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1 he P ori land O bserver • J uly 9, 1997
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ENTERTAINMENT
The Life shines
on Broadway
M''-
Chuck Cooper and Ullias
White star In The Life, a
show about street life
around Times Square.
c a *>•>
Dan Balmer entertains (left) and concertgoers (above) enjoy the music, a
picnic lunch, wine tasting and a panoramic view at the Jazz in the
Afternoon series at Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner. Don't miss the
next venue, the Phil Baker Quintet, with Phil Baker on bass, Kelly
Broadway, vocals, Ron Steen, drums, Randy Porter, piano and Lee
Wuthenow, tenor saxophone, on Sept 1 at 3 p.m.
Photos by Yvonne Lerch
While many o f today’s teen stars
are brawling, brooding (be it faux or
authentic) or just being downright
unruly, along comes a breath o f fresh
air in the form o f Kenan Thompson
and Kel Mitchell. Stars o f not one,
but two, hit shows on Nickelodeon
(their self-titled Kenan & Kel is the
second highest rated show on cable
television), the dynamic duo are
poised to spread their infectious
charm to an even wider audience
this summer, with the release o f
Good Burger, a Paramount Pictures/
N ickelodeon Movies production.
B ased on a sk e tc h from
N ickelodeon’s all-kids sketch com
edy hit series, All that, (the other
show the duo star in) Good Burger is
a modern day David and Goliath
story set in the burger-world. Kenan
and Kel play Dexter and Ed, respec
tively, a pair o f high school kids who
take summer jobs at the fast food
joint, G ood Burger. While toiling
away at the french fry bin and the
grill. Ed creates a “special sauce”
that immediately becomes all the
rave and propels Good Burger to
enormous levels o f success.
However, this success domes with
a price tag attached. The manager o f
Mondo Burger (Good Burger's prime
com petition) begins a nefarious plot
to get his hands on the receipt for the
secret sauce. It becomes a battle o f
good burger versus evil burger, big
Mario Winans
Story Of My Heart
Zith Story O f My Heart, Mario
ans presents a debut R&B album
se musical landscape is spotted
positive messages ofhope, good-
and spirituality. The 22 year-old
er/producer/perform er has re
ed an enduring project that taps
ie best elements o f R&B music:
I song structure, catchy hooks
rhythms, meaningful lyrics, and
tional vocals. Mario says the best
g about Story O f My Heart is its
ical and lyrical flow. “You get
i a positive feeling from it,” he
tes. “It’s peaceful, and easy to
lect with My goal is for it to give
Me strength to better their lives
relationships.”
Teen Angst? Not!
guy versus small fry, as Ed and
Dexter fight to preserve Good Burger
and prevent it from begin crushed by
Mondo Burger.
Where as Good Burger represents
“old-school” traditions and down
home friendliness, Mondo Burger is
the epitome o f futuristic, assembly
line coldness. Essentially, Ed and
Dexter are fighting to uphold the
values and morals which they hold
near and dear to their hearts. Ini
tially, Ed and Dexter are uneasy
allies in their mission to save Good
Burger. However, the heat o f the
battle draws Ed and Dexter closer
and they subsequently forge a genu
ine bond and lasting friendship.
Kenan and Kel maintain an off
screen friendship as well (no petty
jealousies or rivalry here) and are
very supportive o f each other. Their
appeal can largely be attributed to
the fact that, much like their charac
ters in the film, they too are repre
sentative o f“old-school” family val
ues and tradition Idolized by young
children nationwide, Kenan and Kel
do not take their role model status
lightly Kel asserts "It makes me feel
so good to see kids o f different ages,
backgrounds and cultures like what
we do. That’s when you know you're
doing good work ' Kenan concurs
“ We reach all types o f kids with
what we do.”
Education is another issue very
important to Kenan and Kel. They
both are enrolled in college and very
intent on obtaining their degrees.
They encourage children to make
the most o f their education and have
appeared on Black Entertainment
Television s (BET) Teen Summit to
discuss educational matters.
