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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1998)
Rhythm Renews FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1998 Patty’s Day concerts Concerts featuring Kila and Skyefill out WOWHall’sSt. Patty’s lineup Eifierald PAGE 8 String Cheese Incident The band that has a musicalfoundation in bluegrass, but mixes many types of music, will perform in the EMU Ballroom PAGE 7 Volume 99, Issue 116 ■ Frank Gosar, resident ceramic instructor at the EMU Craft Center, is showing his newest figure work now through April 25 in the Alder Gallery (55 W Broadway). Also on display are the I paintings of Shirley Froyd and Gretchen Raiseh. Call 342-6411 for | more information. I ■ Actors Cabaret | of Eugene pre- 1 sents 'The Destiny of Me' tonight at 8 in the 1 ACE Annex. The 1 play, which is a 1 sequel to Larry | Kramer’s ‘The Normal Heart,’ I won the Obie Award in 1993. | The play will run | through April 4. | Call 683-4368 for I more information. I ■ Enjoy an evening of 'down- 1 home acoustic | blues’ with 1 singer-guitarists 1 David Jacobs- 1 Strain and Walker T. Ryan 1 March 14 at the 1 Unitarian Church f (477 E. 40th). The performance | wilt be recorded | live for a CD. Call 683-8556 for | more information. | ■ Future Music 1 Oregon, the School of Music’s I computer music f center, will give a 1 concert at 8 p.m. in Room 198 of the Music Build ing on March 7. 1 Tickets are avail able at the door. | Absolute Improv! By Shannon Sneed Entertainment Reporter The home team It’s been only a year and a half since Absolute Improv!, the University's stu dent improvisational comedy troupe, de buted at the University. Since then, they've been successfully cracking up au diences everywhere they go, from cam pus shows to performances all around the state. Now, the pressure’s about to turn up a notch. The Exit Players, a student comedy troupe from Yale University — a school known, among other things, for the quali ty of its acting program—have been tour ing the West Coast and are making a stop in Eugene tonight, and the two troupes will go head-to-head in a comedic fight to the finish. “We’ve never done anything like this before,” said University theater arts ma jor Ryan Honey, who has been with Ab solute Improv! since the troupe’s forma tion. “This is the first time we’ll be competing with another group, rather than just with each other.” The game plan Sabrina Bemasconi, a junior theater arts major who joined Absolute Improv! a year ago, said the troupe usually divides up into two teams for performances any way, so they’re used to a competitive for mat. “Generally, we have a list of games we play, and we divide them up, and then it really just goes from there,” she said. Honey said although the format of tonight’s show will primarily be a com petition, he expects the two troupes to collaborate for some sketches, too. Turn to ABSOLUTE IMPROV!, Page 9 Laura Goss/Emerald Members of Eugene’s Absolute Improv! take out their pre-show aggres sion on a dummy dressed like a member of The Exit Players from Yale. The Exit Players By Evan A. Denbaum Entertainment Editor The visiting team The Exit Players, representing Yale University, come into tonight's bout at the Actors Cabaret as the favorites, de spite playing Oregon's Absolute Im prov! at the tail of a long road trip. The Exit Players hold a distinct edge in ex perience, having performed hundreds of improv shows in New England since their conception in 1984. Some, including Yale senior Francis Franze, feel The Exit Players’ veteran savvy and high-energy performances might be too much for the young up starts from Eugene. “They have the reputation as the finest improv troupe at Yale,” Franze said. “Honestly, they have the most talent around and also perform very different improv skits at each show. The troupe’s complex games get the crowd really excited.” 'Exits' are located in the front and rear of the auditorium The No. 1 ranked Players are used to capacity crowds such as the Oregon-bi ased one they are expected to face at the Actors Cabaret. They perform six or seven shows annually at Yale, includ ing shows in the university’s largest au ditorium, Woosley Hall. The troupe also performs at several benefits every year, including raising funds for the Yale Hunger Action Project and acting in the gala celebration for New Haven’s 350th birthday. Keys to victory In a format pitting the two improv troupes against each other, the games played and the audience’s involve Turn to THE EXIT PLAYERS, Page 9 Hult to host 3 concerts, including symphony violinist Acclaimed violinist Elissa Lee Kokkonen will perform Stravinsky’s violin concerto on March 19 By Shannon Sneed Entertainment Hepoiter With three concerts occurring within a six day period, the coming week promises to be quite a busy one at the Hult Center. On March 19, the Eugene Symphony will perform three pieces they’ve never done be fore, marking perhaps their most adventurous night of the ’97-’98 season. The works performed will be: Osvaldo Goli jov’s “Last Round,” composed in 1996; a vio lin concerto composed by Igor Stravinsky; and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1 in E minor. “This concert is really a challenge for the musicians,” said Pat Cusick of the Eugene Symphony. “It’s a chance for them to do some thing new, and the three pieces work well to gether thematical ly. ” The three works range dramatically in age and cultural origin; Golijov is Argentinean, Stravinsky is Russian and Sibelius is from Fin land. This performance will be the North Ameri can premiere of Golijov’s tango-inspired piece. Music director and conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya wanted to perform it because he knows Golijov, and the two have a mutual ap preciation and background in Latin-inspired music, Cusick said. Internationally acclaimed violinist Elissa Lee Kokkonen will perform Stravinsky’s vio lin concerto. Kokkonen was raised in Hong Kong and Korea, but moved to the United States at age 11 to study music. She has won numerous awards for her performances and has collaborated with a number of orchestras while touring the world — including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops Orches Turn to HULT, Page 9 COURTESY PHOTO Symphony’s violinist Elissa Lee Kokkonen.