a communal activity
By MICHAEL ROSS DOMINICIS
Collegian Arts Writer
As the trumpets sound, the cour
tiers file into position and the
palace comes alive. The fanfare
peaks and the king and queen of
Denmark appear high on a plat
form amid the warm and hearty
reception and acknowledge the
•faithful court in the University
Resident Theatre Company’s pro
duction of Hamlet.
Offstage the “queen” is much
more prone to simplicity in her life
and work. Sitting in her office, she
has been transformed into actress
Peg French, who plays the part of
Gertrude in the URTC’s produc
tion and also serves as an instruc
tor in the University’s theater arts
program.
An initial interest in acting led
French to several roles in high
school and college productions.
French then took a 20 year sabbat
ical from the theater in order to
raise her family, but when her
children had grown, she again
returned to the stage. Boal Barn
was French’s initiation into State
College theater, and from there
she then went on to earn a grad
uate degree in acting from the
University and has since become a
member of Actors’ Equity Asso
ciation. Her roles have included:
Goldie in Fiddler on the Roo/with
the Marriott-Lincolnshire Resort
Theater in Chicago; Amanda in
The Glass Menagerie with the
Camden Shakespeare Company;
and Mrs. Antrobus in The Skin of
Our, Teeth with the URTC.
French said that though many
people dislike her character, she
finds Queen Gertrude a favorable
part.
“I do like Gertrude. I don’t think
she’s evil. Some people think that
Gertrude was in on the killing of
her first husband, but I don’t be
lieve that, and I think the script
justifies that,’’she said.
After her husband mysteriously
dies, Gertrude marries her late
husband’s brother and then at
tempts to convince her son Hamlet
to return to the kingdom to live.
Yet, Hamlet is told by his father’s
ghost that he was murdered by his
succeeding brother and demands
revenge. The action becomes in
tense as Hamlet plots to kill the
new king who in turn is trying to
murder him. Gertrude gets caught
in between the rage of the two
men, which results in tragedy for
everyone concerned.
“Gertrude knew in her heart of
hearts all the time that she
shouldn’t have married that soon
or that man,” French said.
“She knew she should have
mourned longer, but her need was
so great at the time that she didn’t
think of the repercussions. Ger
trude is very pragmatic,” French
added. “She never dwells on the
past; she just deals with the mo
ment.”
One of the strongest scenes in
Collegian Photo I Michael Houtz
the play is when the queen tries to
discipline her son, who has just
offended her new husband. In
stead, Hamlet takes control of the
situation with violent tantrums
and harsh words for his mother.
While the scene is one of French’s
favorites, she admits that it could
have been dangerous if precau
tions had not been taken to ensure
the safety of the actors.
“The fight choreographer
showed us how to do it so that it
looks like he (Chris Howe) is
throwing me, but I’m actually
throwing myself. He gives me the
momentum, then I throw myself
back as if he threw me,” French
said. “Even when he shakes me,
he only grabs my arms, and then I
throw my head forward and back
ward so it looks like he’s shaking
me, but I’m doing it. Otherwise
there would be real danger to the
actor,” she added.
French said that one of her
concerns onstage, beyond that of
her artistry, are technical mistak
es, which can sometimes disrupt
the actors and their rapport with
the audience.
“I hate it when technical things
go wrong because it destroys the
moment and there’s nothing that
you can do as an actor. You just
have to work and work to get the
audience back into the world of the
play and hope they’ll come with
you,” she said. “You need an
audience there with you and you
really know when they leave you
it’s scary.
“When you know everyone is in
it together it’s amazing what that
does for the actor. I wish audi
ences today knew how valuable
that is to the actor. It’s hard to
explain unless you experience it.
It’s like a gift from the audience,”
French said.
The tedious process of acting is
one that begins long before the
actor walks onstage. French
maintains that as an actor one
must strive to get to the core of the
part.
“You have to make a lot of
personal connections. I have to
make contact with the concerns of
the character every night,” she
said.
And while French works hard on
refining her craft on an individual
and interpersonal level, she recog
nizes that it is an art form that
involves an aspect of sharing as
well.
“I think I’m a creative person
and this is my venue for creativ
ity. I like the communal aspect of
acting. All of us make this thing
that we hope will turn out to be an
object of art that we then share
with the audience. There’s some
thing terribly exciting about that
to me it feeds me.
“I’ve learned so much from
watching theater; it enriches my
life to be in the audience, and it
enriches my life to be on the stage.
It’s hard work, but it’s very fullfil
ling to me,” she said.
