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,
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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
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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.
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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
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