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Thursday • June 30,15
‘Rumors’ brings best of Simon to Rudder Forum
By Anas Ben-Musa
The Battalion
“Rumors” by Neil Simon
Starring Anne Black, Cody
Bland, Nellwyn Haley and Steve
Mize
Directed by Robert Wenck
Playing at Rudder Forum — to
day through Saturday
Call Rudder Box Office at 845-
1234 for ticket information
When you walk into Rudder
Forum, the set engulfs your
senses. Director and set design
er Robert Wenck creates a not
lavish, but contemporary Man
hattan set that is very appropri
ate for MSC Dinner Theatre &
Aggie Player’s production of
Neil Simon’s farce, “Rumors.”
Farce can only begin to de
scribe this wonderful play, but
this should come as no surprise
to anyone familiar with Simon’s
work. He has continually writ
ten plays that humor audiences
from every walk of life — plays
like the “Odd Couple,” “Biloxi
Blues,” and “Brighton Beach
Memoirs.”
With “Rumors,” Simon uses
his witty, clever humor to create
a light-hearted play about a
New York lieutenant
governor named REVIEW
Charlie who tries to -*•
shoot himself just be
fore his friends and colleagues
arrive for his 10th wedding an
niversary. His good friend and
lawyer, Ken Gorman (played by
Cody Bland), finds Charlie
bleeding with a hole in his ear.
Ken and his wife Chris (played
by Anne Black) don’t want the
incident to be known, fearing
the scandalous story and the ru
ination of many careers.
Yet, that’s when the fun be
gins.
Chris and Ken try their best
to cover up the situation, but
difficulties arise when more
guests arrive and inquire about
Charlie and his wife, who left in
a rush.
Like the television show “Se
infeld,” the play uses one situa
tion event and blows it out of
proportion.
In each scene the
audience learns more
about the characters,
and with strong perfor
mances by Bland and Black,
“Rumors” becomes an intriguing
play.
It was refreshing to see Black
— the Executive Director of MSC
OPAS — perform. As Chris,
Black was a nervous, sarcastic
wreck who only wanted to go
home. Black played the role
beautifully.
As her onstage husband Ken,
Bland did just as well. In the
middle of Act I, Ken accidental
ly drops the gun Charlie used.
The gun goes off and Ken be
comes deaf. Through the rest of
the play, Ken becomes confused
with what everyone is saying.
When someone asks him how
his ears are, he responds by
saying, “Yes, I’ll have a beer,
thank you.”
But Black and Bland were
not the only ones who kept the
audience laughing. Nellwyn
Haley and Steve Mize as Char
lie’s good friends Claire and
Lenny Ganz were remarkable.
They bickered, they yelled, they
worried — they were hilarious.
Haley had some of the most
vicious one-liners, and Mize’s
energetic, pompous portrayal
added enormous strength to the
production. In fact, all the ac
tors fit well with their charac
ters.
Neil Simon’s “Rumors” offers
a wealth of well-performed
characters, and once again,
MSC Dinner Theatre & Aggie
Players have put on a great
summer show for everyone to
enjoy.
Aggie Players in Neil Simon’s ‘Rumors’ debate which one of them will
impersonate their friend, an incapacitated New York lieutenant governor
It’s A Dog’s Life
A&M’s once and
future mascots
take the summer
the way most
wish they could
Jeremy Keddie
The Battalion
R eveille VI is spending her
summer the way most of us
wish we could — traveling
and sleeping. Reveille Vi’s han
dler, Mascot Corporal Mark
Boynton, said the two have been
traveling to Aggie Mother’s
Clubs and Alumni Clubs across
the state. The current mascot
and Boynton left Texas A&M
May 14, and won’t return to
A&M until August.
“When we travel she enjoys
sleeping in the back seat,” Boyn
ton said, “or else she just hangs
her head outside the window.”
Boynton, a Dallas resident, is
a member of E-2, the Corp of
Cadets unit which is responsible
for the care of the mascot. Boyn
ton said the ten month old collie
is healthy and makes regular
visits to the veterinarian, which
is paid for by the Reveille Fund.