Charles' concert reveals his genius
By NATALIE NICHOLS
Collegian Arts Writer
It is a rare thing for to perform so well
that he receives a standing ovation. Ray Charles
took this a step further by getting one before he
even began playing. The audience of mostly
older people, with some students and even a few
children, stood on its feet Wednesday night in
Eisenhower Auditorium to pay tribute to a great
musician.
Mary Wong opened the show, and provided a
rather strange contrast with the music that
followed. The trio called itself a “transvestite,
schizophrenic comedy team,”, because it has a
Chinese female name and the members are all
black men. Their half-hour performance includ
ed several funny skits, including one about a
Chinese-run “authenic Italian pizza parlor,” a
bit about “old geezers” as an endangered species
and a scene from “every karate movie ever
made,” complete with poorly dubbed dialogue.
Many of Mary Wong’s short skits satirized
black stereotypes and games children play, a la
Eddie Murphy. Their humor was more enjoyable
than Murphy’s, however, as it left out the offen
sive language he uses. The audience laughed
heartily at the performers’ jokes and acrobatics.
A short intermission seemed to last forever as
the audience anticipated Ray Charles’ appear
ance.
Finally, the Ray Charles Orchestra struck up
several jazzy instrumentals, complete with
trumpet, saxophone and trombone solos, which
set the mood for Charles’ performance. The
saxophone players were especially talented,
wailing out tunes with a flair.
The lights dimmed as the fourth swinging
melody ended with a wave of the conductor’s
hand. From the darkness, an announcer’s voice
introduced “the legendary Ray Charles.” A
spotlight shone on the famous figure as he
entered , looking spiffy in a gray and white
striped tuxedo jacket and black bow tie and
spotlight
Golton uses her dulci
By SARAMMA METHRATTA
Collegian Arts Writer
“I first heard the dulcimer on the
radio at one in the morning,” folk
singer Esther Golton said. “It was
right before I went on a trip to
Israel to visit my relatives. Kevin
Roth, who’s pretty well-known
among dulcimists, was playing, and
the sound he created was just so
delicate and sweet I was
hooked.”
Golton is a 19 year-old agronomy
major with an interesting hobby: in
the Jawbone Coffeehouse and HUB
Cellar, she sings and plays piano,
flute and the Appalachian Mountain
dulcimer. The dulcimer is a long,
fretted lap instrument shaped “like
a woman”; it sounds like a cross
between a harp and a guitar “and
sometimes a harpsicord, depending
on how you play it.” Recently, such
artists as Joni Mitchell and the rock
group Genesis have been using the
instrument in their recordings.
Golton is drawn to the simplicity
in folk music. “Folk is all about
communicating,” she said, “and
I’ve always wanted to share music
with people to say, ‘I love this,
and I want you to love it, too.’ If I
did go into music, it would be folk
because that’s the most sincere,
least competitive field.”
It was her family, Golton said,
who introduced her to music. Her
uncle is famed violinist Shmuel
Ashkenazi, who came from Israel to
attend Philadelphia’s Curtis Insti
tute of Music. “He was offered the
concert master’s seat in the Phila
delphia Orchestra, and he turned it
down,” she said. “He sort of dis
couraged me from pursuing music
full-time.” Her parents, however,
encouraged her with flute and piano
lessons. “I started playing the pi
ano when I was six years gld and
Hector in Paris brings style to the Scorpion
By PAT GRANDJEAN
Collegian Arts Writer
Music for the moon’s new wave clubs after
colonization the soundtrack to a danceable LSD
trip little symphonies to orchestrate daily
obsessions: all these ideas and more can be used to
describe the music of Hector in Paris, a synthesiz
er-based dance band that will appear at the
Scorpion tomorrow evening.
No description is as apt, however, as that pro
vided by keyboardist Ron Solo, who suggests that
the quartet’s original songs constitute “elevator
music for the 19905. I can see our music being
played on elevators 20 years from now,” Solo said.
“We have a lot of songs with lilting horn and
keyboard parts. I can see them being recorded by
generic string sections and studio musicians and
released on a Ray Conniff album one day.”
. Perhaps. For now, the ensemble’s own perfor
mance of its material is a good deal grittier than
Ray has ever tried to be. Hector in Paris’ person
nel combines song titles like “Silent Scream
,” “Pavement Naver Cracks,” "I Am Terrified”
and “Digital Bit” with arrangements that incorpo
rate equal doses of ‘OOs pop, avant-garde jazz,
sporting his trademark dark glasses'.
A big smile split Charles’ face as he sat down at
the piano. He launched right into two upbeat jazz
songs, one of them “Busted,” a rueful song about
hard times with no money.
He then performed a soul-rendifig version of
his number one hit, “Georgia,” a slow, sweet,
sad song about the girl who’s always on his mind.
