The Daily Collegian
Rhythm Devils, an off shoot of the Grateful Dead, will perform at the State Theatre
Rhythm Devils to
play Theatre show
By Josh Bollinger
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
They’ve been Dead, they’ve been
Devils and soon they’ll be at the State
Theatre.
Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are
best known for their roles as the percus
sion duo from San Francisco-based jam
band The Grateful Dead.
Kreutzmann and Hart currently the
leaders of a band named The Rhythm
Devils, an offshoot of the Grateful Dead
will play Sept. 8 at the State Theatre,
130 W College Ave.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement,”
said Kristy Cyone, the theater’s market
ing director.
The Rhythm Devils originally a nick
name for Kreutzmann and Hart during
their tenure with the Grateful Dead
will consist of Gov’t Mule bassist Andy
Hess, Back Door Slam guitarist Davy
Knowles, The Mother Hips guitarist Tim
Bluhm and percussionist Sikiru Adepoju
on the talking drum for the State College
show.
Cyone grew up listening to the Grateful
Dead and said anyone can be a fan, no
matter what age they are.
“I’ve seen everyone from students to
retired people,” Cyone said.
One of those students is Matt Levin
(freshman-division of undergraduate
studies).
“The Grateful Dead are definitely the
first band I’ve ever listened to that com
pletely took me out of this world,” Levin
said.
Levin has seen Kreutzmann and Hart
ABC stands by lineup
By Lynn Elber
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. The ABC fall
schedule is “locked and loaded” and won’t
be changed despite a management
shake-up, the network’s new chief said
Sunday.
Paul Lee, noting he’d logged just 36
hours so far as ABC Entertainment Group
president, said “you can do more damage
than good” by making last-minute
changes.
Lee, 50, was put in charge Saturday of
the ratings-challenged ABC broadcast net
work and ABC Studios after last week’s
abrupt resignation of Stephen McPherson.
During a Q-and-A session with the
Television Critics Association, Lee was
guarded about his predecessor’s depar
ture but willing to praise the schedule he
left behind.
“I felt honored to be offered the job” by
Anne Sweeney, the president of the
Disney/ABC Television Group, Lee said.
“But I don’t want to talk about Steve.”
ABC has a “very strong lineup coming
in” to the season next month, Lee said.
Lee, who as head of ABC Family invigor
ated the once-flagging cable channel, is in
charge of development, programming,
marketing and scheduling operations for
ABC Entertainment.
The London-born Lee called the net
work “one of the premiere iconic American
storytelling brands” that he grew up
watching from abroad.
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live when they played with the Dead at
the now-demolished Wachovia Spectrum
in Philadelphia in 2009, calling their play
ing “electric” and the best show he’s ever
been to.
“The whole place blew up,” he said.
The Rhythm Devils incorporate
Grateful Dead covers as well as originals
in their set lists.
Cyone said audience members can
hear the obvious Grateful Dead influence,
but the two bands’ sounds aren’t exactly
parallel.
“It’s kind of a stripped down version of
it focusing on songwriting and instru
mentals,” Cyone said. “It’s still fun. It’s
still a beat.”
The Rhythm Devils rely on im
provisation to carry them from song to
song.
Matt Testa (senior-anthropology) said
The Grateful Dead’s ability to improvise
over any song was exactly what drew him
to their music.
“It’s almost organic,” Testa said.
“That’s why I appreciate jam bands more
than any other ldnd of music.”
Testa is also drawn to the bands’ mel
low nature, calling it calming and happy
go-lucky.
Levin also said he likes the Dead’s
music for its calming tendencies.
“They’ll just make me feel better no
matter what I’m doing,” Levin said. “As
bad as my day is I can always listen to the
Dead and relax.”
As far as the Rhythm Devils show,
Levin said there’s no way he can miss
He made one particular favorite on the
schedule clear.
“One thing I know, ‘Modern Family’
should win the Emmy for best comedy this
year,” Lee said, lobbying for ABC’s fresh
man hit series at the Aug. 29 Emmy
Awards.
Lee, who holds a master’s degree in
modern languages from Oxford University,
spent more than a decade at the BBC as an
executive, news documentary maker and
entertainment producer.
He began as a reporter assigned
to conflict-plagued Belfast, Northern
Ireland.
McPherson’s departure as program
ming chief at ABC came just days before
he was to preside over the network’s pres
entation of its fall schedule to journalists as
part of the TV critics association’s summer
meeting.
Thrust into place for McPherson, Lee
said that he had to cut a beach vacation
short to make the meeting and
joked that he incurred his wife’s wrath
despite her encouraging him to take the
new job.
But he is very familiar with ABC’s
schedule because of his job at ABC Family,
which included promoting fare on the
broadcast network. Lee said the network
has “serious stars” and “great fresh faces”
in its new shows.
McPherson left behind a new-program
ming slate that features actors including
Matthew Perry, Michael Imperioli, Michael
Chiklis and Dana Delany.
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ERTAINMENT
Play draws
Audience enjoys classic dramatic act
A local theatre troop takes on
the drama and humor of “A
Streetcar Named Desire,” at
the Boal Barn Playhouse
Saturday night.
By Kathleen Loughran
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The facade of an old, blue house sits on
the side of the stage. In the center, the stage
is decorated with sparse furniture of Stella
Kowalski’s two-roomed house.
Audience members of “A Streetcar
Named Desire” entered the lives of two sis
ters when The State College Community
Theatre performed the play at the Boal
Bam Playhouse, 300 Old Boalsburg Road.
Nancy Yoder, who attended Saturday’s
show, said she enjoyed the play.
“I think that it’s wonderful... [there was]
intense drama,” she said. “It’s a very good
show.”
After leaving Laurel, Miss., because of
unfortunate circumstances such as the loss
of her family’s land, former southern belle
Blanche Dußois moves in with her sister
Stella.
Stella lives with her husband, Stanley, in a
run-down home in New Orleans.
Blanche disapproves of their marriage
because she thinks her sister deserves
more, especially after Blanche witnesses a
drunk Stanley take his anger out on Stella.
Two actors recreate a scene from “A Streetcar Named Desire,” at the Boal Barn Playhouse
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 I
reaction
But Stella refuses to leave Stanley
because she is having their child and is in
love with him. Because of the situation,
Stella is tom between her sister and her
husband.
Throughout the play, Blanche tries to
work through the misfortune she has found
herself in, while still reminiscing about her
younger, more fabulous years.
Cara Rangaswamy also saw the produc
tion on Saturday and said the character of
Blanche added humor to the show.
“It’s dramatic, but there’s enough come
dy with Blanche,” she said.
Julie Laplante said her favorite character
of the play was Blanche.
“I think it was great,” Laplante said.
“Susan Riddiford Shedd, who plays
Blanche, was wonderful just because of the
intensity of her acting.”
Sarah Seybert also said she thought the
acting in “A Streetcar Named Desire” was
especially good.
“I think it’s very well done,” Seybert said.
“The quality of the acting is very genuine,
and I think you can connect with it well. It’s
not fake or overdone.”
Audience member Ann Parry said she
likes the story of the play and enjoyed see
ing Saturday’s performance.
“I think it’s excellent, especially the two
women lead actresses. Their voices are
strong,” Parry said. “It’s such a good play to
begin with.”
To e-mail reporter: krlslo6@psu.edu