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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1997)
ber 16,1 ■hursday • October 16, 1997 Life fhe Theater Arts Program brings classic play Our Town Rudder in celebration of Wilder’s 100th birthday OB, By Marium Mohiuddin Staff writer ife, death, love and Grover’s Corners. These are the four constants in the life of Emily ebb, the female lead in Thornton Wilder’s K'p^y ° ur Town - WWLCii. m^ ur Town is the first production this semes- ter by the Texas A&M Theater Arts Department. It portrays the life and death of Emily Webb, a girl living in the town of Grover’s Corners. ■ Keleigh Vetrano, the actress playing Emily Webb and a senior theater arts major, geared up for this play by remembering her mom and how she would feeMf she were to lose her mother. I “Before the act, my friends talk to me and tell me things to think about. My mother is special tome and I am very close to her. So I think about her and how I would feel if I were to go back and [ see her when she was young,” Vetrano said. ■ “(In) the third act, Emily goes back and talks ■to her parents, and, in particular, the conversa- on is geared towards Emily’s mother. The third del is very emotional.” IT®Vetrano sa ^ s l ie never read the play and was told Our Town was boring because it just deals with a girl living and dying. -I However, when she read for the play, she said she found it to be very touching, sweet and close to real life. “This is the hardest play I have done because it is so emotional,” Vetrano said. “Sometimes it is very hard to get out the tears in front of 150 people, but because I am concentrating so hard, the audience kind of disappears.” "The actors can hear and see everything in the audience,” Vetrano said. “The first night of the show during the third act it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I saw a lady wiping the tears away from her face. When I see them crying, I want to comfort them and say ‘It is only a play.’” Dr. Oscar Gener, director of Our Town and professor of theater arts, said he chose this play because it is a classic and very well known. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the birth ofWilder, the writer of the play. “Casting was held the first week of school,” Gener said. “Fifty to 60 people auditioned, which is a high number, and 26 were chosen as cast members. “Most of the cast is composed of A&M stu dents, however this play calls for children’s roles, so some elementary students were cast. The cast had six weeks to prepare for the production. The first play is always a bit rushed.” Gener said he incorporated two personal as pects to enhance the play. “The first is the look of the play which is black and white,” Gener said. “I have always admired black and white film and I wanted to tiy and re produce that feeling. The second is a spiritual African-American hymn called ‘Cavalry.’ “It does not belong in the play, but it says a lot about the play, and coincides with the third act. It [the music] is about the death of Christ at Cav alry, and him walking to freedom and liberty.” Gener said the play will have a simple set to compliment it. “I tried to simplify it even further,” Gener said. “I limited the costumes to no color to add to the simplicity and to emphasize the acting. The sets includes two Japanese screens and four stools.” Amanda Black, costume designer and a se nior theater arts major, said the clothes help to carry out the simplicity. “The colors were kept gray, white and black,” Black said. “The colors make the look simple but complicated. It also brings the ac tor out and makes them look beautiful. It al lows the audience to see who everyone is and what they are doing.” Black said the colors were chosen to em phasize the two families in Our Town, the Gibbs and the Webbs. “The two families are similar—the colors cre ated distinction,” Black said. “The Webbs are more passive so their clothing consisted of gray. The Gibbs are a stronger family. They seem to be richer because the father is a doctor. This family wore black and white.” Vetrano said the simplicity enhances an ac tor’s capabilities. “It is easier because the costumes and the set are so simple,” Vetrano said. “Sometimes, too much takes away from the actors.” Our Town is currently playing at Rudder Forum and will continue playing until Saturday, Oct. 18. Tickets are available at the MSG Box Office. DEREK DEIMERE/The Battalion Keleigh Vetrano plays Emily Webb alongside Chrystie Gordy as Emily’s mother in the Thorton Wilder play Our Town presented by the theatre arts department. any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?” — Emily Webb from Thornton Wilder’s