‘mber 1
at.
The Battalion
Monday • December 1, 1997
‘TOlB#
\ollege Station Teen Advisory Board presents ‘Murder at the Bluenote, ’a murder-mystery dinner play penned byA&M students
By Rhonda Reinhart
Staff writer
angsters, gamblers and a comjpt dis-
rict attorney may not sound like the
I cast of a comedy, but when these vil-
s are played by seventh- and eighth-
Iders, there are sure to be tears in the eyes
he audience — tears of laughter that is.
“Murder at the Bluenote” is a mur-
rmystery dinner play writ
iby two Texas A&M senior
;ater arts majors, Dan
i and Guillermo
De Leon.
The play is set in
1930s at a
|/ eakeasy called the
Lienote, and the action en-
eswhen a murder is com-
Stted at the club.
Grimm, a member of
j ^ eudian Slip and Aggie Players, said
eplay is an improvisational comedy.
“It’s a comedy in that the kids are play-
|| g adult characters,” he said. “For kids, they
d really excellent scenes. They did things
rouldn’t expect to see kids do in scenes.”
Grimm said the play incorporates a lot of
lysical comedy, including having a girl un-
1 hrough this
play, a lot of them
[the students]
have blossomed/’
jenny foster
asst.youth director
derfive feet tall play a gangster’s bodyguard.
The play is improvisational in that the
playwrights let the cast members develop
their own characters. Grimm said the cast
does not have specific lines to say, only spe
cific information to give.
"Sometimes they’ll say the lines we’ve writ
ten,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll embellish.”
The cast’s improv skills become a key as
pect at the conclusion of the play, which
is left to the discretion of the au
dience. The audience votes on
who it thinks the killer is. Then,
depending on the audience’s
decision, the killer con
fesses and explains his-
her motives.
DeLeon, president
of Aggie Players, said he
has enjoyed working with the
junior high school students.
“They have a lot of talent,”
he said. “It’s just a matter of building
their confidence so that they can per
form onstage without being afraid.”
DeLeon said the great thing about
working with kids is that they have great
imaginations.
“If you give them a little suggestion, they
take that so far,” he said. “If you tell them to
become light and bouncy like a butterfly,
they become a butterfly.”
“Murder at the Bluenote” is scheduled to
be presented on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Bra
zos Center. The students rehearse four days
a week, and at performance time, they will
have worked on the play for six weeks.
DeLeon said people may be surprised by
how mature the students are acting.
The play is being presented by College Sta
tion’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB), a commit
tee made up of 50 students in grades 7-12.
Jenny Foster, assistant youth programs
coordinator for College Station and a senior
journalism major, said the city tries to de
velop programs based on the students’ sug
gestions, which is how “Murder at the Blue
Note” was born.
A seventh-grader who is a member of
TAB suggested a murder-mystery dinner
play, so Foster contacted Grimm and
DeLeon, and the play was on its way.
Foster said the city tries to provide some
thing positive for the students to do.
“Through this play, a lot of them have
blossomed,” she said. “They’ve interacted
with each other and become more self-con
fident. A lot of them are very talented. Some
have little or no theater experience. Maybe
through this, we’re opening a door for them.”
Grimm said he and DeLeon got involved
with the play because it was something sim-
US
>
JP
%
\
X
IKS
ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion
Michelle Milburn, Haley Waltman, Kelly Logan and Kerri Barnes, all local junior high
school students will perform “Murder at the Bluenote” Dec. 2 at the Brazos Center.
pie they wanted to do for the kids. Besides “We’re doing this because we like to pro
writing the play, they are also directing it and mote theater around town,” he said. “That’s
making the sets, all on a volunteer basis. the goal of Aggie Players”
atest Mortal Kombat does not live up to energy of predecessor
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
[Starring Robin Shou and James Remar
Directed by John R. Leonetti
★ (out of five)
Playing at Hollywood 16
N ever before has a film been so geared to at
tention deficit 12-year-olds as Mortal Kom
bat: Annihilation.
The sequel to the unlikely 1995 hit based on the
video game, takes all the fluffy charm of the first film
and throws it in the toilet.
The plot, a very generous description, has the war
riors from the first film, Lieu Kanji (Robin Shou), Sonja
Blade (Sandra Hess), Rayden (James Remar), Kitana (Tal-
isa Soto) and Jax (Lynn Williams), fighting to save Earth
from the evil forces of Shao Kahn (Brian Thompson).
Mortal Kombats “acting” is among the worst seen
in modern movies. It makes most late-night TV movies
look like Ghandi. The actors mostly sleepwalk through
their roles like a mime on downers.
The worst performance has to be Remar as Ray
den. With his blond buzzcut and velvet vest, Remar
looks like the star of a German porn film. On top of it
all, he reads his lines with a soft lilting tone, like he is
doing voice-overs for a Calgon commercial.
Shou, as Lieo Kanji, is supposed to be the hero, yet
audiences will not want follow him to a free buffet,
much less into battle.
Soto and Hess are nothing more than window
dressing. Hess' character development consists of
mud wrestling with another woman.
Williams, as Jax, looks like the only actor who
might have made his way into an acting class. But,
over acting is not good acting.
If a movie’s strengths are not in the acting or writ
ing, a nice blend of action and special effects might
have redeemed it.
Unfortunately, the action and special effects in
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation are so cheesy the movie
could have been subtitled Wisconsin. The film’s ef
fects look as if they were rejected by the Power
Rangers TV show.
Most of the sets have a first-grade, non-toxic glue
and cardboard look to them. The costumes look as if
they were lifted from K-Mart’s Halloween section.
The fights scenes do not have half as much thrill as
the first movie. Many of the scenes look as if they
were choreographed by toddlers.
The movie is a stinker, not even its target market
will find it redeeming. The video game has better ef
fects and acting. It is also a heck of a lot easier to sit
through for 90 minutes.
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