“I can either estimate how
much it will cost and ask for the
money ahead of time, or I can be
reimbursed later,” Boynton said.
Reveille VI is 50 pounds and
will be full grown when she
reaches 55 pounds.
But when Reveille VI is not
on the road, Boynton said he
has been training her and get
ting her in shape.
“We’re mostly working on obe
dience,” Boynton said, “and we
go running when it is cool out
side.”
Myra Boynton, Mark’s moth
er, said it’s interesting to see
other people’s reaction when
they see Reveille VI exercising in
the neighborhood.
“I’ll be walking with her down
the street,” Myra Boynton said,
“and they’ll look as if they are
saying... Is that? No...that could
n’t be.”
However, with temperatures
in the 90s in Dallas, Reveille
spends most of her time indoors.
“She’s usually up around 6:30
a.m. and she runs around the
house barking,” Myra Boynton
said.
But even with all the commo
tion, Boynton’s mother said she
enjoys having the mascot
around.
“She’s basically a big house
guest for the summer,” said
Boynton’s mother.
While Reveille VI is spending
her summer in Dallas and trav
eling, retired Reveille V is
spending her summer close to
home. Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine, Joe West, Class of ‘53,
said he is honored with the re
sponsibility of caring for Reveille
VI in her retirement.
“She has meshed in beautiful
ly with our family,” said West.
West is a resident of the
Bryan-College Station area and
is continually involved with the
Texas A&M Community, and
works as a clinical pathologist
with the Texas Veterinary Med
ical Diagnostic Laboratory.
Reveille V traveled to her new
home three months ago and
West said he was advised by Dr.
Lee Phillips, the keeper of the
late Reveille IV through her re
tirement, that there would be a
transition period.
“She didn’t eat for a while,”
West said, “but she is a well so
cialized dog and the period was
brief.”
West said V and VI are good
friends and each has access to
the other since V’s retirement.
“The two saw each other dur
ing the E-2 Company picnic, as
well as during other functions,”
said West.
Reveille V was retired during
the Texas A&M-University of
Texas football game last
Thanksgiving. She had previ
ously received surgery last fall
for a stomach ailment, which re
sulted in a twisted stomach, but
West said that she appears
healthy this summer. She re
ceives her medical attention at
A&M’s College of Veterinary
Medicine, and occasionally
spends time walking in Research
Park. However, Reveille V was
retired because she would be too
busy to enjoy herself at her age.
So while one travels and the
other rests during the summer,
many would say it’s not too bad
to have a dog’s life - too bad
those dog days are gone.
adds perspective to highway scenery
Bart Mitchell/THE Battalion
The sculptures of Dr. Joe Smith may be seen driving through Cald
well on Highway 21 or at A&M’s Medical Sciences Library.
By Jennifer Gressett
The Battalion
r. Joe C. Smith
"X'^V \ stands in the mid-
1 1 j die of a pile of scrap
J iron, chains, logs,
concrete and the re
mains of crushed 18-wheel tank
truck. Miniature sculptures line
the walls of his shop - it’s not a
“studio” he said - waiting to be
come his next work.
By driving through Caldwell
on Highway 21, drivers may see
“that crazy-looking bird” typical
of the retired
physician’s art
work. The
sculpture has
two stubborn
wings and an
attitude that’s
not right for
flight. Stand
ing atop one
human foot,
he’s smiling
like he’s got the
world by the tail.
“(The sculpture) is characteris
tic of humanity in general,” Smith
said. “He seems to be saying ‘I’ve
got it made,’ in spite of the handi
caps that everyone else can see.”
This is just one of the mes
sages Smith reflects in his works.
Other themes include evolution,
humanity, religion and technolo
gy, though he said he never be
gins a project with a theme in
mind.
“Most (artists) work from a
"If you want to do art,
just do it. If it is a true
expression of your
own ...that is all that
matters"
— Dr. Joe C. Smith
preconceived idea,” Smith said.
“But I like to start with nothing
in mind, using my own develop
ment of design to answer my
emotional needs.”
What he gets is a high degree
of spontaneity.
“If you know exactly what to
expect from your artwork, it gets
mundane,” he explained.
