arts The four female cast members of The Club, playing dapper, chauvinistic, turn-of-the century men, had to be bound and padded for their masculine roles. Women effectively ideologies in URTC By JOAN MORYKIN Collegian Arts Writer It has everything but the guys. Yet men are not necessary to Eve Merriam’s portrayal of a posh men's club in the University Resident Theatre Company’s production of The Club. play review The roles are portrayed by women, which is intended to provide deeper meaning to the production. Dressed as dapper, chauvinistic men, the actresses effectively relate the attitudes and ideologies of men at the turn of the century in a witty and humorous manner. It is a fascinating production in that it’s not quite a play, and not exactly a musical. It is more the equiva lent of watching an hour of MTV videos, with each song portraying a specific message in support of its theme. The cast members manage to work well with the songs, expressing lots of individual personality traits through the music itself. The dance numbers are well done and very entertaining. The Club consists of .16 popular songs from the period, interspersed with various limericks and one liners delivered with the intention of receiving a few groans from the audience. It is not hard to laugh at the dreadful humor of the period which abounds in what the URTC calls a “musical diversion.” “Do you believe in clubs for women?” “Yes, if other methods of persuasion fail!” AAAAAAARGH. An “especially funny scene involves presentation of the Club’s annual play, in which Susan Skosko as the treasurer, Bertie, portrays a woman. As an actress playing a man playing a man’s idea of a woman, Skosko amusingly maneuvers the audience through several layers of stereotypical sexist imagery. However, the show is something deeper than a few women in drag playing men cracking jokes. Stefani Koorey, dramaturg for the play, notes that it produces the same uneasiness as would the telling of a racial joke by a member of the degraded race. Music of CoC criticizes presidents, politics and preachers By PAT GRANDJEAN Collegian Arts Writer Any hardcore band that calls itself Corrosion of Conformity had better be aware of its own potential for manufacturing cliches. And in fact, this Raleigh, N.C. quartet, which played in Findlay Rec Room on Sat urday night in a concert sponsored by WEHR-FM, knows the pitfalls of be ing assigned to a rock’n’roll category. “We’re trying to get away from being lumped into the heavy met al/hardcore crossover crowd along with that label comes a lot of sexism and nationalism and a lot of really dumb people that are hard to deal with after awhile,” drummer Drew Mullen says. . But bassist Mike Dean feels that the reason hardcore is linked with sexism and fascism is due to the media’s portrayal of the music. “Since the media has built up those aspects of it, a lot of people have gotten into it and tried to live up to that image,” he notes. ‘We’re anti authoritarian, pretty left-wing.’ —Drew Mullen, drummer “We don’t want to be labeled in any way,” Dean insists. “If we’re labeled, we become associated with people who we don’t necessarily agree with and don’t want to be associated with.” “When people hear us, they’re not able to say ‘Ah, another hardcore band’ as much as ‘That’s a weird group,’ ” Mullen says. CoC’s repertoire of original songs is designed to encourage listeners to “It somehow becomes less about the joke or the humor contained within, and more about the reasons for it ever being thought up or spoken,” Koorey noted. As the club members participate in an evening of singing, dancing, playing pool and cards and smoking cigars, there is also a biting satire that would make any Mason, Elk or Lion’s club member cringe. Director Jim Hoskins said he thought the musical would be a major challenge for the students, and was also ideal because it opened up a lot of women’s roles. “It introduced them to many different disciplines the major one is playing a man,” Hoskins said. Nancy Hyer, who plays Bobby in The Club, said that the most difficult thing about the role was trying to portray a male from the turn of the century instead of the stereotypical modern male. “For the first week and a half of rehearsals we were all walking around grabbing our crotches and being ‘real men,’ ” Hyer remarked. Though the actresses looked like men due to appro priate makeup and costuming, they were not attempt ing to fool the audience at all. “We were not trying to pretend that we were men, it wasn’t like La Cage aux Folles. It was an illusion in a sense, but we weren’t trying to say ‘we are not women,’ which is obvious when we open our mouths,” Hyer explained. The costumes, designed by Timothy R. McKelvey, illustrated well the proper club member attire as well as the proper servant garb, which included velvet tailcoats. “It’s such a posh club that I thought it appropriate to have the little men dressed in livery,” McKelvey explained. The servant attire is based on a style from 1795. Somewhat symbolically, the cast also had to be bound and padded to fit their parts as men re strained for the role of a man and restrained in their roles as women in society, a message the play tries to