hursday, November 15, 1990
The Battalion
Page 5
4
pain.
L
presents
organist
By RUDY CORDOVA JR.
There is a shortage of young
organists in this country. So much
so, that a task force was estab
lished by the American Guild of
Organists to address this issue.
John Walker, director of music
and organist at the Riverside
Church, was chosen as the first
chairman of this committee. The
University Chamber Series wel
comes Walker to the A&M Meth
odist Church for their second
concert of the season.
Since 1984, Walker has been
the chairman of the Organ De
partment at The Manhattan
School of Music. As the director
of the music program at River
side, he performs regularly on
the famous Aeolian-Skinner or
gan, which is loaded there.
Walker earned his doctorate of
musical arts at Stanford Univer
sity. He has held positions at San
Jose State Univeristy and The
American Conservatory of Music
in Chicago, where he holds dou
ble master degrees with honors.
Walker’s program will include
f terformances of organ pieces
rom Johann Sebastian Bach and
Herbert Howells. His full sched
ule as a concert organist has taken
him throughout the United States
and Europe. He has performed
twice at the Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Paris and at St. Paul’s
Cathedral in London, as well as
several other cathedrals and
churches in France, England,
Sweden and Holland.
Walker is heard weekly on ra
dio broadcasts from the Riverside
Church. His recording of “The
Ascension” by Olivier Messiaen
has been released in America on
the Gothic label. Another release
on the Gothic label includes the
Riverside organ and works by
Tournemire, Lesur, Mulct, and
the entire “Symphonic Passion”
by Dupre.
John Walker performs tonight
at the A&M United Methodist
Church at 8. The concert is
jointly sponsored by the Musica
Trinitas Series, A&M United
Methodist Church and the Amer
ican Guild of Organist, Bryan-
College Station Chapter. The
performance is a free bonus con
cert. For more information, call
the Music Program Office at 845-
3355.
hip.
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JAY JANNER/The Battalion
Derek Moore doesn’t consider himself an art elitist. The Bolhsoi Bailet-Grigorovich Company just happened to pick Rudder Auditorium to house their debut.
OPAS chairman
brings a little Moore
to art lovers in B-CS
By KRISTI LORSON
Life is full of surprises for senior economics major
Derek Moore.
In one year he’s jumped up from committee member
of the MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society (OPAS)
to chairman in charge of organizing the world premiere
of the Bolshoi Ballet.
“I got into OPAS after being turned down for finan
cial director of MSC Great Issues,” he said. “I wasn’t
into arts at first, but after I went to my first musical, I
loved it.”
After getting used to the excitement of being chair
man, Moore received another surprise — a special invi
tation to the Bolshoi Ballet’s premiere performance of
“The Nutcracker” in the Soviet Union.
“I knew I’d get to go to the press conference in New
York when (Bolshoi artistic director) Yuri Grigorovich
announced they were coming to A&M, but I never ex
pected I’d go to Moscow too,” he said.
Moore said he and two members of the Board of Re
gents were treated like kings at the performance and
watched the ballet from seats that are usually reserved
for visiting dignitaries and royalty.
“It was just incredible!” Moore said. “The dancers
make the Glasnost Ballet look amateur. The set was am
azing and very colorful.”
Bolshoi’s original sets and costumes, although scaled
to fit Rudder Auditorium, will be used during the Bol-
shoi-Grigorovich Company’s A&M appearances begin
ning next week. This is the first time full sets and full
costumes have been allowed out of the Soviet Union,
Moore said.
“This is a big honor for Texas A&M,” Moore said.
“We were shocked when we found out we were hosting
the premier performance. Lots of people are question
ing why.”
Moore said Grigorovich and his dancers visited Rud
der Auditiorium this summer on a 28-theater tour. Gri
gorovich later decided that Rudder’s staff, facilities and
good central location in the state were ideal for their
premiere performance.
The Bolshoi’s visit to A&M and Moore’s trip to the
Soviet Union have increased his responsibilility and visi
bility, but not his ego, he said.
“OPAS may sound like a snob organization, but we’re
not. I’m still a normal student who has to make the
grade. I’ve just gotten addicted to OPAS. Once you get
into the arts, you want to do more and more of it.”
OPAS member Veronica Zuniga said that Moore has
made an effort to keep OPAS approachable.
“We’re not an elitist organization. We bring shows to
A&M for the students, not just the community who can
afford to travel to Rouston to see a show,” Zuniga said.
Graduate student Jeffrey Kelso, who has been in
OPAS for four years said that Moore has done an excel
lent job as chairman.
“He’s earned the friendship of all the committee
members and is always down on our level,” Kelso said.
“He fit right into his position as chairman and assumed
leadership right away.”
Moore said he and the committee are already plan
ning next year’s shows, which isn’t surprising to those
who work with him. He just wonders what all the excite
ment is about.
(Above right) Moore and Texas A&M Regent Douglas DeCluitt congratulate a Bolshoi dancer after a per
formance in Moscow. Earlier DeCluitt and Moore reminded the camera of their stomping grounds. They
did not need to remind yuri Grigorovich however. Grigorovich is the choreographer for the ballet and its
new company named for him. He decided to debut the new company at A&M after a visit with OPAS
officials this summer.
Photos Courtesy of Derek Moore
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By JOHN MABRY
Imagine having to spend an entire day in
a locked room with someone you loathe.
Now imagine spending eternity with them.
This is existentialist philosopher/playw-
righte Jean-Paul Sartre’s idea of hell in his
black comedy, “No Exit,” currently being
performed by the Aggie Players.
Three of the four characters in the play
have died and, as punishment for their sins
in life, are sent to a locked room, where
they are received by a valet.
