ENTERTAINMENT
The University Daily KANSAN
September 19, 1983 Page b
Garv Smith/KANSAN
Richie Roberts, Olathe sophomore, tries to get information from Anna Svoboda, Olathe freshman, that will help him become a space pilot in the KU Theatre for Young People production of "Starman Jones."
Space play to open
Space may not be the frontier for today's video game generation, but in the first production of the KU Theatre for Young Audiences, it will be the imagination of both the young and the old.
By PAMELA THOMPSON Staff Reporter
Although "Starman Jones," a children's space adventure, draws a strong parallel to the popular Star Wars series, it is intended to give children and adults a different outlook on space. Wendy Harms, Redwood Valley, student and director of the production, said.
"Children have active minds and will delight in filling in the spaces," she said. "They will try to make the pieces fit by using their own imagination and magic."
"Starman Jones" was adapted by playwright Douglas Lieberman from futurist writer Robert A. Heinlein's 1853 novel of the same name; the introduction is the first Harmus has directed at KU.
SHE SAID "STARMAN Jones" was not a fairy tale "since a great portion of the play is so contemporary and so universal because it concerns a boy reaching manhood."
The hour-long play centers on Max Jones, a 14-year-old boy with a perfect memory, who becomes a stowaway on a great starship. He learns how to make decisions and to cope with his responsibilities after a series of disasters that puts him in control of the starship, she said.
"Starman Jones" is based on "every child's dream of I'm going to be something when I grow up," she said. "When the reality of what it is going to take to attain that goal and find he must use all his inner resources and also depend on others if he is to succeed."
Harms started rehearsals for the play three
"WE'RE ON A tight production schedule because ours is the first show of the season." Harms said. "We've had to condense everything."
weeks ago after selecting the 14-member student cast. Jed Davis, professor of theatre, directed it.
"Starman Jones" kicks off the 30th season for the KU Theatre for Young People.
The stage setting, which was designed by Craig Wills, Lawrence junior, represents the space ship, but is abstract because of a lack of technological capabilities. Harms said.
The children attending the show will probably not be awed by special effects as the film is set in a small town.
But the lighting and design by Keith Harris, Muscatine, Iowa, graduate student, includes a fog machine and rotating star fields, she said.
BESIDES DIRECTING THE play, Harms also developed a series of moving platforms which turn to represent different areas of the space shin
Richie Roberts, Olate sophomore, will play the high-spirited and resourceful Max. Jules Broksi, Lenexa junior, will play Ellen. Max's love interest and Vince Cabrera, Leavenworth senior, will play the antagonist, Mr Simes
Harms said the cast was "exceptional", and that she was particularly pleased by their performance.
After receiving her master's degree from KU, Harms said that she hoped to teach creative drama to grade school and junior high aged children.
"Starman Jones" will be performed exclusively for the 4th-, 5th- and 6th-grade children of the Douglas County and Lawrence school districts tomorrow through Friday in Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. Performance performances will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Midwestern site sought to decorate comedians in Humor Hall of Fame
CLEAR LAKE, IWA (UPI) — Ed Thornberg has some very serious notions about humor.
He wants to have a half of fame for those who make their living with pitfalls and one-liners.
"I kind of wanted to keep this thing clean," he said. "We want this to be a legitimate tribute to us."
Thorngren thinks it is only a matter of time until a Humor Hall of Fame is established and he wants to make sure it is in the Midwest. He plans to build a museum with exhibits from East and West Coast glitter as possible.
Thornhereg heads the National Hall of Humor, a group that has published a couple of joke books and sponsors a central Iowa phone in joke line. The museum has an ultra-modern museum dedicated to humor.
The difficulty, said Thornberg, will be selecting the truly greats.
ENVISIONED IS A $10 million one-story structure of glass, steel and brick, with a central retunda featuring wax images of the great Turtle of Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Laurel and Hardy.
"We want only the truly great comics who have proven their talent over time," he said. "SooHo!"
THE HIGHLIGHT will be a constantly
expanded computer field of humor,
exaggerated story and comedia.
"People could call in and get fishing jokes, gardening jokes, or anything for a speech or performance."
Thornden is looking for a Midwestern site near a large interstate highway that would attract cross-country tourists. He says the cities he has approached have been very receptive.
"I'm sure we would be the brunt of a couple jokes if the hall was located here," LeClaire city administrator Ed Choate said. "But we have a fine site that could give the hall the exposure it would deserve. I would consider it an asset to the community."
MOVIE REVIEWS
Rating System
excellent
good
fair
bad
rotten
The Final Option
"The Final Option" is a movie that ties in $ \mathbf{v}_{\mathrm{e v}} $ well with the political and military events now going on in Europe.
The plot centers on a group of terrorists who have formed a large nuclear freeze movement in London to protest the installation of American nuclear missiles in Europe. The movie brilliantly shows how they exploit innocent people who just want to live in peace.
In one instance, the terrorists use a priest to help them achieve their goals, and in doing so, his church is destroyed. But they don't care; it matters less than making of nothing but their own radical ideologies.
The terrorists plan what they claim will be the largest coup in England's history. The group's financing is obviously done through the KGB.