A Chicago native, Kel also has his
sights set on a music career. He’s
formed the rap group. Minds After
Future Thought (MAFT), and re
corded the hit song "Watch Me Do
My Thing" with teen-idols Imma
ture, which was featured on the
soundtrack to All That. A true lover of
music, Kel recalls that one o f the
highlights o f filming Good Burger
was meeting George Clinton. “ I grew
up with my dad listening to Parlia
ment Funkadelic, Bootsie Collins and
the P Funk All Stars. I love George
Clinton and he came up to me and
said ' my grand kids watch your show
all the time.' that’s amazing to me
because I’m such a big fan o f his.”
S t e p h e n s s t a r s a t H a rv e y ’s
Versatility is the key element that has made James
Stephens III the success story that he is today.
Stephens brings his seemingly endless supply o f im
personations and songs to H arvey's Comedy Club at 8
p.m. on Sunday, July 15.
As a law student at the University o f W ashington.
Stephens was earning extra money in clubs during
Seattle’s mid-80s comedy boom. After coming in as a
finalist in the Seattle Int. Comedy Competition, Stephens
moved to Los Angels and the comedy scene in Seattle
collapsed. Coincidence?
After arriving in Hollywood, Stephens began earning
appearances on specials on HBO and Showtime and was
a regular on the Fox comedy series The Edge.
Stephens draws from his experience as the youngest of
seven children; a self-proclaimed city boy with a country
heart, the result o f being one-part Army brat and two
parts being raised on the strong sensibilities o f his mother
a southern black woman.
These are threads which are woven tightly into his
comedic fiber.
H arvey's is located at 436 N. W. 6th Ave. Reservations
are recommended by calling 241-0338.
t 1
F 7
,,
The Life, explores the colorful
world o f the Times Square area o f
New York a generation ago, in the
pre-A ID S year o f 1980, focusing
on the lives o f the p ro stitu tes,
pim ps and hustlers who w orked
42nd Street.
The show opened at Broadw ay’s
Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April
26.
Sony Classical’s original cast re
cording, produced by Cy Coleman
, - « g '■
as *
and Mike Berniker, features the
songs “The Oldest Profession,” "M y
Friend" and "My Body,” which was
performed on the Tony Awards tele
cast.
The Life was named best musical
o f the 1996-97 Broadway season by
the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama
Desk and the Drama League. The
show also won two Tony Awards for
performers Lillias White and Chuck
Cooper.
Wyclef Jean
On the eve o f the release o f his
debut "solo” album on RuffHouse/
Colum bia Records, the Fugees’
W yclef Jean cheerily makes an ob
servation that’s at once obvious
and profound. "This the first time
kids get to hear C lef - you know
C lef standing by him self as Clef.”
he says definitively. “So it’s like
you get to feel what C lef is about.
What does C lef stand for? What
does he represent? I think people
heard the Fugees eclectically. But
they never heard. This is C lef’s
side; this is what he represents.’
It’s important for kids to know
that, yeah, w e ’re positive, but
there’s a twist to it - w e’ re not soft.
It’s like the Bible is in one hand,
the gun is in the other.”
Before the international success
ofthegroup’smulti-platinum sopho
more set. The Score, the Fugees
(Refugee Camp) approached hip-
hop’s worldwide sound-stage with a
seemingly contradictory point-of-
view/frame-of-reference; they col
lectively emerged from the depths o f
their New Jersey studio, the Booga
Basement, with Clef leading the at
tack, an acoustic guitar in one hand,
a microphone in the other. The mis
sion was simple: to bring the plight
of American ghetto youth — native-
born and transplanted alike -- to a
world wide audience.
COME SEE THE BEEPER MAN AT
James
Stephens
III
Oblivion is a mesmerizing novel o f death and forgetting, love and
memory by the author of Damage, Josephine Hart.
Jonathan Wilson's The Hilling
Room is part political thriller, part
poignant love story-an absorbing
drama o f World War II and the
Middle East.
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