He seemed to feel every note, every syllable as
he sang this beautiful song.
In a different vein, “I’ve Got News For You”
drew a few chuckles from the audience as
Charles sang about a girl who appeared shy, but
“I took you to my club and the whole band knew
your name! ” He punctuated his demands for her
to shape up with growls and bounding feet.
Charles bobbed his head and gave the audience
his characteristic Cheshire Cat grin throughout
the entire show. His body dipped and swayed on
the piano seat as every part of him kept time with
the music.
He joked with the audience a little during an
interlude and then sang a rockin’ version of
“Some Enchanted Evening,” rolling his r’s Caru
so-style. “That’s three weeks of work right there,
I’ll tell you,” he laughed.
The crowd applauded enthusiastically after
each song. “Thank you, fans, I like you,” said
Charles.
He introduced the Raelettes, his female back
up singers, four of them dressed in loud pink
floral print dresses and one in red. They opened
their performance with “I Want YoUr Love,” a
popular disco song from the 1970’s band Chic.
The song seemed really out of place among
Charles’ jazz and blues tunes, but he enjoyed
playing it, to the extent that he even jumped up
and down at the end!
The Raelettes sang with Charles for the rest of
his performance, and although they did not hurt
the show, they did not add much either. One of
them had an incredible voice, but the others were
not so distinctive. Nonetheless, this was a minor
drawback in an otherwise excellent show.
mer to find the
studied for 12 years. I studied flute
for 13 years. But I rebelled against
the discipline that my parents
forced on me, so I didn’t enjoy it at
the time. It wasn’t until I discov
ered the dulcimer that I found free
dom in music and fell in love with
it.”
After hearing Roth on the radio,
Golton rushed out to buy his album.
“He’s done 15 albums,” she said,
“and that was the one I didn’t like,
so I forgot about the dulcimer for a
while. Then, after a concert he gave
in West Chester, I asked him if he
taught lessons. He said, ‘Do you
have a dulcimer?’ ”
Golton bought a dulcimer for $225
—“my mother thought I was crazy”
and began two months of lessons
with Roth. “I crammed in'a lot that
summer, as far as technique goes,”
she added, “but it wasn’t until the
past year that I started experiment
ing with my own style.”
Golton’s current passion is song
writing. “When I was younger, I’d
listen to top 40 music on the radio
and vow never to write love songs.
rhythm and blues and David Bowie/Talking
Heads.
“Picnic On The Edge,” the A-side of a single
released in July, is highlighted by a skittery
instrumental line, creaky horn sounds and a lead
vocal that sounds like it was phoned in. Dark
washes of synthesizer make the mood of “Pic
nic” ’s flip side, Vi*‘Silent Radio,” much more
ominous and edgy. Both tracks hook the listener’s
ear and feet thanks to a relentless, rubbery
bass line.
Hector in Paris music does indeed play in
Pittsburgh, despite that city’s reputation as a blue
collar, R & B stronghold. The group’s main venue
in their home town is Graffiti, a new-wave club
that guitarist Phil Harris described as “the best
place for us to play. It’s a new club about a year
old, and we attract our biggest crowd there, people
who won’t come to see us at other clubs.”
Their “crowd” tends to include a wide range of
humanity. Solo noted that “our audience consists
of hardcore fans, people involved, in the intense
arts scene here, architects and lawyers. We’ve
even been hired to play weddings, for some rea
son.” They’ve also shared bills with other popular
Pittsburgh bands, including the Cynics, Kids After
Esther Golton
Now the most important thing for
me is to be original.” The ideal
song, she said, would combine poet
ry and music that complements
that poetry “and that rarely
happens today, especially in pop
music.”
Determined to avoid the “soupy,
generic” sound of top 40 music,
Golton tries to vary the tone and
subject matter of her songs. “Pat
Baxter’s Song” is a response to the
white South African woman who
spoke against divestment earlier
this year in the HUB Fishbowl. The
song’s refrain: “You’re full of
bullshit.” Golton strums the dul
cimer with a pick to give the song a
rhythmic, driving sound. “I was so
mad after hearing Pat Baxter
speak,” she said, “that I came
home and wrote the words in five
minutes. It took me 10 more min
utes to do the music.”
“Andrew,” a song inspired by a
handicapped friend, proved more
difficult to write. “It only has four
chords in it,” she said, “and when I
was trying to write it, I couldn’t get
The Daily Collegian
Friday, Nov. 22, 1985
In the funky “Don’t Change On Me,” Charles
used many images of sunlight to convey his
happirifess with being in love.
