Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1983)
TheArts LeRoy Anderson hosts jazz class “Friends of the Library” are sponsoring a free jazz pro gram featuring Clackamas Community College music. Chairperson LeRoy Anderson who will speak on “A History of American Jazz.” The jazz program will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge. Anderson will give a discussion about what jazz is and the history behind it. “I’m going to introduce everyone to the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz,” Anderson said. The Smithsonian Institu tion recordings are six albums which “Are the best history of jazz that I’ve ever come across,” he said. Along with the records, there is a book describing various artists. The albums feature authentic early artists performing jazz. “Some of the recordings are pretty scratch ed, but people will have a good opportunity to hear what the music and artists of the early jazz era sounded like,” Ander son said. So-so acting in ‘Hollow9 does injustice to Agatha Christie By DeAnn Dietrich Of The Print Agatha Christie’s drama is excellent in novel form but is extremely difficult to translate to the screen and even harder for the “I think by telling people stage, as is evident in Clackamas Community about these Smithsonian In College’s production of Christie’s “The stitution recordings, they could Hollow.” spend many hours listening to In this whodunit, the audience must give the albums and reading along. generous allowances to the imagination when it It’s really an education. That’s comes to considering this as true drama and in really the best way to unders fact is easier seen as having comic qualities. Ad tand and appreciate jazz,” he ding to the forced mysterious ambience is a said. feeling that no one had reached a complete A variety of artists are decision to play their role seriously, leaving the featured on the albums, in play with an almost farcical feel to it. Set at the house of Sir Henry and Lady cluding Scott Johnson, Bessie Smith, Count Bassie and Ben Lucy Angkatell outside London, the plot begins with a gathering of guests for the weekend. As ny Carter. each character is introduced, several conflicts “A lot of the musicians begin to surface. After allowing enough time featured on these albums are for the audience to pick up on who the moSt- jazz stylists who influenced likely-to-be-murdered award goes to, Christie people who came along later,” decides to let someone pull the trigger. By this Anderson said. point, everyone in the house and even a The albums also delve neighbor have motives for performing this lightly into free form jazz. brutal murder. Unfortunately, by the end of the “I’m going to try to spark an third hour when the murderer is finally revealed interest in jazz to people who the interest of the audience is waning. come and show them where There is a saving point to this production they can find these recordings and that is the electric moments of comedy bet and where to go to learn more ween a few precious characters. Unfortunately, about jazz,” he said. again, they were few and far between. Two of Along with Anderson, the most delightful personalities seen on stage Jim Edgington will be at the are those of Sir Henry and dippy Lady_Lucy. piano with improvisations and Giving a commendable performance, Maggie the music of Scott Joplin and Bragg portrayed the eccentric Lady Lucy with a George Gershwin. strong character build-up so that by the end of the play, she had an adoring audience. Her exits and entrances kept an upbeat pace to an often dragging plot. Almost as lovable is her husband, Sir Henry, played by seasoned actor David Harvey. With extensive make-up, Harvey is able to portray a fairly believable and stable character. Sir Henry and Lady Lucy provide a delightful spice to the otherwise drab spectrum of relationships on stage. Their colorfulness and comfortable stage presence lead intrigue as to what their involvement in a murder could be. Also living at the Angkatell’s house is Henrietta Angkatell, a prime target for specula tion. The performance of Jeanine Kryza as Henrietta passed up ample opportunities to develop a flamboyant and intriguing character and all that the audience got to see was an in tricate character stifled by monotonous lines. Although the lines were read with flawless memory, they were read nonetheless. Carrying the role of Dr. John Cristow, Joel Hladecek relies on a steady and overly- used scowl which oversimplifies what appears to be a multi-faceted character. When he and Henrietta get together on stage, the result is a complete lack of energy with every line deman ding a tension that is never created. A shining role in this production is that of Cristow’s wife, Gerda, played by Lynn Meyers. GLADSTONE,OREGON “ A FUN TAVERN” Shuffleboard - Videos 3 Pool Tables - Flippers OPEN AT 7 AM • KEGS TO GO 464 Portland Ave 657-3626 In a role that gives every chance to over-act, Meyers creates an excellent balance in her subtleness of delivery. Meyers creates an ex cellent balance in her subtleness of delivery. Myer’s moments of hysteria surpass any ten sion that is created through the play. Deserving recognition for a professional job, Myers gives “The Hollow” a deeply needed touch of realism. Edward Angkatell and Midge Harvey, played by Patrick Sterling and Vonnie Davis are two guests with few interesting qualities. Not entirely the fault of the actors though, the scripts don’t give them much to work with. The neighbor-in-suspect is Veronica Craye (Cindy Brown), a film star engaged in a love-hate relationship with John Cristow. Over-acting is an easy tendency in such a role and Brown had moments of melodrama in this performance. But she managed to keep a sincere attitude. Doris the maid, played by Linda Kuntz, and Gudgeon, the butler, played by Neil Hass, offer some very humorous touches in their brief appearances. Gudgeon gets laughs without even saying anything (need I say more?). Arriving to save the day are Inspector Colquhoun (J. Dana Haynes) and his lively sidekick Sgt. Penny (Chris Parrish). Both ac tors have wonderful control of their accents and look great in their suits but Haynes was too aloof to get enough of his character across. The set design is very well crafted and sturdy, meaning the walls don’t shake at every entrance and exit. It appears authentic and complete with suitable props. Obviously research and time went into the design of the set. Also to be praised is the make-up and costuming for the play. John Cristow and Sir Henry are especially well made-up. Harvey did his own make-up for his face and his hands, using latex for a very realistic aging. Costuming was covered by Lynn Meyers who did an extremely fine job attaining top quality outfits. She considered the character’s personality for each costume, creating a consistently-accenting and apropos wardrobe. This particular performance (Friday’s) contained a few major form errors which gave the audience reason to laugh during what would be considered serious moments, such as a death scene. Christie fans wouldn’t be amused, but it may have been better to spotlight the comic side rather than stumble upon it; For Agatha Christie fans, I would recom mend the production for its good moments, since most people would realize the difficulty in doing justice to Christie on the stage. For those who are not familiar with either Christie, or this particular play, I say stay home and read the book. Then, maybe, see the play. “The Hollow” will play Friday and Satur day this week at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. DYNAMIC DUOS Your VOICE of the future Social life dull? Is spending time at the local bar or with a book unfulfilling? FIND THAT SPECIAL FRIEND! DYNAMIC DUOS A new concept in dating services for singles Personal, confidential, inexpensive, unique, limitless possibilities! DETAILS—Call the BACHELORETTE line. .238-4566 the BACHELOR line............ 238-4573 The Print wishes everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah! 24 HOURS A DAY Page 6 Clackamas Community College