Their crimes against society are varied.
Garcin deserted his country during war
time and was executed. Inez violated social
decorum because of her lesbianism. Estelle
became pregnant out of wedlock and
drowned her child.
Their punishment is their endless mental
torture of one another for the rest of their
existence.
The production team, consisting entirely
of students, is headed by director Jon
Burke, a senior theater arts major from
College Station.
“Part of Sartre’s philosophy is that man
sees himself through the eyes of other peo
ple,” Burke said. “Part of these people’s
punishment is that they have to deal with
now other people see them. Garcin, for ex
ample, doesn’t think he’s a coward, but he’s
looked upon as a coward, and that’s part of
his hell.”
Burke said he thinks the play will be a
new kind of theater experience for Texas
A&M.
“The play is something we haven’t had a
taste of as far as philosophical-type play-
wrighting... Existentialism really gives peo
ple a chance to think about what it is about
themselves that makes them who they are.
A lot of it deals with the identity of a per-
Don V look for exit signs in 'No Exit’
By RUDY CORDOVA JR.
“No Exit” is truly the play from
hell. It is a philosophical journey
of three people who find them
selves in hell. Not the typical hell
with torture chambers, fire and
pitchforks, but rather a human
torture brought on by mankind.
Director Jon Burke, a senior
theater am major, does an excel
lent job of coordinating designers
and actors in this Aggie Players
production. Since the play is
timeless, the designers nave a
challenge before them that they
easily meet. The difficulty in pre
senting timeless theater is the
danger of falling into a specific
time period.
John Flores, Tracy Ayers and
Suzanne Shaw play the main
characters in “No Exit.” Bx*yan
Maxwell plays the valet who
brings in each of the characters
one at a time. Maxwell is convinc
ing with his voice and presence
on stage.
Flores plays Garcin, the pacifist
newspaper reporter who realizes
he was a coward for not fighting
in a war. Flores’ acting shows a
fine example of strong energy
and intensity. The only thing that
detracts from him as an actor is
his stage voice. It starts out
sounding like a British accent and
relaxes into a normal speaking
voice.
Ayers portrays a cruel woman
named Inez, who believes she is a
loving human being. She does a
fine job of reaching inside this
complicated character and mak
ing sense in her. Inez is a lesbian
who used her manipulative skills
to kill her lover’s husband. Her
lover felt so guilty that she per
formed a murder-suicide which
included Inez.
Sex appeal is Shaw’s strong
point in her portrayal of Estelle,
who killed her baby and was the
reason for her husband’s suicide.
Shaw is an experienced actress
with an ability to use her body.
She speaks not only through her
voice, but through her actions
and looks. Where she lacks in in
tensity, she makes up for in her
characterization.
Jean Paul Sartre was an exis
tentialist philosopher, conse
quently he did not believe in life
after death. His vision of hell.
however, is intriguing. “No Exit”
says to us that the worst kind of
hell is the hell that people give
each other. The characters realize
that they are put in a room to
gether as punishment for their
life on earth. When they realize
that they are inseparable, they
start learning who they are and
why they are.
Burke takes a complicated play
with much depth and meaning
and translates it into understand
able human terms.
The set, costumes and lights
are excellent additions to the
play. Rick Boultinghouse cap
tures the essence of timeless
movement through his set, an en
closed room that includes empty
spaces. The set is black and white
with the only color found in the
mantle piece.
Holly Hill’s costumes use color
to symbolize the characters. Rob
Ward’s lighting design puts the
finishing touches on what proves
an ensemble effort by all.
This production of “No Exit” is
a fine piece of theater. Congratu
lations to all who put in efforts to
make this play workable.
son. It’s not a play for every body, though.”
As opposed to a stylized piece like “The
Mikado,” part of the challenge for the ac
tors in “No Exit” has been discovering who
their psychologically complex characters
really are.
John Flores, a sophomore theater arts
major who plays Garcin, said this is his first
really serious role at A&M.
“I’ve literally torn my script apart in try
ing to find all the composing pieces to gain
some insight as well as trying to find some
thing new every day,” he said. “(Sir Law
rence) Olivier said quite appropriately, ‘Act
ing is thinking until you get a headache —
before you set out to act.’”
Senior theater arts major Suzanne Shaw,
who has spent much of her time in come
dies and musical theater, said she gained a
lot from playing a “dark” role like the self
ish Estelle.
“This play has helped my range tremen
dously,” she said. “I’ve had to build this
character, Estelle, from the ground up and
it’s really been a tremendous experience as
an actress.”
“No Exit” is also a new experience for
Burke as well, who makes his directorial de
but with the play.
He said the play first showed up when he
was assigned to read it for a French class.
He forgot about it, but when he later be
came interested in doing a show of his own,
it suddenly came back to him.
Burke, who has spent most of his time
here as an actor, said as a director he was
faced with lot of things he took for granted
when he acted in shows.
“As an actor, you don’t really understand
all that goes into the production of a show,”
he said. “You know you’ve got your part or
whatever when you go into rehearsal. But
as a director you’ve got to worry about audi
tions, script analysis, where you want to go
with the show, getting things organized,
and then you’ve got the technical side —
working with your stage manager, the tech
nical directors, designers, things like that.”
Burke said the rewards of a director ver
sus an actor are different as well.
“One of the most satisfying things about
it (directing) is that you’ve got this idea in
your head, and if you can convey that to the
actors, and they can pick it up and give it
back to you.”
The play will be presented tonight and
Friday through Tuesday in The Fallout
Theater in the Blocker Building. Two mati
nees will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday. Tickets are $4.00 for students and
$5.00 for the general public. For more in
formation call the Rudder Box Office at
845-1234.