Theatre review
Millers ‘Bridge’ nearly collapses under misguided production
^
Kate Horton | Photographer
Jay Hash dominates the stage in the University Theatre's
production of "A View From the Bridge.”
The University's presentation of Miller's play falters in
the first act but builds strength in the second act
BY RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
The late playwright Arthur Miller has
gone in and out of style for decades,
though the majority of his work has
withstood the test of time and the vari
ous artistic interpretations to which his
plays have been subjected. The Uni
versity Theatre's production of Miller's
"A View From the Bridge" manages to
show the master's versatility while giv
ing a voice to some great student tal
ent. But this does not excuse the pro
duction for a few near fatal missteps.
The play concerns Brooklyn long
shoreman Eddie Carbone, who allows
two of his wife's cousins to stay in his
house afterthe cousins sneak into the
country from Italy. Eddie's kindness be
gins to run short when one of the
cousins takesto his niece, whom he
and his wife have been caring for since
childhood. Unable to rationally explain
why he feels so strongly about the girl’s
budding independence, he lashes out
at her love interest and eventually
brings the entire neighborhood down
upon himself.
The production is wrapped in the
stark minimalism college theater
seems to do so well, but it is also not
without its artistic touches. The back
drops, particularly one of the Brooklyn
Bridge, have a van Gogh motif running
through them that seems to be striving
to add a dream-like quality to the
setting. The lighting is subtle and cre
ative, shading the emotional content of
the performances, letting the audience
into a character's mood before the
mood is even expressed.
The lead roles are especially above
par, with Jay Hash dominating the
stage as Eddie. His performance is the
driving force behind the production.
Danielle Kardum, as his wife, Beatrice,
counters with an equally heartfelt role
limited only by the fact that it's a sup
porting performance. The two have an
excellent interplay, bickering with
great panache.
The other supporting roles range
from decentto adequate, with every
one picking up in the emotionally
charged second act. There is a prob
lem, however, that cannot be attached
to any given performance. The cast of
ten fails to give the proper emotional
weight behind the material, leading the
audience to occasionally laugh during
a dramatic moment orto completely
miss a change in a character's mood.
The play draws from Miller's Greek
tragedy influences, detailing a man
who cannot or would not control his
passions. This play is a tragedy import
ed into a terse family situation, but until
the second act much of the cast seems
to be disconnected from this fact.
Though it works better as a whole,
the second act also has its own prob
lems. One of the artistic liberties
taken with the work is the addition of
dancers in the background playing
the roles of passersby. The decision
adds useless, barely noticed white
noise to the background through
much of the first act. In the second, it
boils over into a major blunder.
In one of the play's most emotional
scenes, Eddie calls the immigration au
thorities to have the two immigrants
picked up, knowing full well how dis
honorable his friends and family will
view the act. Instead of allowing the
actor to do his work and perform the
scene, bombastic music blasts through
the speakers, and dancers seem to
take overthe stage. The audience is
told howto feel instead of being al
lowed to experience it for themselves.
Eddie's actions are not allowed to sink
in with any level of subtlety and the play
is provided with a false climax that
draws away from the power of the
closing scene.
But though these blunders limit the
play's force, they do not completely
dull it. "A View From the Bridge" is
one of Miller's most emotionally pow
erful works, where he drops the so
cio-political concerns of his classics
"Death of a Salesman" and "The Cru
cible" and focuses everything on the
human element. For Hash's perform
ance if nothing else, the play is worth
checking out. It will be running atthe
Robinson Theatre on March 4,5,11
and 12at8p.m., March3at7:30p.m.
and March 6 at 2 p.m.
ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com
■ Movie review
‘Be Cool’ falls flat with its wandering plot, distant characters
Despite an eclectic cast, -this sequel
remains unengaging, unlike its
1995 predecessor, "Get Shorty"
BY CHRISTY LEMIRE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Precious little is cool about "Be Cool,” the se
quel to the 1995 comedy "Get Shorty." Butthen
again, "Be Tepid" wouldn’t be a very enticing title
for a movie. (It's also notthe name of the Elmore
Leonard book on which the movie is based.)
"Be Cool" actually bears only a vague resem
blance to its vastly superior predecessor. John
Travolta is back as Chili Palmer, mobster-turned
movie-producer, who now wants to switch to the
music business. He still dresses all in black and he
still whips out that "Look at me" line when con
fronting his enemies. And he seems to exist in a
parallel version of Los Angeles where it's still OK
to smoke in bars and restaurants.
When he's gone, which is often, with the myri
ad characters and subplots crammed into Peter
Steinfeld's meandering script, the movie feels lost
and wayward. But even when he's on camera,
he's notthe charismatic Chili Palmer you knew.
Ten years in the sun and smog of Los Angeles
seem to have softened his edges and sapped his
sense of danger. He's strangely vacant—the
f straight man playing it bland while an assortment
Courtesy
Andre Benjamin co-stars in the "Get Shorty" sequel, "Be Cool."
of character actors and celebrities in cameos
mug knowingly all around him.
Among them are Uma Thurman, relegated to
the role of eye candy as the head of an indie
record label; Vince Vaughn, stuck in a one-joke
part as a low-level music executive who talks like
a hip-hop thug; and Cedric the Entertainer as an
Ivy League-educated music producer who can
throw on a throwback jersey and go gangsta
when necessary.
Providing a couple of goofy laughs are The
Rock, playing a gay Samoan bodyguard who
wants to be an actor/country singer; and Andre
Benjamin (Andre 3000 of OutKast) as a member of
the rap group the Dub MDs, which is short for
WMDs, or Weapons of Mass Destruction.
By now you're probably seeing a theme
emerge: The film from director F. Gary Gray ("The
Italian Job," "Friday") is a satirical indictment of
the way whites have co-opted black culture
through language, clothing and music. As Sin
LaSalle, Cedric the Entertainer makes the point in
an eloquent speech to a room full of music execu
tives, Russian mobsters and rappers. (Yeah, it's as
complicated as it sounds.)
But the road to that moment of enlightenment is
flat and repetitive. Despite Vaughn's natural com
ic timing, his shtick ("Mad respect for not givin' re
spect; I feel you") gets old fast. It felt like a
stretched-out skit when Jamie Kennedy made a
whole movie of that kind of charactertwo years
ago in "Malibu's Most Wanted."
Worst of all, "Be Cool" is often simply boring,
despite its attempts to skewer the music business
the way "Get Shorty" made fun of Hollywood. A
great deal of time is spent discussing the contract
of young, Beyonce-esque R&B singer Linda
Moon (Christina Milian, in real life a young, Bey
once-esque R&B singer). Travolta and Thurman
do it. Travolta and Vaughn do it. Travolta and
James Woods do it Travolta and Harvey Keitel do
it on the living room floor in the middle of the night.
Even Stephen Tyler gets dragged into the talks,
and his presence is another example of the differ
ence between the sequel and the original.
A cooler film wouldn'ttry so hard to impress
you.