m
3
lE
By Cindy
three-foot tall Teenage Mutant Ninja guacted with tton — at Uhe adult shows. The
Turtle twirls wildly to music. The ftoor simple, sometimes sillylunes written to appeal to
of the Front Porch Cafe, weekend ditldranaiedghtte withlhedigikids.t!®.
home of college students and adults Seeing the same performance through a
looking for live music, is filled with child's eyes was a refreshing change of pace,
children sitting cross-legged. Entire famines arMjifte^idsreallyihadaifeifet.Thsy^r^.^lfeii,
quack occasionally. :iaughed and danced (Dhuok Berry's “Johnny B.
The description may seem entirely uncredibte, Goode” 'brought mit the booge inn sexoral of
but as the duo on stage will tell you, Truth is them).
Stranger than Fish in'. They didn't even mind too much when Srim-
The tWO musicians Who Comprise Trout Fish- imri pmiiwti Brartifciiamrtmiartiiimafl fflanaig^a gannr-
ing in America lured about 40 kids and 25 adiits partion df the Show. The cHaBacaffly ttrarned
to a Saturday afternoon show which included bass player explained bowing •technques {arc®
sing-alongs, comedy, juggling stunts and even and pizzicato) and ‘the seffTaught Idlest ex-
(sorry, kids) a little education. pilained guitar techniques ((‘jpteyimg with my fin-
Guitarist Ezra Idlet and bassist Keith Grim- gers” and "ptayrng wrtth a piDk"). : ldtet also ex
wood could easily have entertained the audience plained the term a vapelfa: ‘ittS a snail town an
even without instruments. They look a comical Northern Italy where noone plays any instru-
pair (Idlet is 6-feet-9, Grimwood is 5-feet-5) to be- merits.”
gin with, and play off the height difference in the The mem had an easy rapport with their audi-
song “Dueling Morons." eraoe. The children had nc Ireuble approaching
Juggling bean bags, bowling balls and Tcni- ire stage after the show to ask questions, m-
ves” — with help from some young volunteers — quest songs or g^lt an autograph on a T-shirt or
the musicians captivated an audience whose av- tope. Grimwood showed off some of lire Stage
erage attention span can’t be longer than a typ- preps—whichiirtcludeateddybearand apa'irpf
ical Roadrunner episode. dinosaur hand-puppets—to two •kicfe, and later
Audience participation is integral to Trout Fish- talked with a parent about tavorite children's imu-
ing’s appeal. Many of the songs are sing-alongs, sicians.
or have portions where the kids get to make Trout Fishing has atape tor children, Big Tiw-
noise. In the song “Five Little Ducks,” Grimwood ble, and a skids’ video called ‘Go Rsh,’’ which
creates a quacking competition between chi- won a gold nredal afthe T990 Houston hlterna-
dren and adults — oddly, the adults were almost lima! Fitm-Festival.
enthusiastic enough to win. Don’t hesitate to ctreok cult ftire releases just
Actually, almost all the songs performed a! the because they ire ‘tor kids" — toe beautffdl song
children's show were familiar to me because I've “Lullaby,” written tor toe musicians' own children,
heard them — yes, and sang and clapped and Kastailableohly^ontthekids'lape.
page 4
January 31,1991
SONORA N. ROBBINS
Aggie Players
'strike a pose’
By John Mabry
“Strike a pose.” With those words as
her battle cry, Madonna made Vogueing
the newest dance fad of the ’90s.
Although she’d probably like to take
credit as the inventor of the debonair
dance, the art of Vogueing is as old as,
would you believe, the 17th century.
“They had style, they had grace." Itwas
during this time period that the first “Vo-
guers" — European aristocrats — began
to display their adeptness at grace and
poise. The overly conscious control of the
body, the mystery of the fan, the alluring,
decollete garments and the distant atti
tude were all part of the craft.
Several Aggie Players have been Vo
gueing, 17th-century style, for the past
three weeks in preparation for the upcom
ing production of William Wycherly’s Re
storation masterpiece, “The Country Wi
fe.”
As part of their experience, eight cast
members traveled to the 1991 Texas Edu
cational Theatre Association Convention
in Fort Worth to present a workshop on
period-style posing to Texas high school
students. The workshop was led by direc
tor Michael Greenwald, associate profes
sor of theater arts at Texas A&M.
“The teachers get to see what other
people are doing and have a chance to
pick up new techniques from actors and
directors who have had more training,” he
said. “Some of these teachers have not
been highly trained in theater, and this
gives them a chance to learn new tech
niques.”
Susie Shaw and John Flores vogue 17th century style in the Blocker building Tuesday evening.
After Greenwald presented a brief
overview of the history, costuming
and mannerisms of 1675, each actor
presented a brief monologue as an
example of the different social types
of the period — the dashing gallant,
the vain fop, the crusty cuckold and
the naive country girl.
Then, volunteers from the audi
ence were chosen to try their hand
at emulating the acting style of the
age.
Senior theater arts major Mary El
len Brennan, one of the participants
in the workshop, said programs like
these are essential to a true under
standing of Restoration acting style.