extend. Perhaps it is best summed up by Eve Merriam, regarding her own work. “I thought The Club would be a tiny little feminist work that would never get beyond a small feminist audience. But it’s still going on all over the world.” The VRTC’s production of The Club will be presented Dec. 9-12 at the Pavilion Theater. Curtain time is 8 p.m. keep the proverbial open mind and to trust no one but themselves. “We’re trying to offer other opinions, other ideas than (those held by) the mainstream, average, stereotypical Joe Schmoe driving a Volvo and looking for a $35,000-a-year job and not really caring about what else is going on in the world,” Mullen ex plains. “We’re anti-authoritarian, pretty left-wing even though we’re not as activistic as we like to think we are.” ' Hot topics include the growing ugli ness of U.S. foreign policy as con trasted with the overwhelming rise of the country’s nationalistic sentiment in the last several years. This theme is at the heart of the songs “History Lesson,” about the wholesale slaugh ter of American Indians, and “Officer of the Flaw,” which Dean introduced on Saturday with a plea to “stop the war in Central America.” “There’s this huge war going on; there have been 100,000 civilians killed in El Salvador in air raids since 1979, and you don’t hear anything about in the press there’s a com plete blackout,” he later charged. Though onstage he recommended we cure Reagan’s ills by “impeach ing the mother-fucking lying scum,” in conversation he confided his belief that that solution “would be mild. I’d like to abolish the presidential sys tem. We have a democratic right to revolution. We’ve been deprived of our democratic rights it’s all a scam.” Mullen’s songs so far have con cerned themselves with another form of repression: religious fundamenta lism. He describes “Holier” as being about the secular manipulations made by “muckraking preachers. They're like, ‘if you don’t pay for your sins now and help us buy this condo or new gold-plated plumbing, then your going to go to hell.’ ” relate male production Corrosion of Conformity, a band that doesn’t like to be labeled as one style, was the first punk group to get signed to Death Records, a subsidiary of Metalblade. The Raleigh, N.C.-based band played Saturday night in Findlay Rec Room. “In their religion, fundamentalists totally fit the bill as being false proph ets, as being Satan, as being the Beast,” Dean notes. “They’re the ones trying to tell you that their will is God’s will. They are the ones to beware.” “I appreciate Christianity, accept it and recognize it as a wonderful thing for some people, but it doesn’t happen to be for me,” Mullen says. “I realize all the goodness in a lot of religions, but I don’t necessarily need them.” He attributes his outlook, in part, to his upbringing. “I had a pretty stable childhood. My Mom is a head-shrinker, and she and my Dad were both hippies. They started a free Cabo Frio plays positive jazz By DAWN POMENTO Collegian Arts Writer For those who think that jazz is always mellow and laid: back, the appearance of Cabo Frio at 8 p.m. on Wednes day in SJchwab Auditorium is a chance to see. this music’s livelier side. Fans of the new Leave it to Beaver, broadcast on Atlanta,Ga.-based television station WTBS, have already heard the music of Cabo Frio. The five-man band audi tioned to perform the upbeat remake of the popular television show theme. It was chosen over other well known bands such as the Yellowjackets and the Roches ter, N.Y.-based Spyro Gyra. The group’s founders, guitarist Glen Cummings and drummer Curtis Kendrick, originally intended the band to have a guitar-oriented sound. Since its beginning in 1979, the band’s Sound has evolved into a jazz-fusion base, and it’s added the talents of Joey Santora on keyboards, George Sessum on bass and the newest member, Kenny Blake on saxophone. The group independently produced its first album in 1982 and sold it at shows. Just Having Fun, its second album, was originally recorded privately and later re released when Cabo Frio signed with the Zebra record label. Its latest album, Right on the Money, has enjoyed a long airplay life, bassist Sessum said in a recent interview. It has remained on the Billboard jazz charts for a long time, reaching the number 11 position. The band members are currently working on a new album. Cabo Frio also has several other projects in the works, including a possible video filming in Florida this Feb ruary. Sessum said that the band has been open to more opportunities because of their association with Zebra Records, a subsidiary of MCA. All five musicians write songs. The composer of each song has the final say on how it is performed, but ultimately, Sessum said, it is a group effort. “The whole trick is to try to tie it all together and make a group sound,” Sessum said. He added that the album they are now working on comes closest to achieving the group sound they desire. 