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The Battalion
LIFESTYLES
Lifestyles Editor Lisa Ann Robertson 845-3313
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By RUDY CORDOVA JR.
When the Granbury Opera House’s sumer stage
call went out, three Texas A&M students answered.
Ronda LaVoyce Shepherd, Suzanne Shaw and
Monique Daniel each prepared three vocal numbers
for April auditions with a shot of joining the compa
ny’s summer intern program.
Shaw heard about the opera house by checking the
summer theatre directory provided by the Theatre
Arts department. The opera house is located in the
historic town square of Granbury about 30 miles
south of Fort Worth.
Sixteen interns from around the country received
six hours credit towards their college degree for act
ing, dancing, singing and even building costumes for
the company. They also received room and board
and a $1000 stipend.
The interns were involved with were three shows
this summer — “The All New 1919 Ziegfeld Follies,”
“42nd Street,” and “Guys and Dolls,” which has its fi
nal run this weekend.
The interns say their summer was filled with lots of
hard work and loads of fun. Daniel said their typical
day began with a dance class at 9 a.m. and ended with
rehearsals lasting until 11 p.m. Shaw, a senior theatre
arts major from Friendswood, added, “sometimes
during tech week, we’d stay up until 4 a.m. working
on putting up the show.”
Shepherd had her work cut out for her when she
performed the lead role in the first production of the
summer, “The All New 1919 Ziegfeld Follies.” She
played Ethel Waters in this show created by the Ma
naging Director Jo Anne Miller. Shaw and Daniel, a
junior political science major from Galveston, kept
busy with chorus parts in this production.
Shepherd, a senior journalism major from Dallas,
recalled the highlight of her summer with the Opera
House. “We were told that Governer Clements was
going to attend the show one evening and of course
we were all very excited,” she said. “But the best part
was after the show when I was walking back to the
dorm and Governor Clements was getting into his car
with his wife.
“He jumps back out of the car and screams, ‘There’s
Ethel Waters!’ He came over to talk to me. He was a
downhome, country guy. Very pleasant.”
As interns each had the opportunity to work with
the different crews that make up the production com
pany. When they were not in rehearsal or in a class,
Shepherd, Shaw, and Daniel devoted their time to
building costumes in the costume shop.
“What impressed me the most,” said Shepherd,
“was that they could make beautiful costumes out of
rags. They knew how to make use of their resourses.”
Daniel said she had a lot of respect for the theatre.
“Granbury depends on the Opera House,” she said.
“It’s a historical landmark which is privately funded
by the patrons.”
The Opera House seats 300-330 people and brings
in 72,000 people yearly. Half of those people attend
the musicals during the summer.
All three women expressed how much fun they
had meeting new friends and learning more about
the theatre. One thing Daniel did during her spare
time, which was minimal, was to walk up and down
the streets by the Opera House where five or six law
firms are located.
“I want to go to law school, so I decided to go into
the law offices and talk to people,” she said.
Meeting new friends was also something Shaw
liked most. She added that besides all the work they
had to do, she always found time to enjoy herself. Her
most memorable day involved the entire company.
“During my birthday, the cast and crew surprised
me in my room with a little bash,” she said. “They
gave me Depeche Mode tickets for the concert in Dal
las.”
The Granbury Opera House operates 46 weeks a
year. It receives donations to support the Intern Pro
gram by the community. The project is also sup
ported jointly by a grant from the Texas Commission
on the Arts and the National Endowment for the
Arts.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Skt
Backstage in costume at the Granbury Opera Shepherd and Monique Daniel. They spent tfie
House are (l-r) Suzanne Shaw, Ronda LaVoyce summer performing in the historic theater.
‘Guys and Dolls’ meet in 1990 summer season finale
By RUDY CORDOVA JR.
If you’re headed for the Dallas-
Fort Worth area this weekend,
stop at the Granbury Opera
House for a Texas-size look at
musical theatre. The 1990 sum
mer company will close the sea
son with their final performances
of “Guys and Dolls,” a classical
Broadway musical.
“Guys and Dolls” involves two
love affairs between typical
Broadway musical characters. It
is a show about two gamblers
named Sky Masterson and Na
than Detroit who are trying to
keep their money and their
“dolls” at the same time. They
both run into trouble when the
Salvation Army tries to reform
them. Popular tunes from “Guys
and Dolls” include ‘Lucky to be a
Lady,’ ‘A Bushel and a Peck,’ and
‘Sit Down Your’re Rocking the
Boat.’
The Granbury Opera House, a
professional theatre and educa
tional institution, is located 30
miles south of the Dallas-Fort
Worth metroplex in the historic
town square of Granbury. The
Opera House began showcasing
many forms of entertainment in
its first season in 1886. After be
ing shut down for over six de
cades, it was re-opened in 1975.
The Opera House was restored
entirely with private money.
Three Texas A&M students
were chosen this summer for the
Intern Program at the Granbury
Opera House because of their tal
ent, skill, and proficiency in Musi
cal Theatre. They are Ronda
LaVoyce Shepherd, a Journalism
major from Dallas; Suzanne
Shaw, a Theater,^rts major from
Friendswood; and Monique Dan
iel, a Political Science major from
Galveston.
Performances are Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday st 8:00 p.m.
and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Three
matinee performances will begin
at 2:00 on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday, with a special Labor Day
show also at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are
from $7 and may be reserved by
calling the Box Office at
(817)573-9191 or (817)573-3779.
