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.
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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.
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&
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Page 6
Clackamas Community College