Our Town TV combines extreme sports and alternative music in Austin festival )pinion )to Editor adio Editor eb Editor Editor ice Manager iy, Leonard Callao :hris Huffinesjerr: d Johnston, Doany ison Jackson, AiwS in, Kendall Kell), sh Miller, ogers; Derek De« wan, Amy Dunlap,H atro Oakley; Ed Co# am, David Hi Gabriel Ruenes,*] Publicatmiid l; Fax: By Chris Martin Staff writer T wo forces of popular culture will con vene in Austin this weekend for MTV’s first “Sports and Music Festival” — al ternative rock and extreme sports. Beginning Friday, over 90 athletes will gather to compete in alternative sporting events such as in-line skating, BMX biking, skateboarding and snowboarding. Greg Baldwin of MTV Communications said alternative sports are growing in pop ularity around the world. “These aren’t mainstream sports, like baseball or basketball,” Baldwin said. “They are very much ‘Gen-X’ sports, created by the kids doing it. With events like this and [ESPN’s] X- Games, they are gaining national exposure. Snowboarding is even being added as an Olympic event.” Baldwin said some sporting events will be divided into nine categories, such as street and dirt events within the BMX competition. The festival will be hosted by MTV VJs Kennedy, Peter King and Carson Daly, as sisted by alternative sports stars who will be on hand to explain the competition and lifestyles behind the sports. In a true sportsmanlike manner, judging will be placed on the shoulders of the com petitor’s fellow athletes. According to a press release, the event will first encourage the athletes to push the limits of skill and creativity in the events. “The athletes are perfect to judge each other because they know what to look for,” Baldwin said. “Peers know the hard moves and when they are hit just right.” In-line skating star Arlo Eisenberg of Dallas will be competing, along with alter native sports stars Barrett Christy in snow boarding, Dave Mirra in BMX biking and Andy MacDonald in skateboarding. Complementing the action of the sport ing events will be performances by several alternative bands. “The events fit with the music, so putting them together in this way makes sense,” Baldwin said. “The music is part of the lifestyle of the athletes, and many of the music performers play the sports.” The main stage lineup will feature music from the Offspring, Everclear, Smash Mouth and Blink-182. Reel Big Fish, the Crystal Method and the Wu-Tang Clan will complete the bill with an eclectic mix of ska, dance and hip-hop. Austin’s local music scene will be repre sented on the second stage. Nine local bands are scheduled to perform, including Soak, the Borrowers, Fastball, El Flaco and Pocket Fisherman. Baldwin said MTV Sports was one of the first shows to feature alternative sports, and the festival represents a continuing relation ship between cutting edge sports and music. Keanu Reeves Ae Pacino A ‘tasaieSiflil ilion. Mails!®# •2611. layttwiJiMj : College Stafolf n, Ik 77843-IUl! * I * f . m I ■« w jL. tf * .. _ '-s - , .a, „ .fc'A' . ^ liiaii The newest attorney at the world’s most powerful law firm has never lost a case. But he’s about to lose his soul. Evil has its winning ways. STARTS FRIDAY -rtm- "I was a 98 lb. weakling until i found 4.0 & Go." "They really know how to focus at 4.0 "...and may they discover 4.0 & Go” Acct 315 Part 1 Mon Oct 20 !Onto-12am Part II Tue Oct 21 10ptn-!2am Part HI Wed Oct 22 10pm~12am Part IV Thu Oct 23 10titn-12am Acct 327 Part I Mon Oct 20 Spm-lOnm Part 11 TueOct 21 Spm-Hlptn Part HI Wed Oct 22 Spm-lOptn Part IV Thn Oct 23 Sptn-IOpnt Bana 305 Stein Part i Mon Oct 20 5nm-7pm Part 11 TueOct 21 5pm-7pm Part HI Wed Oct 22 5pni-7pm Biol 113 Part I San Oct 19 7pm-9|im Part 11 Mon Oct 20 7pm-9pm Part III Tue Oct 21 7pm~9pm Part IV Wed Oct 22 7pm~9pm Fine 341 Part I Sun Oct 19 7pm-10jtm Part 11 Mon Oct 20 7pm-!0pm Part III Tuc Oct 21 7ptn-9pm Gene 30! Part I Mon Oct 20 fiijTm-Spm Pari 11 Tue Oct 21 6ptn-8pm Part III Wed Oct 22 6pt«t-8pm Part IV Thu Oct 23 6pm-8pm Math 141 Part I Sun Oct 19 7pm-9pm Part 11 Mon Oct 20 7pnt-9pm Part HI Tue Oct 21 7pm-9pm Part IV Wed Oct 22 7pm-9pm Math 151 Part I Mon Oct 20 Upm-lam Part II Tue Oct 21 llpin-lam Partlll Wed Oct 22 1 Ipm-tam Part IV Thu Oct 23 11 pm-lam Math 152 Part I Mon Oct 20 Part 11 Tue Oct 21 9pm-11 pm Part HI Wed Oct 22 9nm-l I pm Part IV Thu Oct 23 9ptn-!lpm Question: What is illegal to do with an ugly horse in Wilbur, Washington? (First 5 to call with ans wer get free review!) Last week's answer: The her oic statue in Crystal City, Tx is fhe great American Ropeye Answer appears Thursday 846-TUTOR (8886) 4.0 & GO r-m SlU KaaJciuxuj. BjX.&A Look for our ads in the Batt on Mondays Thursdays
