The Clackamas Print Page 8
Wednesday, April 26,1995
FEATURES
V
Hendrix returns
“Band pf^Wpsÿs”
remastered on CD
‘Eastern Standard’: complex comedy
with
multifaceted
characters
by Patrick Lundstrom ?’-•
Staff Writer
| The newj>-Capito?
Records releas e, J i mJ
Hendrix Band Of Gypsys, is
the last official live record
ing of a Hendrix perfor
mance before his unti me ly
demise. The album is digi
tal remastered from the
ijMjai h^^^M^niovid-
ing a c ri^^^ffidiqual i ty,
thatw
shaping modem music. Not
only were hi%ipflU^S^^
talk, and R&B recordings
of his time apparent, but I
actually heard guitacjri®
that were copied or
sampled in recent popular
recordings.
This recordingls not for.
the musically
It is not a good introduc
tion to the heritage that Jimi
into your lap. Gone are the left for us. The album is a
lengthy dissertations, guitar must for any true Hendrix
tuning sessions and cheer connoisseur.
ing crowds |hat so often in «The releas&is^^Hfas
terfere with the music ex well [as on tape.
perience®
Those who find; that
I could easily hear his somethingismis
soul, blues and jazz roots. digital music, should con-
At the. scarne time, I ^.i^^^g^der picM » up . tfte limited
hear the profound inflúiÉice¿Mdition viriyïàlbum/x
Photo courtesy of Owen-Carey Studios
Class of 1995 Portland Actors Association students “have pulled out all the stops” in
their production of “Eastern Standard.”
by Jay Milton Osborne, III
Contributing Writer
Join Eady for lunch
by Christi Snavely
Opinion Editor
Need a new way to enjoy your
lunch hour? Come hear poet
Cornelius Eady read from his col
lection of works at noon today in
room 127 of the Community Cen
ter.
Eady was the recipient of the
Lamont prize of the American
Academy of Poets in 1985 for his
book, “Victims of the Latest
Dance Craze.” He has won nu
merous awards, including the
Prairie Schooner Strousse in
1993. Eady received fellowships
• ••••••••••
• M • ip ■
from the National Endowment for
the Arts., Millay Colony, the
Ragddale Foundation and the Vir
ginia Center for the Creative Arts..
Eady is currently a director
and instructor at the Poetry Cen
ter at the State University of New
York at Stoney Brook. He will
serve on the teaching staff at
Breadloaf 1995.
His
works
include
“Kartunes,” “Victims of the Lat
est Dance Craze” and “The Gath
ering of My Name.”
The reading is free and open
to the public.
until he gets a jury duty notice.
Shore figures out that on jury
• • • ••••••••••••
duty he gets paid $5 a day, which
is a lot for him.
by Jon Roberts
So, Shore finds a trial that
Staff Writer
Pauly Shore has alway^* will take a long time so lie can
been known for being funny and, make some money.
He does his best to try and
at times, dumb. But in his new
est movie, “Jury Duty,” he has make the trial as long as be can
hit an all-time low The movie so he can get more money.
. Shore ends up solving the
is dumb enough to be compared
with movies like “Airplane,” case and figuring out who actu
“Hot Shots” and “Naked Gun.” ally committed the crimes.
Now you know the plot, so
“Jury Duty” had its funny
parts, but its not as funny as it I just saved you from seeing an
looks fn the previews? It is a incredibly stupid movie. So now
movie that would be funny if you go out and spend that money on
are very tired and really bored. J something you will : enjoy;, you
y
I would not recommend go have my permission.
If you still want to see the
ing jout. and seeing this movie
unless someone else is paying movie, it is rated PG-13 because
your way. If I were you, I would of some language and body
wait until it was at one of the $1' function discussions.
The only cool thing about
movie houses.
The basic idea behind this Bis movie was that the dog was
really cute and.kicked butt.
Iovic is a
ho is trying t^find an easy way Over all, I would give this movie
Nothing works. barely one star.
