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— They Might Be Giants performed fasttafl in Rudder Audifdrium. MSC Town Hall, which sponsored the show, brings comedians and other popular performers from all types of modern music to campus.
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Town Hall faces many obstacles in bringing popular and diverse acts to campus
By Libe Goad
The Battalion
■ I ^jhey Might Be Giants took to the
I Rudder stage in December 1994
■J- and people were standing and
[ singing along. Some progressed to bun
ny-hopping down the rows of chairs.
I But not every student was there to
1 simply have a good time.
I Down the side aisles in Rudder Audi
torium, people wearing t-shirts with
glow-in-the-dark print stood calmly and
watched the crowd and the show. Oth
ers wearing the same shirts stood in
front of the stage, while still more were
outside taking tickets.
1 They were all members of MSC Town
Hall, and they are still making things
happen today by bringing musicians
and performers to A&M, guaranteeing
students entertainment on campus.
Students in the organization are in
charge of advertising, security, ushering
and other aspects in planning shows.
This year, Town Hall will be expand
ing in several directions to try to continue
booking a variety of shows. In the past,
R.E.M., Garth Brooks, the Violent
Femmes and the Indigo Girls have illus
trated the diversity of Town Hall’s shows.
Bryan Quarles, Town Hall chairman,
said one way the Town Hall committee
plans to diversify entertainment is by
working with other student organiza
tions to bring performers to A&M.
Comedian Bill Bellamy performed
last spring through a joint effort with
the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and
Town Hall has also worked with the
NAACP to cosponsor programs.
Heather Murray, assistant of opera
tions, said Town Hall tries to schedule a
variety of music, but the group has diffi
culty knowing what performers to bring
without consulting other students.
Town Hall held its first forum last
February to explain why it has difficul
ty getting performers to visit A&M and
to receive input from students.
Students and the committee dis
cussed scheduling limitations the orga
nization faces, such as promoters’ per
ceptions of A&M as solely a big country
music market.
The organization has also seen sever
al well-known artists slip through their
fingers for reasons unknown.
“We talked to a promoter about
bringing Pearl Jam,” Quarles said.
“Stephen F. Austin University got the
show, and we didn’t.”
Town Hall also ran into problems
when it tried to book the alternative
band, The Breeders.
The band was tentatively scheduled
to play until the fire marshall said fire
codes would be violated in DeWare
Field House.
“The audience numbers were cut in
half, and we couldn’t put on the show,”
he said.
Quarles said Town Hall will hold oth
er forums to give students the opportu
nity to offer feedback and learn the
scheduling process.
“If a student says, ‘How come all you
bring is country music shows,’ we can
tell them why,” he said. “They don’t un
derstand the aspects that go into book
ing a show.”
Town Hall has had some shining mo
ments in its history, including sold-out
Garth Brooks and Clint Black shows.
and Lyle Lovett’s performance which
started his national tour.
Quarles said he wants to have more
free outdoor shows to give little-known
performers greater exposure.
In 1992, the Gin Blossoms played
outside at Rudder Fountain before
opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket.
“They were virtually unknown then,”
Quarles said. “Now, they’re huge.”
Murray said Town Hall will focus on
lesser-known bands instead of spending
all its energies on booking big names.
“We want to have the smaller shows
so we can bring more here,” she said.
Quarles said he looks forward to
catching more bands before they be
come popular.
“It’s exciting when we have up-and-
coming things and they explode later,”
he said.
Aggie Players rely on
closeness and devotion
By Rachel Barry
[The Battalion
W hat started as a small
student discussion
group in 1945, went on
to become the Aggie Players. Al
though A&M didn’t have a the
ater arts department until 1977,
the Aggie Players stayed focused
bn the stage.
The history and of the pro
gram’s endurance is reflective of
the importance many students
place on theater. For senior Eng
lish major Chris Blake who audi
tioned for Death and the Maiden
and The Crucible Monday, the
theater offers a creative outlet.