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Saturday. 1
Wednesda
Foul ‘Men At Work’
creates awful stink
By CAROL GLENN
Of The Battalion Staff
Emilio Estevez tries directing a
second time in the new comedy
“Men at Work.” Unfortunately, he
leaves the audience grossly discour
aged by his directing abilities, or lack
there of.
Following Estevez’s first acting/di
recting failure, 1986’s “Wisdom,” he
demonstrates how writing, starring
and directing in the same motion
picture can be a smelly combination
for a movie about garbagemen.
Estevez and his brother Charlie
Sheen star in this comedy that lacks
in both plot and laughs.
Estevez and Sheen are buddies
James and Carlos. They work in Las
Playas, California, and dream of sav
ing enough money to open their
own surf shop.
I kept thinking to
myself, “It has to get
better,” but it never
did. it only got worse.
While on their garbage route,
James and Carl discover a dead body
stuffed in a toxic waste metal drum.
They learn that the corpse is Jack
Berger, a mayoral candidate the au
dience already knows as a corrupted
politician illegally dumping toxic
wastes into the Pacific Ocean.
The contrived story slowly unrav
els to show how Carl and James as
sume they are responsible for the
city councilman’s death. Later they
realize that they are wrong and de
cide to hide the body until they can
find the real killers.
Haphazardly weaved into the plot
is a Vietnam combat veteran who has
flashbacks. He watches over Carl
and James and reports on their be
havior to their boss.
When this combat-crazed lunatic
learns of the corpse, he decides to
help Carl and James find the mur
derers, which somehow leads to the
kidnapping of a pizza delivery man.
As if the predictable plot isn’t
enough, you may get sick after
watching the poor acting job done by
nearly everyone in the film, includ
ing Estevez and Sheen.
Estevez and Sheen stumble
through their lines, as do most of the
amateur actors and actresses in this
film, creating anything but a com
edy. This is a direct result of both
acting and directing.
Estevez and Sheen insult both of
their acting careers with “Men At
Work.”
This is really sad since both actors
were in fairly good movies earlier
this summer (Estevez in “Young
Guns II” and Sheen in “Navy
Seals”).
I guess the really amazing thing
about this whole ecology-conscious
movie is that Estevez spent the last
five-years off and on working on this
flick.
How could anyone, professional
or amateur, work on a movie that
long and achieve such a horrible end
product?
The movie took more than two
and a half hours to watch, because of
a 20 minute delay and four mechani
cal failure interruptions, and I
found myself aggravated but de
cided to stay for the incredibly stu
pid ending.
I kept thinking to myself, “It has
to get better,” but it never did. It
only got worse.
The whole movie comes off as a
low-budget comedy with cheap
laughs and virtually no entertaining
value.
I feel sorry for everyone that had
their intelligence insulted by seeing
“Men at Work,” and strongly advise
those who have not to avoid it.
Spend your money elsewhere.
oncM)
By Erika Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D.
Two Texas A&M students suf
fered from heat exhaustion Mon
day, the first day of classes of the fall
semester. With temperatures in the
100s and high humidity, heat emer
gencies such as dehydration, heat
cramps, heat exhaustion and heat
strokes are likely to occur.
Heat emergencies can be serious
if untreated. Stop what you are
doing (exercising, playing, working
in the sun) and seek medical atten
tion immediately if you develop the
following warning signs: dizziness,
nausea, headache, fatigue, chills,
faintness, muscle cramping, rapid
pulse, sweating block (dry skin) and
a body temperature over 104 de
grees.
The best defense against heat
emergencies is prevention. Preven
tive measures to avoid the conse
quences of overheating include:
• Avoid over-exertion: Work
outs in the heat should be moderate
in intensity and short in duration.
Exercise sessions should be light and
15-20 minutes long. Try to resched
ule your outside activities and exer
cise for early morning or evening
hours.
• Adequate hydration: Keep
your body from losing too much
fluid from continuous sweating.
Since about 70 percent of the human
body is made of water, you should
drink plenty of water, even if you do
not feel thirsty.
Drink one cup of water for every
fifteen minutes of exercise. Carry a
liquid container along with you
(filled with cold water, soda, Gato-
l '' ; .Starts
'Strict \ Vi
served.
i acre; or plan water oreaKS
your exercise routine.
Avoid alcohol because it acts
diuretic resulting in faster waterlos
Sweating also causes you to
salt. You may need to increase Wit
salt intake. Consult with yourpni
cian if you are on a salt-restri
diet.
• Appropriate clothing:
loose-fitting, light-weight, lighten.
ored and cotton or cotton-bto :
clothes that let air circulate. Av« ;
synthetics (nylon, lycra, polyestfi
that prevent body sweat fromeva|
rating.
Wear a wide-brimmed hat
sunglasses that absorb ultravtf . v
rays. Also, protect your exposedst
(face, neck, arms, legs) with a watt
resistant sunscreen of at least 15si
protection factor (SPF) 30 minut
before sun exposure.
• Keep cool: Avoid being out
for more than 30 minutes, es_
between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and^
low 30 minutes of cooling offbefo 11
exposing yourself again to the sun
Stay in the shade or indoors
much as possible. If possible,^
your activities in air-conditio» f pei
E laces. Use fans to improve airdtf"
ition. Take frequent cool shorT
and avoid hot foods and heavy i#
which add heat to your body.
Following sensible hot-
protective tips will help you to
the heat, prevent heat-related 1
nesses, and enjoy a safe and
tive semester.
Erika Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D., is
Health Education Coordinator at
Texas A&M A.P. Beutel Health
and a health columnist for TheBai
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