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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1996)
/ Aggielife Page 3 tnes SG1E ^rformers go Crazy in Broadway musical |Rachel Barry It Battalion Holleen Hawk’s secret to having enough energy to make it L/through almost three hours of it-paced dancing lies in a crescent- jped fruit. 'I eat a banana before almost every jformance,” she said. Hawks, who plays the lead female le of Polly Baker in Crazy for You, ill be keeping her eyes peeled for me of the yellow fruit as she pre- res to perform in Rudder Auditori- jtoday and tomorrow at 8 p.m. Hawks said Crazy for You, which is unsored by the Opera and Perform- {Arts Society, mixes old-fashioned (llywood tap dancing with classic forge and Ira Gershwin tunes to cre- saunique performance. 'The story is a classic boy-meets- rl,boy-falls-in-love-with-girl, boy- sesgirl, boy-gets-girl-back,” she said. Is a really light-hearted romance , gdilots of comedy.’ a 6 ^P es 0 | The high-energy dancing in Crazy ct a diver8® r y 0U) Hawks said, is reminiscent of ] IHollywood musicals. Dancers use everything from ta- 8S to pick axes as props in their I thing where the members le outside of y fpce numbers. back, its al- "j^gy use a jj things around :em to dance with and on,” she said. . , , j ley use everything in sight and in- ■sident and ^ | ora ^ e j n ^ 0 ^he choreography — it’s ■ally exciting.” Karen Allen, chair of OPAS and a mior biomedical science major, said 'my for You offers audiences a ance to experience a historical per- jective of music. , , , j The music from Crazy for You is ic p stu ents ^ ^ Qeorge and Ira Gershwin, in we a e ^: they were in another era,” she aid. “From all these songs, you get a , J iimpse of another era.” rea In 1992, Crazy for You won the liny Award for Best Musical. Jeffrey Cranor, a member of the cs came from cs as a way to ihe older and n campus, s a real g actually give st to keep the spring e free skiing inium and S ion ndards for ars it could 11 Clinton’s 96 presiden- that women le national d. “But the unding her d it could ef- women Ann Bleiker ment major i Hightower are the first alves as ah t visibly and ublic to elect le said. ady, Page 6 i it News Editor ditor \s Editor tor Iraphics Editor Editor Benson, Eleanor e, Danielle Ron- ’gins ; Kristina Buffin, res Francis, Libe x Walters; Pace nie Christopher, Jody Holley Rob Clark, Erin ne Mejia, Chris eran Watson rgkriwan, Amy i Willis & Evan ica, )ody Holley, emons, Jennifer Thris Yung indy Cater, Am- iM University in urnalism. 845-3313; Fax: irsement by The 845-2696. For 5 Reed McDon- ax: 845-2678. t to pick up a sin- 3 per school year rtnerican Express, y chiring the fall nmer sessions Jniversity. uilding, Texas program advisory committee for OPAS and a junior journalism major, said the show is well-respected on Broadway. “A vast majority of shows don’t stay on Broadway for more than a year,” he said. “(Crazy for You) was on for close to three-and-a-half years.” Hawks had just moved to New York City when she heard the touring com pany of Crazy for You was auditioning for replacement actors. What she did n’t realize was that she was actually auditioning for her favorite role, Polly. After only two weeks of rehearsal, Hawks was ready to perform. “It was fast and furious,” she said. “I was a little bit nervous at first.” Hawks said it was the challenge of portraying a character so opposite her own personality that drew her to Crazy for You. “(Polly’s) something of a spit-fire tomboy,” she said. “It is a good stretch for me acting-wise.” In order not to lose the attitude of Polly’s character during performances, Hawks said that when she sits back- stage, she will sit unladylike and con tinue to act like Polly. “You get immersed in the character and this other person’s personality,” she said. After 10 years of being professional performer, with past roles ranging from a magician’s assistant in Korea to playing Snow White at Disneyland, Hawks said she is always evolving in her work. “As a performer, you always take each opportunity to perform to grow and improve,” she said. “This charac ter isn’t really what my personality is like, so it gives me a chance to explore acting possibilities.” The stress of traveling sometimes takes its toll on Hawks, who said she doesn’t always have time for a quick nap or a banana boost before a show. Without rest, she said, anything can happen on stage. MSC OPAS is presenting the Broadway musical, Crazy For You, tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. “I’ve rewritten Gershwin a few times,” she said. One experience with fumbling lines came on a five-show weekend when Hawks was especially