Arts & Entertainment
ursday September 17, 1992
The Battalion
Page 3
Russian army dance troupe
steppes onto Rudder stage
Aggie Players present character drama
Pulitzer Prize-winning play returns
By ANAS BEN-MUSA
Reviewer of THE BATTALION
"Talley's Folly"
Written by Lanford Wilson
Starring Scott Kelly, Susan Kelly
Directed by Robert Wenck
Playing at Rudder Forum, tick
ets sold at the door only
A well-dressed, relaxed, mid
dle-aged man walks onstage and
begins to address the audience.
Suddenly you realize the play
has started and the man on the
stage is one of the characters in
"Talley's Folly."
The abruptness of Lanford Wil
son's play, 'Talley's Folly," is one
of the unique aspects that make it
such a personal story.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning
play's success this summer as an
MSC Dinner Theater production
promted Aggie Players to bring it
back this fall, director Robert
Wenck said.
For the first 15 minutes, the au
dience gets to know the main
character. Matt Friedman, played
by Scott Kelly. The lights dim
slowly and the audience enters
Matt's world— near Lebanon,
Missouri, July 4,1944 .
The play is set in a gazebo, or
"folly," oeside a river. The trinkets
cluttering the gazebo represent
the emotional problems that keep
the two main characters from
trusting each other.
Matt and Sally (played by Kel
ly's wife, Susan) have trouble
communicating and fear to con
fide in each other because of their
past.
As the play progresses. Matt
and Sally realize their disordered
and jumbled past has made them
what they are, and is an important
factor in their love.
Matt jokes about Sally's broth
ers and how foolish they are to
hate him because he is Jewish.
The audience realizes Matt's cyni
cal attitude goes deeper than sim
ple racial slurs as he reveals the
norror and anguish his family ex
perienced in World War I.
Sally responds by unveiling the
disappointments in her life and
how fed up she is with her family
because they treat her as property
and not as a human being.
"Talley's Folly" is a simple and
wonderful play. I enjoyed having
the opportunity to understand
Matt and Sally, both are full char
acters with much depth and com
plexity.
"Talley’s Folly" started Wednes
day and runs until this Saturday.
Take a loved one — it is well
worth the money and it might be
your last chance.
Tickets for "Talley's Folly" are
$4 for students and $6 for the gen
eral public.
The Red Star Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble perform at 8 p.m. Saturday in Rudder Auditorium.
tem
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By ANAS BEN-MUSA
Staff Writer of THE BATTALION
The MSC Opera and Performing
Arts Society is starting its twentieth
anniversary season with a perfor
mance by the Incomparable Red
Stars Red Army Chorus and Dance
Ensemble Saturday at 8 p.m. in
Rudder Auditorium.
The group is composed of over
130 accomplished artists that in
cludes a cnorus, orchestra, and
dancers from the former Soviet
Union's Strategic Missile Forces.
Before the performance, OP AS
will present all the past student
chairs and presidents of OP AS. The
presentation and the new season
will be dedicated to the founder,
Wayne Stark.
The Texas A&M Singing Cadets
will perform two songs with the
Red Army Chorus. They will open
the show with the Red Army Cho
rus's version of "The Star Spangled
Banner" and close with "God Bless
America."
The Singing Cadets and the Red
Army Chorus will also perform to
gether in Houston Friday.
Ross Theilen, public relations
manager of the Singing Cadets, said
that this will be the first joint ven
ture between the Singing Cadets
and a Russian group.
Although the Red Army Chorus
is an internationally renowned en
semble, it is not the original ensem
ble that was created after the Bolshe
vik Revolution in 1917. The group
performing at Texas A&M was cre
ated in 19/7 and adopted the same
name as the first group.
The Alexandrov Red Army Cho
rus (1917) was canceled because
they feared confusion and competi
tion with the other ensemble.
The Alexandrov Red Army Cho
rus tour was booked by a consor
tium including SATRA Entertain
ment and the SPACE Agency.
The consortium had an exclu
sive touring rights contract with the
former Soviet Union, now the
Commonwealth of Independent
States. The contract included a
guaranteed copyright of the "Red
Army" name.
Piowever, Columbia Artists
Management Inc., signed the newer
ensemble for 80 U.S. dates in direct
competition with the Alexandrov
Chorus's 35-date tour.
CAMI booked the new group
despite several letters and mes
sages by former Soviet Union offi
cers and generals to back down.
'The Men' arrive with debut
By TRICIA MARTINEZ
RcvieuvrofTHE BATTALION
The Men
"The Men"
Polygram Records
The self-titled debut album by
The Men is one of the best I have
ever had the pleasure of hearing.
Two of the LP's cuts have al
ready made their way up the
record charts and others will fol
low, I'm sure.
The first single, "Church of
Logic Sin & Love contains some
very clever lyrics by lead singer
Jef Scott. Scott wrote all the
songs for the album, but this one
really stands out.
Drummer David Botkin never
misses a beat on any of the
songs, but during this song his
drum solos truly shine. It's a
very catchy tune and before it's
over you find yourself singing along.
The second release was "Blue
Town." It is not as strong as the
first, but it does display all the
band's strengths. Scott sings in a
very husky, masculine voice
while Lore Wilhelm exhibits
some ripping guitar sounds.
Don t let tne group's name
fool you — they may call them
selves The Men but there is a fe
male in the band, Nancy
Hathorn, and believe me when I
say she can play a mean bass.
She is by far one of the strongest
parts of the LP. No one can
touch her on "She's All Mine."
She plays a non-stop groove that
gains her all tine attention.
Most of the songs are not
hard rock but not mellow either.
The Men fall somewhere in the
middle of the road and that's
what makes them so appealing
to a variety of listeners.
One or the songs reminded
me of something maybe Steely
Dan would do. /V Kmg of Central
Park," has an early 70s grooves
with a sliding guitar and slow
drum backbeat. It was great.
This tune was more along a
funky line with lots of mixing on
the guitars and drums. Scott
sounds so similar to Steely Dan
on vocals that I began to have
flashbacks from my childhood.
I'm sure this won't be the last
time we hear from The Men; in
fact I wouldn't be surprised at
all if "The Brotherhood" is re
leased as a third cut from the LP.
It definitely has all the character
istics of a stand-alone single.
The Men's debut album really
has the sound of a band that has
been around for years. They
possess the strength in vocals
and the talent on guitars and
drums on their debut album that
takes other bands a lifetime to
accomplish.
Make the
Natural
Choice.
Wednesday, September 23rd
Natural gas is predicted to become the fuel of the future for the United
States. Now’s the time to consider a career opportunity with a leader in
natural gas — Delhi. Delhi’s leadership status would not be possible without
the contributions of the many talented and innovative engineers who exem
plify the “can-do” attitude we seek. Delhi engineers hold many key posi
tions on our management team and are essential to the future of our
business.
We’re searching for ambitious and enthusiastic petroleum, mechanical and
chemical engineers who want to join one of the pioneers in the natural gas
gathering and wholesaling business. Delhi has found new life as a stand- )
alone entity within the USX Marathon Group and continues to strengthen
as it adds talented engineers to its team.
Make the natural choice and contact Delhi. We’ll be on campus Wednes
day, September 23,1992. Contact your College Placement Office to
schedule an interview or write to us at:
WARDEH BROS, presents
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