'Watercolors' exhibit inspires student poets By ANN SKOMRA Collegian Arts Writer The efforts of five aspiring poets were recently spotlighted when the Museum of Art, in conjunction with the English department, awarded the winners of the Museum Poetry Con test. The top five selections were chosen from 40 poems submitted to the competition. Open to all the undergraduate stu dents currently enrolled in poetry classes, the contest was based on the museum’s Watercolors exhibit. The students in Professor John Haag and Professor Bruce Weigel’s poetry classes .were asked to view the dis play of paintings and then submit an anonymous poem. The poems were then critiqued by the professors and 10 prizes were awarded two grand prizes and eight first place .prizes. Lauren Young and Belinda Jane Greenwood were the grand-prize win ners for “Gladiolis” and “Child hood’s Friend.” The poems, which will be printed in the March/April issue of the Museum Calendar of Events, were based on the paintings “Gladiolis” by Gilbert B. Rose and “San Vigilio” by John Singer Sargent (both works are from the museum’s own collection). Young said that “ ‘Gladiolis’ was school here that I attended it didn’t last long. But they’re pretty radical.” Corrosion of Conformity assembled in June 1982, as what Mullen calls a “basement, really young, high school, punk rock band.” He got to know lead guitarist Woody Weather man in school, and the two of them began investigating alternative mu sic and culture together. Around that time, Dean moved to Raleigh from Charlotte, N.C., and became the band’s lead singer. Eventually, he relinquished this role to Bob Mcll wee. “I was inspired by certain music I had heard, as well as music I didn’t appreciate the stuff that conveyed Cabo Frio’s members claim a variety of music influ ences from the jazz greats to legends in other genres such as rhythm and blues, big band orchestras, soul and even Top 40 music. He described the band as energetic and positive. He said that this is the only band that he has been in that his mother has liked. She has traveled hundreds of miles to hear Cabo Frio perform. The musicians have been playing in clubs across the country since April. Recently, they appeared in Pitts burgh at Graffiti. In their tour of the club circuit, they sometimes play places that normally feature rock bands. But Sessum said that because of the way they play “We sometimes go a little crazy” they attract a wide audience, and many find their music danceable. Paul Haidet (junior-biochemistry), the director of WPSU-FM’s radio show Jazz Spectrum, said that Cabo Frio is well-known in the jazz community, and described their music as soul-oriented jazz. He said that they display the improvisational elements of jazz as well as the strong rhythm and bass of soul music. Haidet also said that the band is easy to listen to. The track “Working Out,” from Right on the Money, is played on WPSU’s Jam 91. When asked about what he would like to see in the group’s future, Sessum said that he wants even more exposure. He also wants to be able to make a consistent living at performing. But he also said that he “didn’t go into this business to become a millionaire.” He said that the band would be happy to keep playing its music while making a decent living at it. Sessum would like to see people in the “outside world” have greater respect for musicians. He also wants to see jazz become more accepted and reach more people. Many people hear the word “jazz” and think “sedate,” but it doesn’t have to be that way, Sessum said. Cabo Frio hopes to change that way of thinking. Cabo Frio’s appearance at the University is jointly sponsored by the Jazz Club and WPSU. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased in advance at Arboria Records, 1 51 S.AI/en St., or at the Jazz Club table in the basement of the HUB. Any available tickets will also be sold at the door. on fire” and “the most vibrant paint- the Friends of the Museum of Art, ing in the entire exhibit.” Young and which entitles them to museum an- Greenwood also submitted first place nouncements, tabloids, invitations to poems. Young’s poem, “Five Studies receptions as well as the gala, and a for a Water Swirl,” addresses the discount at the museum’s gift shop, painting by Arthur G. Dove, whereas The awards were formally pre “Musician’s Garden,” by Green- sen ted t 0 the seven students by San wood, depicts Abraham Rattner’s ford shaman, the director of the painting “Head of a Girl.” - Museum of Art. At the awards cere- Other first place winners were Kim mony, each work was recited by its Calviero, Julie Holmes, Matt Bee- author. Greenwood, who is deaf, chold, Grace Chang and John Lancas- signed her poem while Calviero read ter. Calviero 'wrote two award- the piece aloud, winning poems: “Pontius Pilot’s Charles Garoian, education direc- Day,” which is another poem based tor for the Museum of Art, said that on the painting “Head of a Girl,” and w hile he hopes to make the contest an “St. Thomas,” after an untitled paint- annual or biannual event, at the mo ing by Charles Nicolas Sarka. Bee- ment no plans have been made for the chold’s “Act II” was based on Spring semester. ' " KM Se u e, i ACt > U’v b J ° Garoian, who co-organized the while Holmes s Endowed Bird was t with English instructor Eileen rn PI L i Raymond, said that the English De title, by Leonard Baskin. partment was very enthusiastic about the idea. He felt the students didn’t appreciate art until