tired. She said that after she sang the first verse of “I’ve Got Rhythm,” she blanked out on the famous refrain and then reversed the lines when she be gan to sing. “When something like that happens to you, you just panic,” Hawks said. “When you make a little slip, your whole mind and body goes into red alert.” Hawks said the cast is always quick to recover from any slip-up on stage. She said being thrown into the middle of a touring company that had already been on the road for a while made her a bit wary of the situation. “Having joined this company late, I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I was absolutely thrilled with the caliber of talent in this production.” Brands presents new history book on C-SPAN's Booknotes Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion Brands, a professor of history, appeared on C- 'Ts Booknotes last Sunday. By Kristina Buffin The Battalion r. H.W. Brands has found his niche. I Brands is content with his place in life right now as both a writer and a history professor at A&M. Last Sunday, Brands was interviewed on C- SPAN’s Booknotes about his recent novel, “The Reckless Decades: America in the 1890s.” This was Brands’ first time on national tele vision, but he said being interviewed on televi sion is a completely different experience than giving lectures. “I have been on the radio and on local televi sion,” Brands said. “But this was different be cause the show was taped in the studio, so it was like talking to someone in my living room, not like being in front of 50 million people. “It gave me time to expand, but it was not like giving a speech or lecture. I had no contact with an audience; I wasn’t able to tell whether people were following me or laughing at my jokes, like I could in a speech or lecture.” This is Brands’ 11th book on American histo ry, and it describes how the events of the 1890s parallel those of the 1990s and the end of the 20th century. “In the 1890s, people saw the end of a centu ry and a watershed,” Brands said. “It is the same kind of feeling we have now, and it offers insights to the events of the 1990s.” “The Reckless Decades” reflects on the tumul tuous events of the 1890s and the political, eco nomic and social changes that occurred. Brand said his goal was to write a book for non-history buffs to enjoy reading. “My intention was to tell a good story,” Brands said. “Implicitly, I wrote it for non-his tory buffs. My early reaction was favorable, es pecially from those who do not normally read about history. "The history department has been very supportive of my writing." — H.W. Brands professor of history “I specialize in American history, mostly within the 20th century. Historians ^have to back up to see how things have evolved. Brands did not originally set out to earn a de gree in history. Originally, he was a mathematics major at Stanford University, but he did not want to build a profession in math. “I took history classes, and it was easier to major in history and get a degree,” he said. “I just kept reading history books outside of class, and I decided that it was what I wanted to do.” After graduating from Stanford, Brands earned his master’s degrees at Portland State University and Reed College Brands received his doctorate from the Uni- versity of Texas. , He is in his ninth year of teaching history at A&M, and he has taught classes ranging from History 105 and 106 to a senior seminar on American history of the 1970s. “The history department has been very sup portive and encouraging of my writing,” Br.ands said. “The general atmosphere of A&M has such a positive spirit over anywhere else I have been.” Like many other professors. Brands has used his books to aid in him in teaching his history classes. One of his books that he uses, “The Devil We Knew,” outlines the United States dur ing the Cold War. I1 ™ Brands said his research for his books helps him when he teaches his classes. “I like the niche that I have found here,” Brands said. “The writing and teaching rein force each other, and my research can be shared in class. “Writing is scholarly and it takes a long time to get a response and reviews. “With teaching, you get an immediate feedback.” For the future, Brands is working on a biog raphy of the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. “Roosevelt was a character in The Reckless Decades,’” Brands said. “I became interested in him and decided that he would be a good subject for a book.” SPECIALIZING IN DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION ONE DAY SERVICE ON MOST CARS Quality & Service since 1987 693-6189 601 Harvey Rd. 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