“Today's high school students
have grown up in an age when noth
ing surprises them anymore,” she
said. “There’s nothing they’ve seen
that can be offensive. So when you
revert back to the Restoration, it’s
hard to relate to the decorum of the
age, when showing a woman’s leg
was considered risque.”
Brennan said another difficulty is
the fact that many modem play
wrights have chosen to ignore the
beauty of language.
“Today, with playwrights such as
David Mamet, a grunt is considered
a sentence,” she said.
Struggle to succeed links videos
By Julia Spencer
without the gentle guidance of her fa
ther or her brother, she begins a self
destructive descent into madness.
Her paranoid, irrational conduct
scares away potential patrons and
only plunges her deeper into a men
tal, emotional and financial morass.
Having destroyed all her works in
plaster before being committed to an
institution in 1913, only a very few
pieces survive to bear witness to her
highly psychological, “interior” style of
art.
This film makes me wonder how
Claudel might have fared if she had
been born in this century. Perhaps a
wider acceptance of female creative
endeavors might have given her the
strength to succeed on her own with
out the smothering, jealous influence
of a Rodin. Nevertheless, their
doomed love story is immortalized
here, composed and lighted like a
beautiful sculpture, which loses none
of its delicacy, only its scope on the
small screen. Perhaps with this sen
sual, three-dimensional character
study, beautifully rendered by Adjani,
Camille Claudel’s perceptive and ten
der work will finally receive the recog
nition it deserves. This film is in
French with English subtitles.
Stanley (Robert De Niro), of Stanley
& Iris, has a different sort of predica
ment in this sincere, old-fashioned
film. He, like one in five Americans,
can’t read or write. Iris (Jane Fonda),
who works at the same bakery as
•Life Style magazine
Stanley, is recently widowed and has wits at the edge of society: hoods,
to care for an extended family threat- con artists, prostitutes, homosexuals,
ening to over-extend itself. transvestites, drug addicts, all trying
The movie follows the pair as they to come to terms with themselves and
slowly, tentatively become friends, their situations,
learn each other’s secrets and teach Jennifer Jason Leigh, who played a
each other to regain the missing misguided teenager in Fast Times a!
pieces of their lives. As Iris teaches RidgemontHighturnsinaheartbreak-
Stanley to read and he shows her how ing performance as a peroxided
to love again, no easy solutions or mir- tramp who hustles G.I.s for a Irving,
acle cures are offered — only the tra- She is so inured to the indifference
ditionai American values of per- and violence of the streets that she
sistence and hard work. sacrifices herself to it and cannot even
This, being a Hollywood film, was recognize true affection when it
the most uplifting of the three by far. comes her way.
De Niro fans who wish to see him in a Another victim of this degenerate
masterful change-of-pace perfor- society is a married man whose new-
mance — much like his recent work in found homosexual tendencies cause
“Awakenings” — will enjoy this film as him to pursue a frivolous, mercenary
well. man, and failing that, a young local
boy. In the process, he loses his job.
Last Exit to Brooklyn proves that the his family, his morals and ail his dig-
'50s weren't all innocence and Eisen- nity and self-respect. In a strangely
hower. Based on Hubert Selby’s con- Christ-like image, we see him cruci-
troversial novel, it is full of characters fled by the neighborhood gang for his
who were born into rotten circum- sins against society and public opin-
stances (no offense, Brooklynites) ion.
and have little hope or means for get- There are many striking images and
ting out. Some of the men and women memorable characters here, but don't
who populate this film have renewed rent this one if you just want a cheap,
prospects at the end, but they all carry teen sexploitation flick. There's plenty
the heavy burden of ignorance, pov- of exploitation, but it’s gritty, sordid
erty and violence. stuff, not soft-focus, beach-blanket ti-
The film, which is presented as a tillation. If you want a disturbing look at
series of vignettes, is loosely held to- the depths of human depravity in the
gether by the story of an ongoing underbelly of urban society, in a film
strike by the local labor union. The pro- reminiscent of Sid and Nancy, then
tagonists are outcasts, living by their this is the video for you.
page9
British statesman and author Benja
min Disraeli once said, “Circums
tances are beyond the control of man,
but his conduct is in his own power.”
Nothing could more aptly describe the
common thread which links the three
films I viewed on video this past week
end. In all three, the characters strug
gle to succeed despite the limits gen
der, education or socio-economic
status have placed on them.
Camille Claudel is about the tragic
life of the extraordinarily gifted sculp
tress who became Auguste Rodin’s
assistant and lover, to the detriment of
her own career and oeuvre. It was
Camille's unfortunate predicament to
be a talented and highly imaginative
female in the male-dominated art
world of the late 19th century.
Exceedingly passionate and head
strong, and bitterly opposed by her
patrician mother who thought the work
of a sculptor filthy and unladylike,
Camille turns to the men in her life for
solace and support. In her eagerness
to be recognized by Rodin, she aban
dons her own projects to help him,
and soon becomes his iover and
greatest source of inspiration.
Rodin, sensitively portrayed by the
prolific Gerard Depardieu, is torn be
tween Camille (Isabelle Adjani, rav
ishing even in rags) and another
woman. Tormented by his indecision,
she leaves him to recommence her
own work, but without his love and