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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1982)
Focus. The Battalion C Friday, April 16, 1982 ^ Dames take to sea through Saturday Dames at Sea promises to bring the audience "a battleship full of laughs." Texas A&M's theater arts program presents the play tonight and Saturday night in Rudder Theater. The play is an illogical song and dance comedy which takes place aboard a battle ship and, although it has about as much depth as a "Love Boat" episode, the audience will no doubt love it. Ruby, the star of the play, is a simple girl from Centerville, Utah whose dream of performing on stage is finally realized. Ruby is played by Carole Ann Cristiani. Unfortunately for Ruby, the play closes before she's really made her debut. But fortunately for us, she finds a place to E erform on a battle ship and — as in all good musicals — ecomes a star. The cast of characters includes Mona Kent, an established star who feels threatened by Ruby, played by Eileen Nixon. Joan, the stereotyped chorus girl with a kind heart who helps Ruby out, is played by Dawn Tengg. Randy Lemmon has a dual role of Hennesey, the frantic Broadway producer who's trying to save his folding show, and the Captain, who in the end falls in love with Mona. Tickets for the production are available at the MCS Box Office at $2.50 for students and $3.50 for non-students. Mall theater opens by Colette Hutchings Battalion Staff With tonight's opening of the Plitt III theater in the Post Oak Mall, customers will no longer be forced to see second-run movies. The December opening of the Schulman 6 theater added six screens to local movie capacity, and Plitt's additional three screens is another plus for movie-goers. Although the new theaters will hardly glut the area with movies like in big cities, they're a welcome attraction — now customers can be choosey. The three-auditorium com plex has one screen with Dolby Sound and one Silver Screen which can be used for three- dimensional movies. Manager of the new complex is Bob Narowitz, who has work ed for Plitt Theaters, Inc. for 33 years, and is moving here from a theater in San Antonio to open the theaters. With five screens from Plitt and 10 others from Manor East, Schulman 6 and Campus thea ters, Narowitz says he thinks the theater business in the area will be more competitive, but movie overlapping probably won't be a problem. "This will give three more pic tures per week to choose from," he said. Narowitz is familiar with the Bryan-College Station; he opened the original Plitt Cinema I and II in the Skaggs Shopping Center. The new theaters are in phase II of the Post Oak Mall, which Narowitz said is an advantage to the movie business since foot traffic from shoppers generates interest. "A theater generates business for a mall ... they compliment one another," he said. Narowitz said Plitt Inc. usually builds theaters in conjunction with malls for this reason. And since the majority of movie patrons in the area are between 18 and 35 years old, Narowitz said there will be a tendency to book movies for their interests. And as of this week, Narowitz was not sure if Plitt III will show midnight features, but it will probably show 3-D movies. Admission to Plitt Theaters is $2 for all seats until 6 p.m. Mon day through Friday. Seats are $2 the first 30 minutes from open ing Saturday and Sunday. Dual role proves Andrews' talent Julie Andrews as a woman playing a man playing a woman?! Strange as it may seem, that is the subject of Andrews' latest, and perhaps, greatest film — Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria. While it is a far cry from her roles in "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music," in many ways it is superior to those per formances. At the very least it's a chal lenging role, which makes full use of her talents as a singer and spans the full range of her skills as an actress. Victor/Victoria teams Andrews with Robert Preston, who co-starred last summer as the maligned doctor in Ed wards' disappointing "S.O.B." The film is set in 1934 Paris, where Victoria (Andrews) is a down-and-out singer who can't pay her rent or afford to eat. Toddy (Preston), gay night club performer who is out of work for inciting a riot during his last performance, befriends Victoria and inspires her to take up her charade. She masquerades as Victor, a olish count who is supposed to e the greatest female imperso nator in Europe. In the role, Andrews is allowed to show the depth, quality and range of her talented voice as she performs the Henry Mancini score. Victoria is able to fool every one except James Garner, who enters the plot as an American tough-guy with underworld ties. He is unable to believe he could be attracted to a man so he sets out to prove Victor is actual ly a woman. The two fall in love in the process, providing an interest ing sub-plot. Garner's character also is re sponsible for one of the funnier minor characters — former foot ball star Alex Karras as a gay bodyguard. The film follows in the foot steps of the tremendously suc cessful "La Cage Aux Folles," a French comedy about gays, but does so in a much more tasteful way. All references to anything controversial are handled very subtly by producer-writer- director Edward in this film, which may salvage his sagging career. „ , . Bill Robinson The Waitresses Wasn't Tomorrow Wonder ful?, The Waitresses (Polydor) — Listening to this album is like watching a dog give birth to a mixed litter of puppies and elves — disconcerting and marvelous, all at the same time. Side One is pedestrian enough — Me Generation lyrics about coping and getting-it-all- together mated to music just this side of dull. The quirky rhythms and occa sional discordant squawks ("Quit") are the only things which hint of the strangeness to come. "It's My Car" and the title track are nice, almost Go-Go- esque teen songs about driving and being a girl and being fun and not needing anybody. Guitarist Chris Butler writes the lyrics, but he seems to have a good handle on a certain type of high-school girl and the way she thinks. At least, his songs sound plausible from the lips of Patty Donahue, a snazzy woman with a voice like a little girl with a bad She manages to keep that temper under control through the first side, but then comes Side Two and welcome to the Twilight Zone, buster — you'd better take a deep breath. "I Know What Boys Like" was a dance-floor novelty hit a few months ago. It's coquetry at its most unpleasant, sung by a voice suddenly gone flat, ugly and taunting. It terminates with a maddening "Nyah nyah nyah" chorus which makes dat ing seem hideously repulsive. The rest of the music is no less subversive. A sick saxophone staggers across many of the songs; the rhythms are more up setting on the second side, the kind of beat that breaks down muscle tissues in depraved dan- ceaterias. The rhythmical sophistica tion displayed by drummer Billy Ficca (formerly of New York art- rockers Television) contrasts sharply with the band's stan dard-issue guitar and bass play ing. Dan Klayman, on keyboards, adds a cheesy Farfi- sa air to the songs, which beefs up their resemblence to Joe "King" Carrasco but seldom does more. The resulting music is danceable but not quite good, not quite interesting. It's strange but much less so than the lyrics. Those lyrics are totally mad. "Redland" and "Jimmy Tomorrow" dementedly climax an already demented album. "Redland" is about a Commun ist take-over of America from the viewpoint of a bored teena ger: "It won't be better but I'll settle for different." "Jimmy Tomorrow" is truly unnerving. Anomie, psycholo gy, contempt for philosophy all enter into its skewed world view — what it all means I don't know. But any song, any album that ends with the line, "My goals are to find a cure for irony/ and make a fool out of God," deserves a long hard look before purchase. Wasn't Tomorrow Wonder ful? may not be better but it's certainly different. 'The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. ” From the Bahi'i Sacred Writings the Baha’i Faith# For Information Call: 693-3657 779-8823