“The arts allow you to learn
more about yourself,” Blake said.
The Aggie Players produce
shows throughout the school
year. Auditions are open to any
student willing to recite a two-
minute monologue.
Blake said the program’s small
size is small in comparison to pro
grams at other universities does
n’t diminish the dedication of the
students involved.
“The program is small,” Blake
said, “but the people involved are
very committed, hard working
and very talented.”
Senior psychology major and
Aggie Player Jeff “Jethro” Nolan
said because the group is so
small, it is imperative that they
get along.
“It’s a very cohesive group,”
Nolan said. “The people involved
are very loyal to the group.”
Despite the Aggie Players’ ex
istence since the ’40s, support for
the group has been waning in re
cent years. Nolan said the decline
in interest may be linked to stu
dents’ apathy.
“It’s a disturbing trend,”
Nolan said. “This is a generation
that has grown up with movies
and TV.”
Nolan said that students aren’t
always the biggest audience at
Aggie Players’ performances.
“Most of the audience is facul
ty,” Nolan said. “Usually, the stu
dents who are there are there to
get extra credit for a class.”
Blake said having an impact
on the audience and a love of the
ater keeps these actors motivated
despite the sometimes unsupport-
ive student body.
“When you are on stage, you
are a part of something bigger,”
Blake said. “The focus should be
on the work of the Theater Arts
Department and not on its size.”
“I think the quality should be
looked at, not just the quantity,”
he said. “They do a lot of things,
and they do them very well.”
In an effort to increase the
awareness of the program,
Nolan said it is important to
maintain the high quality of
the productions.
“If the people come and see
something they like,” Nolan said,
“then they’ll keep coming back.”
^usic •
OPAS aims to stimulate
intellectual audiences
By Amy Protas
The Battalion
roadway shows and ballet
at A&M. This is what J.
Wayne Stark had in mind
when he created the Opera and
Performing Arts Society 23
years ago.
When Stark was director of the
MSC, he didn’t think there was a
true audience for the performing
arts and dreamt of a culturally
educated and developed audience.
Karen Allen, a senior biomed
ical science major and MSC
OPAS chairman, said the society
hopes they are keeping Stark’s
dream alive.
“Stark’s vision has become the
philosophy of our organization,”
Allen said. “We try to broaden
people’s horizons and show them
something different. You can’t
have a world-class university
without performing arts.”
OPAS brings touring plays,
musicals, ballets and any other
form of performing arts. The orga
nization often brings “Texas Ex
clusives” to A&M. This year’s pri
mary example is the Central Bal
let of China, which is making its
one Texas stop at A&M.
“Every year, we try to have
some kind of multi-cultural
performance,” she said, “We try
to open the students’ eyes to
the world around them, distant
and far.”
Laura Ridge, a junior biomed
ical science major, said having
OPAS season tickets fills the cul
tural void for her.
“I bought tickets because I love
that type of programming,” Ridge
said. “I was surprised they could
get such a variety of shows.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus
Christ Superstar, the New York
City Opera’s La Traviata, and the
Guildhall String Ensemble reflect
the variety of performances.
Jeffrey Cranor, a junior jour
nalism major and editor of OPAS
Inside, the society’s newsletter,
said he is most excited about Je
sus Christ Superstar. The musical
tells a story of the seven final
days of Jesus’ life.
“I can’t wait for Superstar,”
Cranor said. “The performance
will give A&M the chance to see
one of Webber’s first and most
cutting-edge works.”
The nature of the organiza
tion enables OPAS members to
interact with the community on
a regular basis. Half of the
board of directors is made up of
students and the other half is
made up of faculty and the
community members.
Jimmie Charney, a senior
political science major, said
OPAS provides an invaluable
opportunity.
“I go to OPAS shows every
year,” Charney said. “The stu
dents have such a huge responsi
bility to bring the shows here.
They go far beyond what we could