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At JEasc, TTtie Battalion
Friday, October 14, 1983
3
OPAS presents 'Madame Butterfly'
Western Opera Theater members perform
the "Letter Duet 7 ' from "Madame Butterfly/ 7
by Louis Hilgartner
Battalion reporter
If you have ever wanted to
see an opera but just never did,
now's your big chance.
The Western Opera Theater,
in conjunction with MSC Opera
and Performing Arts Society,
will present Puccini's Madame
Butterfly on Thursday.
Before you get visions of
obese women wearing long
robes and homed helmets and
leaning on a piano, hang on.
Western Opera Theater doesn't
perform that way.
Broadcasting of performing
arts on television and radio has
helped generate increased in
terest and with it a demand for
live opera.
The W.O.T. is trying to meet
those demands by touring ex
tensively and playing before all
kinds of audiences.
All performances are fully
staged and costumed and pre
sented with the assistance of
skilled technicians.
The singers are representa
tive of a new style of opera. The
opera is sung in Englisn and the
singers aren't the kind to plant
their feet in the floor and wail
away. The presentation of
Madame Butterfly is no excep
tion.
Set in early 20th-century
Nagasaki, Madame Butterfly is
bom a love story and a tragedy.
A U.S. Navy lieutenant, B. F.
Pinkerton, arrives in Nagasaki
to inspect a house that a mar
riage-broker has found for him.
The marriage-broker also has
found the young American
officer a Japanese bride. Howev
er, the American consul strong
ly disapproves since it appears
tire young girl may be taking the
matter more seriously than
Pinkerton.
The girl's friends call her
"Butterfly."
Butterfly is so in love with
Pinkerton, she has renounced
her religious faith to adopt his.
The two are signing their mar
riage contract when Butterfly's
renunciation is discovered.
Pinkerton leaves, and later
marries an American girl. Una
ware of this. Butterfly doesn't
despair. She keeps hoping he
will return to her. When he
does, it's with a new bride.
Realizing the cruelty of his ac
tions, he sings farewell and
leaves Butterfly and his bride
standing on the front porch.
Butterfly stoically faces her
situation and gives Pinkerton's
bride her own infant son and
throws herself on her father's
sword.
The Western Opera Theater's
performance will be at 8 p.m. in
Rudder Auditorium.
Hiney hoax not found humorous by all
by Jaime Bramer
Battalion reporter
Editor's note: Although
Hiney Wine commercials have
been around since March, they
haven't died Oui yet Read on
and find out why.
It's 8:15 a.m. You're stuck in
traffic on Texas Avenue, and
you're already late for class. Af
ter sitting through the same traf
fic signal for the third time, you
reach down to turn on your
radio, just to pass the time. Tun
ing in KTAW (92 FM), you hold
back a snicker as radio personal
ity Dwayne Luna tells you
where you can get some Hiney.
Hiney Wine commercials
have caused a lot of confusion
among the KTAW audience.
Since the station began running
the commercials in March, wine
connoisseurs throughout Bra
zos Valley have wasted many
tanks of gasoline searching for
the wine.
Trips to the Tunis winery are
common but unsuccessful. In
frustration, wine seekers stop at
the Tunis Country Store to get
directions, only to have the store
clerk laugh at them and claim
that Tunis doesn't have any
Hiney either. Many people are
victims of the Hiney hoax, but
few will admit to being fooled.
Luna, who has been with
KTAW for over a year now,
says, "When listeners call in ab
out the ads, I tell them it's real.
The humor is when they find it's
not."
Naturally some members of
the audience don't find humor
in being fooled, he says.
"They (the audience) will
complain before they compli
ment," he says. "I think people
need to remember radio is enter
tainment. I'm here to enter
tain."
Luna says the station's pur
pose in running the commer
cials is "just for fun."
"We don't need it as a ratings
grabber, but I think we'd have a
lot of complaints if we took it off
the air."
When the ads first were aired,
response was enormous.
"I'd put the phones on hold
for 30 minutes after doing a
Hiney spot.”
KTAW also receives a lot of
negative response to the Hiney
joke. Luna says some listeners
are offended, some want to be
reimbursed for gas to Tunis, and
others say they're suing the sta
tion for false advertising.
"When someone says they're
going to sue, I tell them to get in
fine with everyone else."
The Hiney hoax hasn't
brought any lawsuits to the sta
tion yet, and probably won't.
Because so many people know
the ad is a fake and it doesn't
harm anyone, Luna says a legal
suit would be difficult to win.
"Delivery is the fun part,"
Luna says. "Because every
Hiney ad isn't a hit, we have to
add humor. A good delivery is
the key."
Mark Miller, another KTAW
personality, also runs the ads.
The idea of localizing the ad at a
Tunis winery, "Little LA," was
Luna's idea. JJ's Package Store
allows the station to say JJ's
gives their employees Hiney
breaks.
According to Luna, Brazos
Valley is going Hiney crazy.
"People call in with Hiney
ideas; things like 'How I enjoy
Hiney the most.' I know of two
guys who stole the Tunis city
fimits signs and now have them
on their apartment walls," Luna
says. "Another woman called in
all irate because someone stole
her Hiney bumper sticker."
The Hiney Wine idea origin
ated in the mind of Terry
Dorsey, a disc jockey in Dayton,
Ohio, more than three years
ago. The joke began with a ficti
tious bar and grill. Dorsey made
Fridays ladies' night and offered
free Hiney to everyone, using
the slogan "You only go around
once in life, so why not grab for
all the Hiney you can get."
Dorsey moved to Arlington
where he continued the Hiney
joke but dropped the bar and
grill.
"I needed something to talk
about to fill the morning rush
hours," Dorsey says, "so I kept
Hiney and created a winery in a
small town outside of Dallas —
Euless."
He says the commercials are a
good programming tool; they
encourage new listeners. Hiney
has been in the Dallas area for
some time now, but Dorsey says
he still has people calling look
ing for the winery.
A member of Donnelly Media
in Arlington, Dorsey began syn
dicating Hiney Wine nation
wide in September 1982. It now
see "Hiney" on page 11
Jordache and MSC Town Hall
present
AIR SUPPLY
in concert
G. Rollie White Coliseum
Tickets: *9.50, s 9.00, s 8.00
Rescheduled for Oet. 28
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