Although he has been blind since age six,
Charles plays a lot of songs with much visual
imagery. Besides the references to seeing the
sur shine in “Don’t Change On Me,” “Georgia”
says of the girl he loves, “her eyes smile tender
ly.”
' His next number, the famous “I Can’t Stop
Loving You,” was a country tune with jazz/blues
undertones, about happiness that’s gone but not
forgotten.
“I would hope you forgive me for this,”
Charles said of his next song, “But I want to give
you just one page in my life.”
He launched into a rollicking country tune,
“Three-Four Time,” in which he just wants to
live.fast, play music and find a woman who will
"make love in three-four time.”
The atmosphere in the auditorium changed
again as Charles slipped into a soft, tender love
song, “Born to Love Me.” His mood changes
from song to song were abrupt at times, but each
was so complete that it did not detract from his
performance.
After his final song, Charles stood up, removed
his glasses, wiped his face, smiled at the audi
ence’s applause and said, “Thank you, I appre
ciate that.”
He invited the audience to participate in a
“shout-along,” saying, “I guarantee you’ll have
a lot of fun with this ’cause you can ventilate
yourself, know what I mean?” He chuckled. The
audience wholeheartedly followed him in wailing
and “whoa”-ing.
Charles laughed and hugged himself in almost
childish delight, waved to the audience and
grinned appreciatively. The announcer once
again proclaimed him a legend in soul and jazz
as he was led off the stage to thundering ap
plause.
merit in music
excite
those chords out of my head.” The
result was a song that centers
around one basic line: “I’m 23, I’ve
got my life ahead of me. Can’t you,
see that I’m still smiling.” Said
Golton, “The simplicity of the mu
sic allows the emotions of the words
to penetrate.”
Golton’s favorite piece remains
“She Dances on Broken Glass”
because “it’s the one that combines
music and poetry best.” Golton
wrote the song, about a woman who
feels like a freak and an outcast, in
response to a friend’s poem. “As I
was writing, I was thinking about
perfection and levels of emotional
pain for different people. The song
doesn’t go over well with audiences
because it’s subtle and depres
sing.” Yet it offers a vision of hope:
“The woman dances on broken
glass and cuts her feet, but the glass
itself continues to shimmer like
beautiful jewels.”
If there is a theme in her music,
Golton said, it is the idei of growth
“either people growing them
selves or me helping them grow
through commentary.”
Who helped her grow musically?
“Janis lan, who wrote ‘At 17,’ was a
major influence especially the
songs she wrote when she was 16
and 17. They gave such a poignant
rendering of what it was like to be
17. Janis introduced me to music
with meaning.”
Arlo Guthrie was another influ
ence. “He’s not the most poetic
person, but he has so much love to
give, and he combines humor with
message something I try to do.”
Despite her love for music, Gol
ton said she wouldn’t completely
devote her future to it. The ideal
life, she said, would combine music
with agronomy. “I’d like to live on a
farm and still perform music infor
mally.
Dark and The Spuds (Special People Under Doc
tor’s Supervision).
Each band member exhibits an individual sense
of style, from Alexander’s cool androgyny to
saxophonist Jim Laugelli’s bluesman-cum-M.B.A.
look. Harris believes that Hector’s visual appear-
ance has helped its outreach. “We’re not standard
in our looks, but we’re not threatening either. We
put people at ease, but give them something to look
at rather than tee-shirts and jeans.” Solo added,
“We provide an allernative to the stream of
spandex and suits that look the same.’.’
The members of Hector in Paris want to main
tain a similar balance of invention and accessibili
ty in their music. Harris sees the best way to relate
to a listener is radio talk shows. “I find it exciting
when you hear people get heated over an issue and
yell at each other over the air. It’s the ultimate
audience participation, with all the barriers
meited away. That’s the best part of music, when
it comes down to a writer successfully sharing a
mood, because sometimes your most personal
ideas are totally meaningless to another person.
This band’s danceable beat is the unifying element
that opens pedple’s minds to our ideas.”
Zoller exhibit features realists
By VICTORIA JAFFE
Collegian Arts Writer
FIGURATIONS showcases three
realistic artists. Robert P. Kinsell,
Langdon Quin and Caren Canier each
demonstrate a different medium of
expression in Zoller’s Gallery A.
Kinsell’s paintings are the most
emotional and touching pieces in the
exhibit. His oil/primed paper of The
Red Overcoat shows a woman clad in
her red coat, walking down the street.
The color is “alive” in the parked
blue car she passes; even the win
dowsill on a background building has
living color and texture. Morse Ave.
Beach is a ,depiction of a sunny vaca
tion spot inhabited by characters to
whom everybody can relate. A bald
ing man with a protruding tummy
and little striped bikini smoking his
cigarette, is a sight most beachgoers
have experienced and reacted to.