they had to look at the paintings through “poetic glasses.” Chang and Lancaster also used the name of the painting as the title for their poems. Chang wrote “Baltic Landscape” after viewing the paint ing by Lyonel Feininger, while Lan caster created “Aging Flower Child” from the painting by David Levine. The 10 poems were typeset and mounted next to their respective paintings. The winning students will also receive a guest membership to no values, the radio stuff that conveys a complacency,” Dean recalls. “I am still committed to living up to the ideals hardcore held before it became overrun by stupidity.” Recognized, in Mullen’s words, as “one of the first bands to make a step from bridging the heavy metal/punk thing together,” CoC was the first punk band to get signed to the Death Records label, a subsidiary of Met alblade. Their first record, An Eye for an Eye, was “really bad,” Mullen says.“We shouldn’t have put it out, but we spent a lot of money recording it and decided to go ahead.” As a way of sparing itself further embarrass ment, the band removed the release, The Daily Collegian Monday, Dec. 8, 1986 Art is about human ideas and feel ings, Garoian said. He believed that the museum ought to be an arena serving as an “interdisciplinary la bra tory” where students from va rious majors could come and apply their studies to art. from circulation after selling approx imately 10,000 copies. A 1985 album, Animosity, has fared better, having sold close to 35,000 units to date. An upcoming E.P., Technocracy, will be the band’s last release on Death Records, and both Dean and Mullen report that CoC hopes to re lease an album on SST Records in March. “They’ve been booking (our concerts) for the last year,” Mullen enthuses.' They’re great people. We’re not real fond of Death Records we signed a really bad contract with them.” He feels that getting off a heavy metal label will give CoC a chance to do more than preach to the converted. Despite the fact that they’re suc cessful enough to begin to break even financially, Dean and Mullen do won der about the future effectiveness of. their music in cultivating an audi ence. “I think a lot of people who have never been exposed to really intense music are just gonna brush it off as a lot of garbage,” Mullen says. “That’s fine. But I like music to go at the throat, be right there. (I like it) really mean and heavy, so you can’t brush it off.” “The whole stigma of hardcore makes people not want to listen to us,” Dean agrees. “What we’re doing has only a certain amount of accessi bility.” He thinks the band is just beginning to stimulate some listen er's awareness of current affairs; “People often live in their own little reality,” he adds. “We’re not the most eloquent people in the world as words go, it’s a very difficult thing to communicate with large amounts of people. I could sit here and advo cate anarchy and revolution all I want to, but the fact is average people aren’t responsive enough. The best thing is to live by example then you can influence peoples’ values that way.” Annual tradition unites 300 voices in 'Gloria' concert By BETH BRESTENSKY Collegian Arts Writer Long ago, in a manger in Bethle hem, angels sang “Glory to God in the Highest” to proclaim the birth of Christ. At 8 p.m. Friday, 300 voices will fill Eisenhower Audito rium with songs of “Gloria” as the School of Music presents its an nual Christmas concert. “Christmas choral concerts have been an important tradition at Penn State for many decades,” said Douglas Miller, associate pro fessor of music and director of the Chamber and Concert Choirs. He said that this year’s program is different because it features the University Choir, supported by the five other choral ensembles in the School of Music. Although this is the third time all the ensembles have come to gether to perform the other occasions being the Penn State Campaign event and the Pit t/Penn State pregame Miller said that this concert will best exemplify the singers! musicality. Miller explained that all the pieces in the concert will focus on “Glo ria,” one of the five parts of the ordinary Mass. Concert-goers will be greeted in the lobby of Eisenhower by the Concert Choir singing familiar strains of Christmas carols. To open the concert, the Concert Choir will continue a popular tra dition from the past of singing a Gregorian Chant from the balco ny. 0 FIESTA BOWL WHY PAY HOTEL PRICES WHEN APARTMENTS ARE MORE ECONOMICAL?! Alisa Bracken Full Kitchen complete w/cookware Director of Marketing Heated Pool & Spa P.O. Box 9191 - 15 minutes to Fiesta Bowl Scottsdale, AZ 85257 (602) 947-9216 1 Bedroom $59.00/nlght • Studio $39.00/nlght • 7 night minimum Want to nominate your advisor for the EXCELLENCE in ADVISING AWARD, but think you missed the deadline? RELAX! The deadline for nominating your fantastic advisor has been extended to December 12! Return your forms to 203 HUB by Dec. 12 to ensure that your advisor will be in the running. Remember: Good Advice is Beyond Price! „ R 268-14325 The Chamber Singers, also sing ing from the balcony, will sing a “Gloria” by Guillaume Dufay, a medieval Franco-Flemish com poser and singer. The concert will move to the stage as the