It was after 35 years of work
with Baylor Medical School and
Texas A&M Medical School that
Smith decided to indulge in his
passion for art, which he said be
came a therapy more than any
thing else.
As a U.S.
Marine, Smith
was stationed
in China during
World War II,
where he was
given a camera
from the Japan
ese delegation
in appreciation
of his work. He
began to experi
ment with photography, altering
photos with techniques such as
hand tinting.
His first step toward art was a
return to the darkroom, which
eventually led to his desire to
paint. Though he never took a
single art lesson, Smith attribut
es his knowledge to reading an
abundance of art history.
It wasn’t until a friend with a
Please see Sculptor/ Page 3
Biology professor
by day - 'Sneaky
Pete' by night,
A&M's Rizzo
heads for Harvard
on sabbatical
Chris S. Cobb
The Battalion
P eeking out from under his
black fedora, the man onstage
says, “It’s time to pause for a
good cause. I’ll be back in a few.”
With that, he takes off his gui
tar and walks offstage amongst a
shower of “boos.” The crowd does
not want him to stop.
The performer is “Sneaky”
Pete, the place is the
Northgate Cafe, and it’s
any Wednesday evening.
He is just one man and
his guitar playing classic rock
from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, orig
inal tunes and party/novelty
songs. The last of which are the
kind heard on the syndicated Dr.
Demento radio show, which spe
cializes in these kind of songs.
But, this is only one side of the
man called Sneaky. To his col
leagues and students, he is
known as Dr. Peter Rizzo, associ
ate professor of cellular biology.
“People who know me as a
professor can’t believe I have an
other persona that performs
Wednesday evenings,” Rizzo
says. “And those that come see
me perform can’t believe that I
am a serious professor who
teaches a serious class. I try to
keep the personas separate.”
Rizzo has kept the personas
separate now for almost 10
years. This fall marks the 10th
anniversary of Sneaky perform
ing. But, he will not be around
in the fall to help celebrate the
occasion.
It all started when the owner
of the Sunset Grill, now Free-
bird’s World Burrito, called Riz
zo, who was at the time playing
with his band Sneaky Pete and
the Neon Madmen.
The owner wanted Sneaky, as
he is called by his loyal fans, to
distract and entertain the Texas
A&M Rugby team, who were be
coming too rowdy. The Sunset
Grill was the team’s hangout on
Wednesdays after practice. He
soon became popular with more
than just the rugby team. Thus,
the beginnings of Wednesday
Night Live.
“I’ve kept performing on
Wednesdays because that’s when
it started and it kind of became a
tradition,” Rizzo says with a
laugh. “And around A&M, you
don’t mess with tradition.”
Sneaky Pete is now back on
stage after taking his short inter
mission and performs one of his
originals “Booger On My Beer
Mug,” one of two tunes to reach
Dr. Demento’s Funny Five. The
crowd sings along, especially
with the chorus. The other tune
is called “Barbecue Barney,” re
ferring to the purple dinosaur.
Sneaky Pete will be gone this
fall because Rizzo will be taking
a sabbatical to Harvard Univer
sity. A sabbatical is a
short absence, usually a
OFILE year or less, where a
professor does research
at another university
but is still paid a full or partial
salary. Rizzo’s area of expertise
is studying dinoflagellate, primi
tive single-cell algae. The sab
batical will involve studying toxic
dinoflagellate and will focus on
cell cycle and molecular biology-
Rizzo has thought about a
sabbatical for close to 10 years
and received an invitation from
Harvard three years ago. He has
just now found the time to take
h.
“I’m really excited about going
to Harvard because I will be re
searching new techniques to de
velop and study dinoflagellate,”
he said, taking a drink of water
from a wine glass. “But, I will
miss performing on Wednes
days.”
For those who are concerned
about Sneaky performing after
the fall semester, he has already
i made arrangements to grace the
Northgate Cafe stage in the
spring. He plans to leave for Ha 1 ''
vard around September 1. Until
then, he’ll keep tearing it up on
Wednesday nights.
Sneaky Pete performs
every Wednesday night
at the Northgate Cafe
and will perform this
Friday at 9 p.m., cele
brating after finals
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