A
Friday, September 1, 1978
University Daily Kansan
Theater 'Cattle Calls' test of talent, nerve
By MELISSA THOMPSON Magazine Editor
Murphy Hall was no place for shrinking violets the week
It was, instead, a place for flamboyancy on cue—four minutes of controlled comedy. "I'll have to go," she said.
It was the time for open auditions—"Cattle Calls""-the harried first step in cast selection for KU's six theater productions this semester.
No one is refused for lack of talent or training. The only requirements are student achievement.
Nearly 200 students, theater and non-theater majors, paraded before the judges Monday and Tuesday nights. The auditions were quick and systematic. Four minutes for a "cold" script reading of prepared recitation, four minutes for a song.
As one auditioning theater student said, "You walk up there and do your piece and then you walk back."
The process may be quick, but it's not nerveless. In the halls outside the theaters,
It hung about the halls in cellt; it settled in the faces of the waiting students. They practiced their lines, whispering alone to the walls or quarrelling with a "lover" from a script given to them by an auditions official.
Some paced the stairs and made the halls ring with muted high notes from their
And when an usher called out their names, they shook off the outward signs of nervousness, smiled and took deep breaths as they walked before the judges.
"It's your time to shine," said Debby Shumate, a St. Louis senior majoring in
snumate sat casually in a chair outside Inge Theatre and talked with an usher and a few waiting students. She was relaxed. She watched the children, wonders weren't scheduled until the next night.
She gestured as she tried to pinpoint the face she experiences when she aids ulcers.
'They're really exciting and they're
cool, you're sure the audience said. "It's a difficult
fellowing to describe."
KU's open-call policy may seem heartless, she said, because it拳打 people into high-pressure situations without allowing much rehearsal time. But, it's realistic, she
"This is how it's run in New York," she said. "You go and stand under a light bulb."
"Anybody who doesn't get nervous, well, there's something wrong with them."
Inside Inge, a girl stood under a light and inside to sing a song from the fall season's
Her voice was husky. It was weakened,
she said, by a recent bout with laryngitis. on the dusty floor around her are tape marks, cues for past scent crews. Lumber and chairs are stacked in the corners of the
"Can you sight sing?" asked Mary-Kay-Candide" director." Try "Glitter And Be Gigged."
She leaned over the piano player's shoulder and sang a few bars of another "Candide" tune. At the end of her four-minute performance, the maestro, allowed by Harris' praise and thanks,
The process was repeated, time after time. Harris listened to a line of songs that seemed endless. Other directors listened to the same songs, the same scripts. And the students waited.
Saturday afternoon, the waiting will end. Cast lists for the six plays will be posted. The lists signal the beginning of rehearsals for the students whose talent carried them through the "Cattle Calls" and call-back auditions.
Staff Photos by TRISH LEWIS
And the ones who didn't get a part? Well, they'll probably shrug philosophically and end up as an object of contempt.
They might even sign up to work on a fall stage crew.
Above, Mark Williams, Lawrence sophomore, and Am Constantin, St. Louis freshman, rehearse their lines at "Cattle Calls," where students audition for roles in one of six plays that University Theatre will produce this fall. Below, Cathy Kerckey, Overland Park sophomore, tries her hand at operetta.
Cattle calls
Lawrence Opera House, 644 Massachusetts St.
Night Life
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Spare Time Night Life
- Rorin Judy, Sept. 1, 9 p.m. to 12:30
p.m. $150 general admission and
$1 member
- Ox. Sept, 2 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. $1.56 general admission and $1 members
- Kathy Boehler plays acoustic guitar in the balcony, Sept. 1-2, from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m.
- Charlie Mussewhile, Sept. 7, p.9.m.
    a.m., $3 general admission and $25 mo.
- Son Saul Blues Band, Sept. 8-9, p.m.
12:30 a.m. $1 general admission, $25 mop
Off the Wall Hall, 737 New Hampshire St.
Off the Wall Hall 737 New Hampshire St.
• Airbnb, Sep-1, 9 to m. midnight.
815-222-4000.
- Pats Blue Rididim, Sept. 7-9. 8 p.m. to midnight, $25.00
* Blues. 80% off.