University Choir per forms two works, directed by Jay Risser and accompanied by the the Penn State Philharmonic. This group will perform a 20th-century “Gloria” by Francis Poulenc, a French composer and pianist. Ed dye Pierce Young, a part-time instructor in the School of Music, will be the featured soloist. The choir’s second piece, rep resenting the classical period, is a “Gloria” from Ludwig van Bee thoven’s Mass in C. A featured quartet in the piece will include: soprano Suzanne Roy, associate professor of music; bass baritone Hugh Givens, instructor of music; mezzo-soprano Jan Wilson (grad uate-voice) ; and tenor Max Birtcil (senior-general arts and sci ences). As Risser said, the concluding “Gloria” by John Rutter, a 20th century, composer, should “bring the house down,” as six University vopal ensembles will participate. In addition to the three mentioned, the Glee Club, Women’s Chorus and Singing Lions will take part in the piece, which is brilliantly scored for full choir, timpani and brass. “It’s a challenge to get 300 peo ple to do the same thing at the same time, but when you do it’s wonderful,” Risser said. Silverman sparkles in "Brighton Beach' By DEBBIE GOLINI Collegian Arts Writer Neil Simon has done it again. One of America’s foremost play and screen writers has brought to film a witty, amusing and engrossing story based on his Broadway play, Brighton Beach Memoirs. A free sneak pre view of the Universal release, pre sented by the Student Union Board last Wednesday night in Eisenhower Auditorium, gave State College mov ie-goers an early holiday present before the movie opens nationally on Dec. 25. movie review T w Eugene Jerome, a 15-year-old Brooklyn adolescent played by Jonathan Silver man, looks for clues about the female anatomy in a rather unusual way. The youth is the focus of Neil Simon’s new, semi-autobiographical movie Brighton Beach Memoirs. Brighton Beach Memoirs takes place in the Brighton Beach section of De pression-era Brooklyn, where the Je- are more tj lan enough to keep rome family is trying to contend with f| le viewer’s attention, seven people, all with their own prob- Each family member is rich in lems, living and arguing under the character, and together the ensemble same roof. This extended Jewish . g re f rcs hi n g and thoroughly enjoya family includes father-of-the-house- to watch. To appreciate the hu hold Jack Jerome, his wife Kate, mor anc j uniqueness of this Simon their two sons Stanley and Eugene, f p rot j U ction, one must have some in- Kate’s widowed sister Blanche and s jght into the Jeromes, her two daughters, Nora and Laurie. Eugene, played by Jonathan Silver- Throughout the play Eugene, who ma n, is the youngest of Kate and is 15 years old, provides commentary Jack’s two sons. He must constantly to the audience about* his relatives run to Greenblatt’s, the local grocer, and his assessments of the various to pick up one item at a time for his situations they get themselves into, mother. Besides running errands, Eugene wishes to be either a profes- Eugene spends his timejilaying base sional baseball player or an author, ball, eating ice cream and dreaming so he keeps a diary of what is going on about naked girls. He’s trying to grow in his life and that of his family. up in an environment where some of The plot of this movie simply fo- his elders behave like children. Eu cuses on people and how they act. gene, who appears in almost every There’s not much action or adventure scene, is central to the movie, since going on, but the witty and snappy he provides constant commentary, remarks that fly in the Jerome house- As Eugene, Silverman simply spar- jobs. His family looks to him for daily advice and guidance. He’s a loving yet strong father, who everyone re spects and fears a little. Wearing a tired, overworked expression, Dishy is picture-perfect in his role. His scenes with his sons show compassion and understanding. The Jerome’s other son, Stanley (Brian Drillinger) is an 18-year-old, pseudo-father figure to his younger brother. Stanley works at a hat shop and gets himself into trouble by stick ing up for his principles. He’s a good example for his brother, because he always manages to do the right thing, even when his character falters. Dril linger gives a fine performance as a young man trying to find his own identity. Eugene’s Aunt Blanche (Judith Ivey), a widow occasionally seen in the company of her Irish neighbor, Mr. Murphy, is a timid woman who kies and makes the movie. His subtle can’t make decisions for herself or sense of humor and his masterful her daughters. Still mourning her portrayal of an adolescent youngster husband after three years, she obsessed with the opposite sex is a doesn’t start to become her own per delight to watch. son until she and Kate argue one day. „ „ , .. .. . . , ~ Aunt Blanche’s two daughters Nora Eugene s mother Kate is played by /T . ... „ , . , nll^„ Blythe Danner. Kate Is Eugene's S a dMere« a" nighS strong-willed firm authority figure. is a rather comely 16 . yea She s a convex person who tries to oW y who wants toaudiU on for a Broad do things for everyone else, but al 1 while her 9-year-old sister ways manages to pick on her young- J P m .