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33
Stars parody day TV
image in Soapdish
By Julia Spencer
Poor Celeste Talbert. She may
be America's sweetheart, hav
ing just won her umpteenth
award for Best Actress in a day
time drama, but her boyfriend
has just dumped her, and des
perately ambitious co-star Mon
tana Moorehead (Cathy
Moriarty) is plotting with a pro-
| ducer (Robert Downey, Jr.) to
have her written off the show.
Not only that, but as part of the
! scheme, old flame and former
; co-star Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin
; Kline), who Celeste had written
out of the story 20 years ago, is
brought back from obscurity
(and decapitation) to play oppo-
{ site her again. As if that isn't
enough, her niece, Lori Craven
(Elisabeth Shue) arrives on the
| set as an extra, and is getting
; much too close to Jeffrey for her
i taste. And that's only half the
story behind the scenes on the
set of fictional soap opera The
Sun Also Sets, where "art" imi
tates life imitates "art".
On the surface, Soapdish is a
witty, in-joke-filled parody of
silly soap plots, which builds to
a hilarious climax bound to
amuse soap fans and soap
scoffers alike. Butunderneath the
glossy production values and
brisk direction are some seri
ously clever jabs not only at the
soaps, but also at the actors,
writers, and producers who must
keep the show going and the
ratings up at all costs.
"Infotainment" journalists (En
tertainment Tonight's JohnTesch
and Leeza Gibbons play them-
] selves in cameos) and fans who
feed the publicity machine also
come in for some light-hearted
lampooning as well.
Sally Field is a comedy jugger
naut as the beleaguered Celeste,
who goes to malls with friend
and head writer Rose Schwartz
(Whoopi Goldberg) for a "fix" of
1 fan adulation and autograph
1 signing when she's feeling de
pressed. Oscar winner Kevin
Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) is
in equally fine form here as an
egocentric actor who has been
playing Willy Loman in Death
of A Salesman for unappreciative
retirees in a Florida dinner the
ater, but dreams of doing a one-
man Hamlet on Broadway.
Kline's character is so completely
given over to perfecting his craft
that he is unable to communi
cate with other people in real-
life situations without a script
and at least one rehearsal.
Elisabeth Shue is alternately
innocent and crafty as the inge
nue wannabe Lori, who is remi
niscent of Anne Baxter's ambi
tious character in All About Eve.
Cathy Moriarty (Oscar nominee
for Raging Bull) is fantastic as
the jealous, backstabbing, ma
nipulative baby Dunaway who
will do anything to be the star.
Teri Hatcher also shows promise
as the laughably miscast Dr.
Monica Demonaco. Real-life
soap stars from General Hospi
tal (Anna) and As the World
Turns (Caleb) also appear in
cameos.
Unfortunately, Whoopi
Goldberg and Carrie Fisher (as a
hunk-happy casting director) are
given much too little to do, and
Robert Downey, Jr.'s role as the
sycophantproducer is somewhat
underwritten.
All in all, though, the script,
written by Robert Harling (Steel
Magnolias) and Andrew
Bergman (The Freshman) is ex
tremely funny, and the charac
ters, while certainly not
Shakespearean in depth, are
cleverly drawn, with a lot more
nuance and witty observation of
human nature than your stan
dard formula comedy.
In the uproarious finale,
Soapdish proves that the bottom
line in the world of soaps is the
bottom line. That is to say: any
thing goes, in or out of character,
in or out of the script, as long as
it's sufficiently dramatic and
shocking to help the ratings.
Maybe not a completely original
concept (remember Tootsie?) but
highly entertaining nonetheless.
Soapdish is rated PG-13 and is
now playing at the Manor East
III.
Texas Music Festival
Classical chamber series returns to
A&M for fourth consecutive summer
SONORA ROBBINS/Ttie Battalion
French harpsichordist Brigitte Haudebourg rehearses for her performance Monday night.
By Yvonne Salce
Add a little romance, a little style
to your summer nights in June.
For the fourth year, sounds of
chamber music will flow from
Rudder Theatre in what promises
to be an oasis for an otherwise hot
and dry summer.
The Humana Hospital - Brazos
Valley Texas Music Festival
Chamber Music premiered its
summer season Monday night with
a performance of classical selec
tions by French harpsichordist
Brigitte Haudebourg. Bringing
invited guest artists and interna
tionally renowned ensembles to
the A&M campus, the concerts will
continue every Monday evening
in June at 7:30 p.m. and run through
July 1.
"It's a wonderful summertime
thing," says Werner Rose, coordi
nator of Texas A&M University's
music program and this summer's
concert series.
The festival has certainly been a
pleasant surprise in the slow days
of summer for many music enthu
siasts. Last year's attendance nearly
doubled to 400 and audience re
sponses ranged from "tremen
dous" to "cool." As one enthusiast
put it, "After a hard days work,
impossible hot weather, an a Mon
day besides, anything that can get
me to come back to campus has to
be good! What a wonderful way to
end the day! Music in concert is
real in a way that no recording can
ever be."
For those who are novices to
classical music and its many forms
of artistic expression. Rose recom
mends chamber music as an excel
lent way to get into it.
"Because you have one person
playing a part," says Rose, "you
have an interaction of communi
cation and a sharing of emotional
and interpreted thoughts."
The end result is something that
allows the audience to share in the
performer's charm, feel the warmth
of the sound and experience an
intimacy that is usually hard to
come by in any other way.
Two to nine players usually make
up a chamber music concert. Rose
says. It is similar to that of a piano
player and singer collaborating and
communicating, he says.
"It has a rich repertoire that is
very diverse, very large - but also a
very highly respected repertoire,"
Rose says.
Founded in 1984 by David
Tomatz, director of the University
of Houston School of Music, and in
conjunction with the Houston
Museum of Fine Arts, the Texas
Music Festival, formerly known as
the Lyric Art Festival, presented
chamber music concerts on Sun
days and Thursdays at the mu
seum and at the University of
Houston.
Since 1988, the Texas Music fes
tival has extended its series of
chamber music concerts to College
Station every summer.
The Festival, coordinated by
Texas A&M's music program,
gained solid footing last year from
Humana Hospital, which provided
a major grant to underwrite the
summer music series. Humana
Hospital continues to support the
Texas Music Festival, making it
one of the largest single corporate
contributions to the arts in Brazos
Valley. Financial support also
comes from the Arts Council of
Brazos Valley and the University
Honors Program at Texas A&M.
Haudebourg, featured Monday
night, is a worldwide performer
and renowned musician who
studied at the Conservatoire Na
tional Superieur de Musique in
Paris. An artist of many accolades,
Haudebourg performed selections
from Schobert, Bach and Mozart.
Other performances for the 1991
season are the Pro Arte String
Quartet and Lawrence Wheeler,
June 10; the Latvian Philharmonic
Chamber Orchestra from Riga,
Latvia, USSR, featuring music di
rector and conductor ToviLifshitz,
June 17; the Houston Symphonic
Brass Quintet with Winds, June 24;
and violoncellist Laslo Varga,
July 1.
Series tickets are $30 for adults
and $20 for students and senior
citizens. Tickets for individual
concerts are $8 for adults and $5
for students and senior citizens.
Tickets can be purchased at the
MSG Box Office and Foley's.