The terrorists demand that a nuclear missile be detonated over an American submarine base in southern Scotland and that it be shown live on television or their hostages will be killed.
They seize the American embassy in London. Among their hostages is the secretary of state, played by Richard Widmark; the commander of the invasion force, Robert Webber and the British foreign minister.
They give the police 18 hours to evacuate the area before the deadline. During the siege, Widmark and Webber do an excellent job of preparing the policy while condemning the terrorist actions.
What is the final option? Very simply, it is the SAS, the British equivalent of the Green Berets. The British government knows that a coup is going to take place but they don't know what, where or when. An SAS soldier goes undercover and gets trapped by the terrorists' deadline is almost up, the SAS comes to the rescue and saves the day. The assault and subsequent rescue is exciting.
Widmark and Webber are very good in their roles. But what makes this movie great is that the events of this movie, could happen today. The producers provided statistics at the end of
the film showing that in 1980 alone, 42 embassies were seized by terrorists; five embassies were destroyed; 22 ambassadors were taken hostage and more than a hundred statistics did not include the hostage crisis in Iran.
The movie has three subplots that form one story. The first subplot is the freeze movement; the second is the fact that terrorists seize control in political objectives; and the third is the SAS.
The movie is controversial. Some people won't like it because it is biased against the freeze movement. But something like this should be told because the freeze movement may not be as peaceful as many have been led to believe.
Victor Goodpasture
The Ruling Class
"The Ruling Class" was first released in 1972. Its distributor has now decided to re-release it, hoping that another generation of film viewers can do that; it more than the generation of 10 years ago did.
But the movie is still a long, drawn-out, black comedy that is so satirical that it is often praised.
Peter O'Toole, in the lead role, is powerful and commanding, but the screen adaptation is too blurry.
O'Toole plays a young English lord who inherits his father's estate after his father accidently commits suicide while performing his nightly self-hanging. Throughout the film, this type of eccentric and insane behavior is typical of the people surrounding O'Toole.
When O'Toole first appears, he has returned from a mental institution in which he has been a voluntary patient. He is convinced that he is God, and comes complete with flowing robes, long hair and a long beard. He has a large cross from which he hangs throughout the day.
Mostly, this side of his character presents a loving, caring personality who preaches love and kindness. His uncle wants the large estate and is plotting to have him certified a lunatic, after first concocting a marriage through which to provide an heir. After the heir is born, the uncle plans to have O'Toole committed, thereby gaining control of the estate.
But O'Toole thwafts his uncle by presenting an image of sanity, by adjusting to more 'normal' behavior. In contrast to his "insane" personal attitude, his personality is hateful, vindictive and violent.
This is an extremely complex story with many less-than-subtle barbs aimed at the wealthy
ruling class of England. After the first 90 minutes, the film loses its appeal and begins to drag. It drags for more than another half hour, in the message of social class structure injustice.
Fans of the stage, fans of O'Toole and fans of extreme satire will like this film. But don't go for more than that.
Mike Cuenca
Eddie and the Cruisers excellent
This movie caught me by surprise. I went in thinking that it was going to be another dud. I was wrong. It was great.
This sleeper is so well-made that I thought I was watching a semi-documentary on an actual rock group. Dates and places were added to provide realism but most important was that the characters were real. They were real people real problems that I could readily identify with.
The story starts out in the present day with a reporter who is investigating a long-gone band called Eddie and the Cruisers. Back in the early 1960s, Eddie and the Cruisers was a small band that was about to superstardom when their lead vocalist, Eddie Wilson, died in an auto accident just after completion of the group's album. His body was found in a stolen, never to be seen again. Thus the album was never released and the Cruisers broke up immediately.
Flash to the present. The reporter believes that Eddie may still be alive and that the key to the missing tapes is held by the former band members. As she begins to talk to them and as the old members see each other again for the first time since their breakup, you really get to see what kind of friendship they had with each other.
Then another mystery begins. Someone has been ransacking all of the former band members homes in search of the missing tapes. Could it be Eddie?
The soundtrack to this motion picture is excellent. If you don't see the movie at least get the trailer.
The editing between the present-day and the flashbacks is done very smoothly.
It is fascinating when the members of the band talk with each other and have flashbacks about their past experiences. They remember an era long-gone and that will probably never return.
This story didn't really happen but it very well could have and it deserves to be told.
Victor Goodpasture
THE GENERAL MEETING of the Computer Club of Lawrence and the University of Kansas will be at 7:15 p.m. today in the auditorium of the Computer Center.
THIS WEEK'S GUEST on the JKIH phone in talk show, "Alternative Conversations," at 6 p.m. today will be the station's manager and program director.
EILEEN MURPHY, associate professor of textile design, will show her paisley and cushmore shawls in the Art and Design Building Gallery through Sept. 23. The gallery is open 1:40 p.m. Sunday and Monday and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
program director.
STEPHEN GLASSMAN will give a lecture
titled "The Alexander Technique" today at the
Swarthout Recital Hall.