- Acoustic jam session, Sept. 6, 7:30 to midnight free.
- Paul Gray's Jazz Place, 928 Massachusetts St.
- Mike Beisner Quartet, Sept. 1, 9 p.m. to midnight $2.
- Claude Fiddler Williams with the Gaslight Gang, Sept. 2, 9 p.m. to midnight, $4 (includes beer, peanuts, popcorn and soft drinks).
- Jam Session with River City Jazz Band and audience, Sept. 7, 9 p.m. to midnight.
- Cat Anderson with the Gasigler Gang,
Sept. 8, 9 p.m. to midnight.$$
Movies
Heaven Can Walt, Cinema Twin, 318 and Iowa streets, with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, 7:35 p.m. and 9:35 p.m., mat. 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 2-4.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Cinema
Twin, with Jack Nicholson, on m. and
f. 26th Street at 10am.
Animal House, Sept. 2-4, Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St., with John Belushi and Tim Matheson, 7:30 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., mat on Sept. 2-4.
Foul Play, Sept. 2-3, Hillcrest, Ninth and Iowa streets, with Goldie Hawne and Chevy Chase, 7:20 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., mat. 1:55 p.m.on Sept. 2-3.
**Greece**, with John Travolta
**Greene**, with John Travolta
**30 in p.m.**; 9:45
p.m.; 1:45 on Sunday.
m.p. mat. 8:15 on Saturday.
Eyes of Laura Mars, Hilcrest, with Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones. 7:40 p.m. (503) 918-2600. www.laura.mars.com
Hooper, Varsity, 1015 Massachusetts St., with Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, 7.30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. mat. 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 2-4.
Pirana, Sunset Drive-In, West Sixth
Street, with Bradford Dillman and Keenan Wynn.
Rabid, Sunset, with Marilyn Chambers,
9:45 p.m., Sept. 2.
Singing Cheerleaders, Pom Pom Girls,
The Van, Trip With the Teacher, Sunset,
Sunflowers
Saturday Night Fever, American Hotway,
Sunset, Sept. 4-8.
SUA
Rocky, with Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire, 3:0, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Send-1.2
The Kentucky Friend Movie, with Donald Sutherland and贝里克·孟by, midday. Sept. 1-4.
La Dolce Vita, directed by Federico Fellini, with Marcelo Mastroianni and Anouk Aimee (Italy, subtiles); 7:30 p.m., Sept. 6.
Providence, directed by Alain Renais,
3-5 p.m., Sept. 8; 9-30 p.m. on Sept.
8 and 10.
Padre, Padron, directed by Paolo and
Vadore, Davanti, 7 p.m. on Sept. 8, 3:30 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m.
Concerts
University of Kansas Carillon, 7 p.m.
Sept. 6, Campanile on Memorial Drive.
Kansas City Philharmonic, program includes works by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak. 7 p.m., Sept. 2, Seat Creek Park in Kansas North, and Sept. 3, Brush Creek Park,reek.
Kansas City Philharmonic, Moart Series preview, 11:30 a.m., Sept. 7, St. Mary's Church, 1307 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo., $2.50.
Exhibits
Landis Gallery, 918 Massachusetts Hts.
latercolours and 1918 Kniffer and
Kniffer.
The Gallery, 745 New Hampshire, land scape, pottery, painting and sculpture by Dorothy Newman and Jan Gaunny, Sept 2-29.
Valley West Galleries, Holiday Plaza,
Iowa Street, fabric, silkscreens and prints
and Kansas watercolors by Charles Sanderson,
through September.
Spencer Museum
- Esmart Collection of Currier & Ives, through Sept. 24.
- Terpsichore, Muse of Dance, through Oct 1.
- Reproductive print-making, through Oct. 1.
- The Dyer's Art: Ikat, Batik, Plangi,
Sept. 3-Oct. 8.
★★★★★★★
See Flip Wilson!
Don't miss your chance to see a star and be a star
when: Sept. 5th
where: Memorial Stadium (east side stands) time: Beginning at 2:30 p.m.
FLIP will be videotaping scenes with the JAYHAWKS for a TV SPECIAL!
You can be part of the TV special. FLIP will need fans in the east side stands as background for these scenes. Come early.
FREE ADMISSION!