Another person in that painting is a
woman, with her back to us, casually
adjusting the bottom of her swimsuit
as she gazes into the ocean.
Return from the Beach and The
Breakwater atDiversey Harbor, Kin
sell’s other seashore creations, have
the reality and familiarity of family
snapshots, yet the beautiful artistry
that only fine paintings can encom
pass. His oil/Masonite Panel, Tag,
illustrates two older boys playing tag
under what appears to be a steel
bridge. Kinsell has captured playful,
childlike abandon in the midst of an
overpowering city environment.
I would almost swear that Kinsell
went to my hometown, city and beach
to find the characters and predica
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W 16-foot tall ghost of Christmas
Future are just.some of the
spectacular special effects that will delight
young and old alike.
A Joyous Gift for the Entire Family.
Everyone from children to
grandparents is sure to enjoy this
story of the loving spirit of Christmas.
Sunday,
2:30 & 7:3opm 1
Three more da;
ments that he paints. He employs the
interesting technique of never letting
us see anybody’s face; most portraits
are of a person’s back. His work
brings the audience close to his peo
ple and their situations and provokes
questions about their lifestyles and
personalities.
Langdon Quin uses pencil and char
coal on paper to bring several
sketches of figures to life. They are
realistic sketches; but seem to serve
as studies in figure-drawing, rather
than completely finished projects.
Figure, Half Length, done in pencil, is
a close-up of Quin’s Seated Figure, H 5.
The close-up shows a thoughtful
looking woman lightly drawn, with
interesting shadowings and lines.
Portrait of Caren depicts a peaceful
woman gently closing her eyes, as
her long hair rests on her right shoul
der.
The third artist’s work in this ex
hibit is a sharp contrast to Quin’s
sketches. Caren Canier uses bold
colors and clearly defined geometric
shapes to create her realistic oil and
acrylic paintings. In Canier’s View of
Olga’s House series, she presents
four pictures with the same back
ground rolling hills, mountains and
grass yet places different objects
in the foreground of each. Canier also
uses djfferent colors to indicate va
rious seasons of the year at Olga’s
house.
Her most engaging portraits in
clude Afternoon Bath and Game of
Checkers. Afternoon Bath reveals
terrific personality, as a man sits in
his bathtub while his two cats frolic
by the tubside.
December
Eisenhower Auditorium
;et your tickets!
22 Nov. Friday 23 Nov. Saturday 24 Nov. Sunday
“El Salvador: Nowhere to Run” “El Salvador: A Country in Crisis” “The Hidden Holocaust”
Video on persecution of Slide show on the Video on the massacre
' Salvadoran refugees in Honduras Salvadoran Civil War of Guatemalan Indians
STARCHASER In 3D re
NIGHTLY: 7:45, 9:45
SAT. SUN.: 1:45, 3:45, 5:45, 7:45, 9:45
SAT. SUN.: $2.00 Before 6:00 p.m.
GODZILLA 1985 ,o
NIGHTLY: 8:00,10:00
SAT. SUN.: 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00
SAT. SUN.: $2.00 Before 6:00 p.m.
TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. r
NIGHTLY: 7:50,10:00
SAT. SUN.: 1:30, 3:40, 5:45,.7:50, 10:00
SAT. SUN.: $2.00 Before 6:00 p.m.
STATE
JAGGED EDGE rWEEKNIGHts: 10:00
SAT. SUN: 8:00, 10:00
RAINBOW BRIGHT qWEEKNIGHTS: 7:00
SAT. SUN.: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00
ONCE BITTEN
NIGHTLY: 7:45, 9:45
SAT.SUN, 1:45, 3:45, 5:45, 7:45 945
SAT. SUN.: $2.00 Before 6:00 p.m.
All showings at 7:30 PM in the HUB Gallery Lounge
Sponsored by Friends of Latin America
127 S. Pro»«r 236-6005
128 W. Coll*q« 237-7666
'3<2-1888
Arnold Schwarzenegger
COMMANDO r
NIGHTLY: 7:15, 9:15
Thank a farmer
until. NOV-5'
jjl St Elmos Fire
□ 119 Osmond Fri. & Sat. 7,9 and 11 Sun. 7& 9
g PRESENTED by the Student Union Board
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GH OST
BUSTERS
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Fri. &Sat. 7, 8:45 & 10:30
_ Sun. 7 & 8:45
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today
The Daily Collegian Friday, Nov. 22, 1985—19
TEACH-IN
ON HUMAN
RIGHTS IN
CENTRAL
AMERICA