THE UNIVERSITY Counseling Center is sponsoring a Thesis and Dissertation Support
THE COLLEGE HONORS Program will sponsor a brown bag lunch at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at Nunakemer Center, Rudi Strahl, a graduate of the German Democratic Republic, will speak.
THE ECUMENICAL Christian Ministries Center will have a theological seminar titled "The Life and Thought of Thomas Merton," an address the topic discussed will be "The Way to Silence."
THE TAU SIGMA student dance club will
be on tomorrow in Studio 242 of
Robinson Center
THE SPENCER MUSEUM of Art will exhibit "Eldred & Nevelson: Another Dimension" through Sept. 25. "Influences: Antique and Contemporary Quilts" through Oct. 16, and "Early Modern Art From the Guggenheim Museum" through May 20.
THE KU SWORD and SNUTA will free at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Walnut Room of the Union. THE CAMPUS CHRISTIAN Fellowship will meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Greek, Roman art will be displayed in new case at Spencer Art Museum
THE ECUMENICAL Christian Ministries will have a Life Issue Seminar titled "The Committed Marriage: A Christian Perspective" at 4:30 p.m. today at the center.
STUDENT CREATIVE Anachronists will meet a.f.n.m. today in the Kansas Union.
CHAMPIONS WILL meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Trail Room of the Union.
THE KU SWORD AND Shield will meet at 7:30
REGION
Mark Roeyer, exhibit designer for the museum and designer of the glass, aluminum and formica case, said it probably would be finished by Oct. 1.
A marble sculpture titled "Torso of Apollo" and nine other Roman and Greek works of art will be taken out of storage at the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art next month and displayed in a glass case that is now being built.
Group for master's and doctoral students. Call Joan Cesari at 864-3931 for more information.
Student publishes guide
Construction of the case began two weeks ago.
The 21-foot long, 10ftfoot high and 3-foot deep case will be placed in the lobby of the museum
Welch, Topeka senior, publishes "Variety," an entertainment calendar guide for students. He is the author of The College Guide.
THE NELSON ART Gallery will show "Pasiphate: 90 Prints by Matisse," through Oct. 16, and "Those Beguiling Women" through Oct. 30.
Staff Reporter
He thought of the idea for the guide while doing an advertisement project two summers ago, he said.
By GUELMA ANDERSON
Because he is a business major, he decided to take on the role that would distribute the entertainment guide.
But he said that one problem with the guide was the lack of opportunities for entertainment in the program.
"LAWRENCE DIDN'T have anything like a guide that contained information on chamber music series and bar specials, so I thought it would be good venture," he said.
"Lawrence is a trendy town with lots of ban
turnover, but he scares a lot of people
from getting entertained."
"The Lawrence Opera House, for example, has always had problems staying open, and Off-the-Wall Hall has closed," he said. "They need to contract the crowds needed to support the bands."
ANOTHER PROBLEM with trying to provide a complete view of entertainment in Lawrence is that unless an activity is planned three to four hours of entertainment it cannot be included in the guide, he said.
Using a little ingenuity, David Welch has combined his business sense and the entertainment opportunities in Lawrence and Kansas City to serve KU students in a unique way.
he hopes that starting his own business while still a student will work with a large job as a graduate and he graduates the firm.
ENROLLMENT FOR autumn classes at the Lawrence Arts Center is now taking place and will continue until today. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for enrollment.
SPARE TIME
Despite these problems, Welch plans to expand the guide to 12 pages next semester and to hire two students — preferably sophomores — to take over the publishing when he graduates.
ON CAMPUS
ART THEME and Ken Bloom will play the guitar at 8 p.m. today at the Footkiller.
ROBERT BEHAN will give a voice performance at 7:30 p.m. today at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. Admission is free.
"I may keep the business in my name and sell it for profits, or I may sell the entire business," he said.
"I bought a color TV with the profits, among other things, and I get fringe benefits like free entrance at bars and things," he said.
Welch said that this semester it only had taken him a couple of weekends and one week to compile all the ads and information for the entertainment calendar.
Whoever inherits Welch's legacy may find himself stepping into a small gold mine.
THE CALENDAR HAS paid off for Welch in more ways than one.
The publication is financed by entertainment advertising, he said.
After 6,000 copies were printed, he distributed them to fraternities, sororities, residence halls, and colleges.
The production of this semester's guide ran smoothly in comparison to last year.
THE MISSOURI Repertory Theatre will present The Speckled Band at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
However, the first issue was published last spring, and businesses were pleased with it.
"I TTOOK A LONG time to get going," he said.
"I initially took issue me all fall semester just to get it."
"It's fun," he said. "You make money and the people you meet are nice really. But, I get a real kick out of seeing the finished product and knowing that I did a good job."
Welch made his first attempt at publishing the guide last fall.
Mark McKeen, Overland Park senior and owner of Pyramid Pizza, said that "Variety" was a big part of the recipe.
Welch said the calendar took a lot of time and effort.
"It gives students a chance to see what's happening in Lawrence and to see what business can be done."
He said, "I go smart this time and gathered all the University Events press releases instead of going to the conference."
BLOOM COUNTY
BY BERKE BREATHED
V