.IVlqvie iveview •
The students of the Portland
Actor’s Conservatory present
highly professional theater in this
play. There is nothing amateur
ish going on in Eastern Standard
by Richard Greenburg. Beth
Harper, artistic director, and Chris
Mikolavich, produeingdirector,
have pulled out all the stops for
the class of 1995 acting students
with this delightful, yet timely
comedy.
If measured by a laugh meter
on last Thursday night’s audience,
the play is a success. Both the
teachers and the students of the
conservatory deserve high praise
for this excellent performance.
Greenberg apparently wrote
about very contemporary and
complex characters in his play.
Director Joe Ivy has taken the
complexity and run with it. Each
character gradually reveals to us
the multifaceted personalities
which mirror those of real live
people. Perhaps, this is why we
see tragedy through the laughs. I
saw so many of my own friends’
personas in these characters, that
I felt a special kinship with them.
Furthermore, the complexity
was not limited to the actor ’s por
trayal of the characters. Every
thing about this play has some
level of complexity.
For example, the scene
changes are both delightfully in
novative and creative. By only
changing the location of where
the actors sit, while not moving a
stick of furniture, or striking a
sliver of the set, an early scene
undergoes an easy transition.
Later, what begins as a res
taurant becomes completely be
lievable as the summer home of
an architect.
One cannot easily forget that
this play’s production is partly the
result of the hard physical work
of the students, when you see
them moving the props and set
ting up their own scenes in semi
darkness.
Both the nerd, well played by
Jon Druy, and his longtime flam
boyantly gay artist friend, played
by Ned Turner, seem like an un
likely pairing. The glue that holds
these two characters together as
friends, unfortunately, is not fully
developed through the course of
the- play;
However, the clumsy nerd’s
attraction to the ultimate princess,
Phoebe, delightfully played by
Susan Austin Martin, is classic.
Phoebe and her brother Peter,
(Sam Sunderleaf) make convinc
ing siblings.
Relationships are never easy
these people’s lives. Drew is im
mediately attracted to Peter’s
good looks. But, as the story de
velops, Peter is distant toward
Drew. In one scene he says to
Drew, “please stop circling me, I
feel like prey.” We find out that
Peter is HIV positive. He reveals
his condition to Drew very late in
the play. This is a source for a
great deal of tension throughout
the story.
Ultimately, Peter’s revelation
about his condition to Drew is one
of the more deeply emotional
moments in the play.
Jenna Wilson, as Ellen, the
waitress/actress is a total
standout. Wilson brings a very
special quality to her character.
She is “totally twinkie.” Recog
nizable as a nearly innocent
“ditz,” she unveils a multifaceted
person as the play progresses.
Long after the play is over,
her childlike voice and mobile
facial expressions continue to de
velop a warm smile on one’s face.
The waif is completely likable.
In another standout perfor
mance, Carol Davis shows us the
depth of her character as the bag
lady, May Logan. She goes
through many transformations
throughout the play.
At first, we see May'as ah ob
vious paranoid schizophrenic.
Without her medication she is
raucus and violent, often spewing
foul language, and hurling bottles
of mineral water.
Later, she beguiles Ellen into
pitying her by displaying a more
heart-rending side of her nature.
Still later, she ingratiates her
self into the yuppie lives of the
other characters by cooking and
cleaning like some kind of earth
mother. Finally, she fools all but
Drew, as she steals everyone blind
and heads back, ultimately, to the
street life. “These utopian, sce
narios tend to fall apart in the sec
ond act,” said Drew.
With little exception, good
acting, good directing and a script
with contemporary and complex
characters cohesively produce an
entertaining evening. Overall,
the play is upbeat enough to let
you leave the theater with good
feelings.
However, you realize, too,
that while you have laughed much
of the evening away, you have wit
nessed some major tragedies that
we all face these days.
Ultimately, you are left with
a complex mixture of both of joy
and sorrow. Art imitates life.
WANTED: A 20-25-year-old man with some interest
in Shakespearean Renaissance. Must be willing to
miss three days of school (May 11-15). No criminal
record. Share drive to California with two people, fly
back to Oregon with one person. Money for own food
and ticket required. Will be camping. Serious inquiries
and rapid response requested.
Call 650-5367